Living That "Bend" Life

It's been a crazy fall involving more than a few camping trips, chickens (that's for a later post), and our never ending house and yard remodel. We've been making a conscious effort to enjoy the "Bend Life," and get out there to do what we couldn't do when we were working all the time. Sometimes I still feel anxiety about not being "productive enough," or getting things accomplished around the house or yard. And I do still stress about money. But then I remind myself that our house projects will still be there tomorrow, and I can always go in to the office a few extra hours if I want. Life is short and precious, and what's important is getting out there and enjoying it!

With that in mind, we took advantage of Bernice and Josh's visit over Labor Day weekend to go camping at Crater Lake in Morty. We loved it so much, we went back the following weekend with our local friends. It's a gorgeous and well maintained National Park that is only 1.5 hours from our house, and their campground has flushing toilets, showers, a restaurant and a camp store.

Crater Lake was smoky from the wildfires. That's Wizard Island in the middle.

The smoke didn't detract from the gorgeous turquoise water!

Mike and Morty enjoying the view.

Mike purchased another vehicle, a Subaru Sambar, a right-hand drive tiny truck from Japan. It's mostly for work and has been helpful for the house, but it's also a fun little truck that we can take off-roading and camping. To say that Mike loves this truck is an understatement.

All set up with the hammock to watch the blood moon eclipse

good perspective pic of how small the Sambar is! Pic by Ken Bethe

A peek at Broken Top from our campsite

The Sambar all set up for sleeping in the back!

Snowing! pic by Ken Bethe

We were lucky to catch snow already this season - we woke up to big fat flakes! The pic above shows some of the people we went camping with; other local shop owners and van enthusiasts. I'm in the black puffy jacket and winter hat - Mike and I are always prepared when it involves winter camping, and we were toasty despite sleeping with just a tarp over us.

And since it's now fall mushroom season, we got out there for a couple scouting trips. It was gorgeous and even when we find only a few mushrooms, we still get a nice walk.

Hiking around Suttle Lake

Mountains, forests, and lakes - we never get tired of this view.

Some super cool volcanic rocks covered in moss - that's Mike at the top!

I've been watching the weather reports so hopefully I'll target the right place at the right time and we'll find ourselves some chanterelles. 

Stay tuned for our next post when I introduce our new little chicken friends!

Iceland

While parts of the US have been getting pummeled with winter storms, we spent the week in.... Iceland! Our weather there was actually nicer than the east coast.

Iceland is very stark and beautiful, and the culture is fascinating. They were discovered by the Vikings, colonized by the Norwegians and the Danish, used as a strategic military outpost by the British and the Americans, and finally, given their true independence. The US Navy base closed recently, in 2006, and was turned into what is now their international airport and a university. 

outside the town of Fludir

We did our best to eat local Icelandic food for every single meal. They eat a variety of things that come from the sea, like whale, shellfish (especially langoustine), various local fish such as trout, arctic char, salmon, spotted catfish, and ling cod, and meat, in the form of sea birds (puffin, cormorant, goose, duck), lamb and horse. 

Arctic Char, a local fish. Similar to salmon, but lighter and creamier!

smoked salmon and hardboiled egg on a croissant - ate salmon every day!

minke whale. it tastes just like tender, delicious beef.

The Icelandic horse is one of the cutest horses I've ever seen. They're super friendly, fuzzy,  and come in so many different colors. Once an Icelandic horse leaves Iceland, it can never come back. They are one of the purest breeds in the world. 

Icelandic horses

Mike and I had one day to ourselves where we drove around the island a bit. I got to go to a wool factory and get some yarn and raw wool to bring home for felting and crocheting. 

The wool factory!

We also stopped at this beautiful natural swimming pool - Iceland's first, from 1891. It is filled from a hot spring right next to the pool, so it was extremely warm, like 100 degrees Fahrenheit. The whole place was quiet, steamy, misty, surrounded by snow, and completely surreal. We got there before it opened and had the whole place to ourselves. It is probably the most romantic thing Mike and I have ever done together. 

The Secret Lagoon

Secret Lagoon GoPro selfie!

We also got married! Our friends and family flew in and spent 5-6 days with us, touring Reykjavik, the Golden Circle, and the Blue Lagoon. It was a little stressful, but thanks to Pink Iceland, and Hannes, our wedding planner, everything ran smoothly and we had a memorable wedding. I am excited to see our Icelandic wedding certificate. We also have my wonderful cousin, Dennis Kwan, to thank for the following pictures documenting our trip!

The Harpa Concert Hall - it is gorgeous!

Me in a vintage 70s Icelandic cape, and Mike in an Icelandic wool handknit sweater.

the cold, windy ceremony. we had all the elements - earth, fire, water, and wind.

toasting!

after the ceremony, under the stars

at Gulfoss waterfall

the Blue Lagoon - like an enormous milky hot tub.

getting in-water massage treatments at the Blue Lagoon.

at Thingvellir National Park, walking between the Eurasian and North American plates.

Hallgrimskirkja church, and that's us, the tiny couple!

Since we've been together so long, we thought the wedding would be sort of anti-climactic, but it was really special. We feel like we've renewed our commitment to each other, and it was really nice to have that break in the middle of the renovation stress.

And now we are back in Bend, refreshed and busy at work on the house again. We'd like to move within the next week or so...it's a rush to the finish! Updates in the next post!

Practicing For Our Moon Landing

The final stop on our road trip was Craters of the Moon National Monument and Preserve. It's a 618 square mile lava field on the Great Rift, which is where two plates are pulling apart. It erupts about every 2,000 years, and guess what? It's been about 2,000 years since the last eruption. I always joke about apocalypses but it's only funny until something actually happens!

some dumbass in the early 1900s brought his dog for a hike here, and the
poor doggy got his feet all cut up, and had to be carried.

looks sort of like wood, huh?

In 1969, astronauts actually trained in this lava field, to prepare for a trip to the moon. So if you're interested in being the best moon walker when we all finally get to go, better take a trip to Craters of the Moon.

a giant mound of lava sand. those are people in the middle of picture!
we skipped this hike because we didn't bring sunscreen and it looked brutal.

We climbed a couple of spatter cones, which are basically mini-volcanoes, formed by the lava exploding out of the ground and spitting up all over itself. It builds and builds on top of the previous explosions until it makes a little mountain (with a big hole in the middle).

they paved the route up to the top of the spatter cone, so it's pretty easily accessible.

it was SO windy that I could hardly walk!

looking down into the spatter cone. I can see China!

Aside from cool volcano mountains to climb, there are also several caves to explore! Just like our previous lava tube experience, these are also caves formed by lava, and found when part of the roof collapsed in. New caves are being discovered all the time.

This first cave was called the Indian Tunnel and had a few "skylights" in it, thanks to the roof caving in. It was beautiful. It's been speculated that the Native Americans used the tunnel for ceremonial purposes, and it's easy to see why.

Imagine viewing the night sky through that hole!

The floor of the cave. Not for those with bad balance.

a close up of what the ceiling looks like (this piece fell down).

We checked out the Dew Drop cave next, and it was eerie and stinky, due to the condensation that forms inside (because it's so cold and underground). This cave was a lot darker and harder to climb through. The Native Americans would use this and other "wet" caves to collect water, so they could cross the lava field. I guess the water's drinkable, but I'm sure glad I didn't have to try it.

just be glad you're not smelling anything through the computer screen.

Stinky, wet cold air or baking in the lava field? It's a toss up.

After the stinky cave, we decided we'd had enough and hopped back into Big Willy to get home to our pets! All in all, it was a great roadtrip that we would totally do again, probably a little slower and with more time in Wyoming and the Black Hills of South Dakota. Maybe next time we can drag a few friends along for the ride and do a van caravan! Who's interested?

Van selfie!

We'll Always Have Wyoming

If you have never been to Wyoming before, I really think it's worth a trip. It is one of the most beautiful places I have ever been (although to be fair, I haven't yet been to Santorini, Greece). 

Wyoming sunset as we drove west.

Wyoming is the least populated US state, which probably helps it maintain it's natural beauty. It's mostly just pastures - ginormous ones, and blue, blue expansive sky, with really cool geological formations.

Spotted lots of wild antelope.

This person's home has an amazing view...with horses!

All the happy horses we saw, rekindled our desire to go horseback riding (both Mike and I grew up riding horses). We'd see a herd of horses galloping through a field, and it felt like being in a wild west movie. 

part of the Teton mountain range, in Bridger-Teton National Forest

The Continental Divide Trail goes through this part of Wyoming. It's about 3,100 miles long, from Canada to Mexico. I hope one day to hike part of it. It goes through some of the most gorgeous national parks, including Glacier and Yellowstone.

The Grand Teton mountain range.

The scenery kept getting better and better, the further into Wyoming we drove. We saw a bunch of cars pulled over to the side of the road, so we stopped to check it out, and it was a wild buffalo herd!

wild buffalo herd off in the distance

a close up of the buffalo, although they're still a little difficult to make out.

We finally arrived at Jackson Hole, Wyoming, which is a skiing, snowboarding, and general outdoor activity resort town, much like our new hometown of Bend, Oregon. Only, Jackson Hole is WAY more crowded. 

Antlers, anyone? There were four of these surrounding the main park.

Since it's at 6,500 feet elevation, and a valley, Jackson Hole is disturbingly hot in the summer and cold in the winter. But it's close to the Grand Tetons, Yellowstone National Park, and tons of dude ranches. It's also got the biggest herd of wild elk in the world, thanks to the National Elk Refuge, hence the antler sculptures (pictured above). Elk shed their antlers every year, so no harm was done to the animals to make that art you see.

After a delicious lunch and a sample of the local root beer, we headed over the border to Idaho. One more state and we're home!

Root beer from Grand Teton brewery