Sparks Lake and Mini Frogs!

We've spent a bunch of time in the house lately, and Mike's been suffering from serious boredom. So we hopped into the car and headed out to Sparks Lake, which is one of the most popular lakes around here. But even on a late Saturday afternoon, we didn't see many people.

the view of Sparks Lake and South Sister (the mountain) as you hike up to it.

Since it's the end of the season, the water level is a little low.

This is one of the biggest lakes in the neighborhood (10 miles of shoreline), but it is super shallow, with an average depth of only 1 foot. The deepest part is only 7 feet. So it's perfect for floating, and we saw lots of SUPs (stand up paddleboarders) and kayakers. 

We also saw tons and tons of these super cute little frogs! They actually made walking around the shore really difficult, because we didn't want to step and crush them. 

Friendly mini frog!

The area surrounding the lake had a lot more trash, like cigarette butts, bottle caps, etc. Sort of sad, and next time we go out there we'll bring a trash bag and clean it up a bit. I guess that's what happens when there's more people - there's more ignorant and disrespectful people, too. Leave No Trace!

lone mossy tree on the shore of the lake.

There was this beautiful mossy covered tree just standing all alone. The moss around here is a bright green. I love it - I've been collecting some pieces to do some art piece with. BTW - I found out if you click on the pictures in the blog, you can see them in a larger size. 

moss up close, sort of looks like coral to me

Depending on where you park (you just pull over to the side of the road near this lake), you have to walk a bit through the forest. As we were walking back, we looked for mushrooms (barely any to be had, since it was so dry here), and saw tons and tons of pumice all over the ground - leftovers from the volcanic lava eruptions. You can actually toss one in the lake and it floats!

Never going to need to buy another foot scrubber again!

Mike with our new mushroom basket, searching for fungus.

Although we didn't get to spend a lot of time at the lake, maybe we'll be back in the winter - we bought snowshoes! For Mike, anyway. I'm still hunting for a used pair for myself. 

We also bought our season's passes to Mt. Bachelor for snowboarding season. If anyone is thinking of coming up this winter (winter lasts until May 24th here) for snowboarding, there's a 4 day pass for $179, only available until September 30th. You can use it for any 4 days you want (except Christmas and the Sat/Sun of President's Day), and you get a bonus day if you come at least once before December 19th. Winter is on its way!

Local Living

We've settled into a little bit of a routine finally, and that involves daily operations at SubieTech HQ, and spending time in town and at home. 

We discovered Humm, a local kombucha brewery. Have you ever tried kombucha? I was skeptical, but Humm has a kombucha tasting room, so I got to try it, risk free. Humm combines organic fruit juices and a little CO2 into their kombucha to reduce the alcohol level and tone down the vinegary taste. It's tangy and sort of effervescent. I just love it and I'm on my second growler refill. 

My newly purchased mini-growler and "Hawaii 5-0" flavored kombucha.

Growlers are these glass jugs that you can get filled almost anywhere with craft beers, ciders, and kombucha! Everyone in town has one (or several). 

Mike and I have gone to 3 concerts already at the Les Schwab Amphitheater, and since it's general admission, you can get as close as you want, which is pretty awesome.

Hi, Dave!

The amphitheater is awesome and the grass is cushy and comfy. But next summer, Mike and I are going to make like the locals, float the river, and listen for free! 

The river crowd during the Jack Johnson concert.

We got to cuddle baby bunnies - the lady we buy hay from breeds bunnies. For meat. Eek. But she gives them a good life and lots of love, and even hand picks clover grasses for them to eat. I don't know how she kills and skins them after playing with them. 

A 3 week old meat bunny.

On one of our evening walks, we discovered this local "Little Free Library." It was really well made and I am totally into it. It's up on the top of a pretty big hill, so it's good exercise getting there to drop my books off!

And we've found tons of time to do things like make treats for the bunny, and snuggle with the kitties.

Prepping papaya, bananas, pineapple and mango for the dehydrator.

Prepped heirloom carrots!

This is what the carrots looked like after dehydrating. SJP loves them!

It feels good to spend some down time. As much as we love being outside and exploring, it's so nice to cuddle with our furry children and start to get into a routine. It's now been 6 months since we left Los Angeles and we are finally starting to feel like this is now our hometown.

Mike napping with Grindle.

It's the constant change and opposites - spending time outside, spending time inside, traveling, staying in Bend, camping without conveniences and then enjoying a few luxuries - that makes us appreciate everything we have in our life. We're constantly grateful for what we have. If we ever feel like we're getting stuck in a rut, we up and change our environment.

That being said, since we've been staying home these last couple weeks...it'll be time to travel again soon!

Another Beautiful Day In The Neighborhood

Starting in October, lots of roads and mountain passes around Bend are closed due to snow. I've already been seeing Halloween stuff in stores, so we know it's creeping up on us fast! Every free moment we have, we're out roaming around. This week, we went to Paulina Peak and Paulina Lake, which is in the Newberry National Volcanic Monument. Paulina Peak is the tallest point in the park, at almost 8,000 ft elevation. You can see California's Mt. Shasta from the top, on a clear day.

So I have to admit that we cheated on the Paulina Peak part. Although you can hike to the top if you want, you can also drive there. Which makes the hiking part feel unnecessarily difficult, you know? Why do things the hard way?

the view from the top of the easily accessible Paulina Peak.

Paulina Lake, seen from the top of Paulina Peak.

The peak was freezing! We were wearing our winter puffy coats and it was still awful. And I learned - when you're supremely cold and hungry, it's really hard to be nice and understanding with each other. I'll admit, there was some yelling. So, we headed back down to a more reasonable elevation and temperature to walk around Paulina Lake (and eat a snack). To make up for our laziness earlier, we walked 2.5 miles to the campground at the other side of the lake, and then back again. We're slowly working our way up in mileage.

Mike adjusting his backpack at the edge of the lake.

Paulina Lake was formed when the top of the volcano caved in, leaving a crater. The crater filled with water, but then the volcano kept erupting. It ended up splitting the lake into two. Below, you can see Paulina Lake on the left, and East Lake on the right, with a giant obsidian flow/blob in the middle.

Photo by Tyson Gillard.

Mike scouting for mushrooms...

The walk around the lake was beautiful, and I really wish I could bottle the smells and transmit them through the computer screen to you. It was so fresh out there - pine, wood, clean, clear water - and just a bit crisp. 

The day's poisonous bounty.

And what would a walk in the woods be, without a little mushroom foraging? My favorite is the little "fairy house" mushroom at the top there, with the purple "window." How cute is it?!

We found a lot of different varieties than what we found around Todd Lake - most likely due to the variation in elevation. 

But when we brought them all home, they all came out with suspect poisonous attributes. We basically learned that we know nothing about mushrooms, other than how to find them.

When I got home, I signed Mike and I up for a mushroom and truffle foray in the woods in October. Hopefully we'll learn something and be enjoying a yummy foraged meal in the near future!

Mushroom Hunting at Todd Lake

In Bend, summer will be ending soon, and although we're still having 80+ degree days, we're also having 40 degree nights. The Cascade Lakes Scenic Byway closes with their first heavy snowfall, which at those elevations, happens in September/October. Keeping that in mind, we figured we'd better do as much as we can - while we can!  

Our destination this time was Todd Lake. Todd Lake, like Crane Prairie Reservoir, is one of the many lakes off of the Byway. It's only about 30 minutes from our house. 

It's a short 1/2 mile walk from the parking lot to this view of the lake:

Todd Lake is nestled in an ancient volcano, at 6,150 ft elevation. When the glaciers melted, they left behind this lake, which is up to 60 feet deep in some places. It's pretty shallow around the edges, though, and good for wading.

Mike on a fallen log that stretched out into Todd Lake.

tons of tadpoles - the Western Toad and Cascades Frog both live here
and are protected due to their threatened status.

Mike admitted to me that when I suggested a hike today, he was busy thinking of excuses, because he wanted to just sit around the house and work on our business websites. But once we were there, he got super psyched about mushroom hunting!

walking along the trail that runs around the lake.

There were mushrooms everywhere. It's been randomly raining, on and off, for the last couple weeks, so it's optimal mushroom weather.

We are still learning about how to identify them, so we gathered them all up on a handy bark plate to bring home and research.

We ended up walking about 3.5 miles around the lake, but if you aren't running around looking for mushrooms, it's probably only 2 miles or so. It's a perfect little spot to just relax or sun yourself. In the spring, there's wildflowers everywhere, and they have wildflower guides at the trailhead that you can borrow. 

gorgeous wide open fields, surrounded by pine forest.

Mt. Bachelor in the background.

The view of the lake from the trail, as we finished our loop.

Mike's excited about his mushrooms!

All in all, another beautiful day in Bend. Hard to believe that in just 6 weeks or so, this lake will be covered in snow!

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!

Oregon Life

Mike and I finally had a nice long stretch of time here in Bend (2 weeks and counting!). As much as we love to travel and adventure, we also love hanging out at home, and exploring our new little town. One sure way to do this is to have out-of-town guests - then you get to play tourist in your own town, which is really fun. In fact, in Los Angeles, that was the only time I ever went to go see the Hollywood sign.

Here in Bend, the main attraction is the scenery. Mike's parents came to visit for a weekend, and we finally made it up to Bend's version of the Hollywood sign - Pilot Butte. That's pronounced with a long "U" sound, in case you were wondering.

Sunset view from Pilot Butte. We live down there in those twinkling lights!

The view from the top is spectacular. You can see almost all of Bend in one shot, with the mountain range in the background. Since there's been so many wildfires lately, the sky is super dusty and you get some nice reds and pinks in the sunset.

We also took them to the Saturday farmer's market, which was very fun and great for gifts. I even crossed one person's Christmas present off my list!

One of Bend's more popular veggie farms, which also does a CSA.

Mike with the gorgeous flowers Michelle bought for us!

Spending time in town has really paid off. We found the best donut store, the best taco truck, and the best Mexican restaurant (we have been missing Mexican food something CRAZY!).

Street tacos and tortas just like we're used to. Just hope they're open in the winter!

This Mexican joint uses local pasture raised beef, and makes their own horchata. Love it!

The local favorite - blueberry fritters. These are DELICIOUS.

Have you ever had a fritter? They're basically chopped up little chunks of donut dough, mixed with whatever flavor (in this case, local blueberry preserves), made into patties, and fried. I don't even really like donuts, but these are SO GOOD! Made fresh every morning, and they sell out by 10am. 

Other fun local things we've noticed:

You are allowed to park any which way on the street you want.

No one in Bend locks their bike. Even the expensive, mountain bike ones.

Everyone has a "Bend Love," Oregon heart, or "Be Nice, You're In Oregon" sticker on their car.
And a roof rack, usually with bikes or kayaks strapped to it.

A deer on the street where the new SubieTech HQ is located! Lots of deer, everywhere.

We're still suffering a little bit of culture shock - I mean, a tamale plate is $9.00 (WTF), and we really must buy an umbrella one of these days - but we're adjusting, and enjoying the change in scenery. We're in for the long haul. This is as good a time as any to announce that we've officially opened up SubieTech Headquarters in Bend, Oregon! Wish us luck!