Our First Visitor!

Having a visitor was one of the best things to happen to our house, because we now have a mostly completed guest...bed. I hesitate to say the bedroom itself is done, because it's still pretty bare. We didn't get to put up any art or decor yet, and we still need window treatments. But the window is framed out, and believe me, that was a pretty big accomplishment.

we did gouge the paint a bit while putting up that window...add that to the punch list.

The first day in town, it was too warm to go snowboarding, so we took a walk along the river, and saw a group of deer having breakfast! This is one thing that Mike and I miss from our old rental. There are a lot more deer on the west side of town, because there's less fencing between properties. Fences suck!

We christened the new kitchen and I taught Mike's niece to cook a few things. We made steak, teriyaki salmon, baked potatoes, brussels sprouts with pancetta, and a creamy mushroom sauce (with our foraged chanterelles from last fall).

cooking in the new kitchen!

caramelizing the brussels sprouts with pancetta

It got up to 73 degrees here in Bend! So the next day, we headed to Tumalo Falls, where we discovered that the road was closed. What would normally be a half mile hike to the falls, ended up being an 8 mile hike, but at least it was a gorgeous day. 

Still a tiny bit of snow on the ground.

Since we weren't planning on a long hike, we didn't bring water or snacks with us. But we made it there and back without too much trouble, and it was nice to know that we're not entirely out of shape - we weren't even sore the next day.

Tumalo Falls

After our visitor left, we got sort of lazy around the house. I mean, it's livable, although a little chaotic and haphazard. So after about 10 days of not remodeling a thing, we got back into the groove. 

Our new resolution is to do one remodel activity every day, even if it's a small thing. This way, we'll keep moving forward, even if it's sloooowly.

Got a door handle put on...still need to fill those nail holes in the trim, though!

Mike putting on the kitchen receptacle covers. No chore is too small!

Sometimes it seems endless, but we're just going to keep chugging along, and little by little, we'll get it done! 

Gettin' Our Hike On at Tumalo Falls

Since we're in one of the most beautiful areas of the country, we thought we'd plan a big backpacking trip, and tackle part of the Pacific Crest Trail here in Oregon. We haven't done a multi-day trip in awhile, and they are a pretty amazing experience.

But you can't just go traipsing off into the wilderness, willy-nilly. Just like anything in life, it's a much more pleasant experience if you train a bit, to get mentally and physically prepared. I, personally, absolutely need to get mentally prepared, because I can defeat myself within the first few miles with my Jedi mind tricks.  

Tumalo Falls promised a waterfall or two, with options to hike more or less, so that seemed like a perfect start. It was only about 20 minutes from home, and this is what we saw as we approached:

gorgeous views, and we didn't even have to work for it!

This is a great sightseeing hike for anyone coming to visit Bend, and coincidentally, we had Mike's cousin and her husband visiting us - giving us the perfect reason to check out local spots. You can walk just a 1/4 mile uphill to a viewing platform and get a pic that looks like this:

Short walk, big reward.

Mike and his favorite t-shirt, the kitty shark.

I mean, seriously. It's like out of a movie or something. There's a trail that runs through the woods, along the stream, and overlooks the very top of the waterfall. When you have beautiful scenery, hiking is easy.

from the very top, looking down 97 feet. gave me butterflies!

There was this tall, dead tree right next to the waterfall, that was home to a bunch of squirrels! See that tiny little hole to the left of that crack? Here's the zoomed in version:

a little squirrel, poking his head out! he lives like 9 stories up in the penthouse.

We hiked another mile and a half back to Middle Tumalo Falls, along a nice shady trail. It was pretty much perfect - no mosquitoes and lots of mushrooms for Mike to hunt out.

the river that feeds Tumalo Falls.

Middle Tumalo Falls is two-tiered and falls 65 feet.

It was short, as far as hikes go, but totally worth it for the scenery. It reminded us how much we love being outside and how much there is to see. Sometimes it's hard to motivate and get out there (which is why guests are a total blessing), but once you're there, it's amazing. So make some plans and get out there, you'll be so glad you did!