The road home

After almost a month of being here, we have started to settle into our new home and have ventured out a bit. We live in the foothills of the Cascade mountains and there are three roads that we know of to take us home. The road that we just discovered on a recent trip "into town" took our breath away and we wanted to share it with you. :) During our drive we climb about 1,200 feet....



Twisting roads and lush green lands mixed with rock. Gently climbing...



Slow goes it around here........birds play next to the windows of our car....


A spectacular view of this magical land.......




Curving back around and twisting around another bend......





Passed orchards and forest.....



....wild flower meadows and scenic outlooks.....until we each home. Photos of home coming soon.


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Location:Around the bends

Wow we are glad we have one of these!

You know how you have your favorite tool, appliance, item, that just makes your life that much easier. The ones that seem to be "worth their weight in gold". Since we have arrived there have been many über useful items that we wanted to highlight. We will keep adding to the list but to start us off.......



Hammocks. Love, love, love our trek light hammocks. We have been sleeping in them for about 4 months now and all of us love them. They are light weight, durable, fold up and out of the way and are oh so comfortable. With the limited space that we have for the 4 of us they work perfectly. We built a bunk bed style system that allows us all to sleep very comfortably in a small space. If you are interested in more info on trek light hammocks, check out their site http://www.treklightgear.com/catalog/pc/Double-Hammock-5p2.htm







Who knew Dutch ovens we so useful?....well we do now. :) They are so versatile with how you can cook with them. Over a fire, coals on top, set in coals, on a stove, you name it. We have made 4 dinners in this bad boy thus far and all have turned out fantastic. Yummy veggies from the garden, Dahl, and last nights dinner, stuffed Spagetti squash. Mmmmmmmm so tasty :) Much thanks and love to the family and friends who gifted us our Dutch oven and tripod. (((<3)))






More to come soon. More photos and perhaps some recipes for veggie Dutch oven goodness. <3

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Location:Home

The fire pit

We built a fire pit out of rock that we found on the land. It was designed more for cooking than anything else.......




Cooking and food prep has been quite the learning experience. We have cooked out before on a small rocket stove that Kevin had made, but this was our first experience cooking with a dutch oven. It worked out very well. We loaded it with fresh veggie goodness, purple potatoes, beets, carrots, sweet potatoes, onions, nori, and oregano and rosemary from the garden. Soooooo tasty :)




The fire pit is also very useful for laundry. Laundry seems so much more fun when you do it outside, and the fresh smell for drying in the sun is lovely.


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Location:Home

Setting up home

Wow what a week it has been. Our focus since our arrival has been to set up our temporary dwellings and bring home to the forest.




Tent meets deck......




Finishing the floor.....dig the workin lady get up ;)




Add some paint and a wood burning stove....And there you go. A structure to call home while we build. The summers here are hot and very dry. We have a rain fly over the tent just incase of rain but so far all has been dry.


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Location:Home

Our new home

We made it! After 5 days of travel, we have arrived to a very warm welcome and a delicious dinner prepared by new friends <3.

This place is just as amazing as we remembered. The kids were blown away and fell in love with everything. Boots made some new friends to hang out with, a cute little fluff ball of a puppy and some kitty cats too. After dinner we were graced by a beautiful sunset.

Another chapter is written and another one to come...<3
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Location:Oregon

On the road

The journey this far has been very enjoyable. We have traveled through some amazing lands.


It has given us a deeper appreciation for what a beautiful country we live in.


Also a better understanding of this lands past and the elder that came before.

What an amazing place this is. Coming from an place of strip malls and urban sprawl, it is uplifting to get back to the magnificence of the natural world.
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Location:Wyoming, South Dakota, Montana

Hitting the road

We are on our way to our new Oregon mountain home. So far we have traveled through Iowa and Minnesota. Everyone is very excited to be on the road and the kids and Boots the doggie are coping well in the car thus far. After our first "official" night of our exclusion, our first thought this morning as we got out of bed was "Man, we miss our hammocks." For the past 3 months we have all been sleeping in hammocks and they are comfortable and makes the back happy. I cant say the same for the hotel bed, at all. I guess we can rough it for a few days and sleep in beds ;). Until next time.......<3



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Location:The road