We ventured back into the Wallowa-Whitman National Forest and Eagle Cap Wilderness again and this time, we weren’t stopped by snow. We’ve had some really warm temps these past few weeks and got a good ranger report, so into the wild we went. This time, our destination was Ice Lake. The trailhead starts at 4,600…
Back in the day when gluten was not an allergy and J and I lived in one place for more than 6 months, we would get tons of visitors wherever we were living. People would plan their vacations around us. From July through August, there were few days we were without visitors. But now, we…
I’ve been taking lots and lots of pictures of our time here, but few are shared. Until now. First, I thought I’d share the wild in our life: We have not seen an alive bear. But, a few weeks ago, a motorcyclist hit a bear 1/4 mile away from us. Fortunately, the motorcyclist walked away…
I am not going on a blog hiatus. I promise. Between hosting a wedding at RR and major satellite Internet problemas, I am just going with the plain old excuse of being busy. But I’m back with the latest edition of what we’ve been up to. Get excited now. Last week (which feels like forever…
On Monday, we squeezed away from RR for a half day and took out ‘yaks out for a spin around Wallowa Lake. It ended up being about 7 miles of paddling in 3 hours or so. Wallowa Lake is literally where a major road ends. Sitting at just over 4,300 feet, the lake was created…
This past weekend, J & I ventured to the mitten state for Jason (Hoss) and Adrienne’s (theAccessory’s) wedding. If you can remember, we can’t get anywhere from where we live, so it took us exactly the same travel time as we spent in Michigan. And because this makes tons of sense, we flew from the…
The trails around these parts seem to have a common theme … steep, unmarked and no people, but lots of cows. The Chico Trail fit perfectly into this mold. We tried to research it, but there was very little info on the Internet. We have the Wallowa-Whitman National Forest map, but it is from the…
Current mood: Slowly getting in a groove here Currently thankful for: J making it off Mount Hood safely, especially after the news that 6 climbers died on Rainier this week! Currently worried about: 1) Succeeding as a waitress this summer and 2) flooding our kitchen with our dishwasher (happened again Saturday night during dinner service, but…
This blog post is brought to you by my awesome and crazy husband, J. The above title is one of my favorite Blues Traveler songs and for this post it stands true for my latest adventure. In the pursuit to climb the highest peak in every state, my latest adventure brought me to Mt. Hood, Oregon’s…
Well, this week has been going much better than last week in terms of breathing a lot easier and having things under control. I felt like I was at the bottom of a pile of something (laundry? diced tomatoes? tipi liners?) and kept trying to stay afloat. But the thing about the hospitality business is…
Well, RR opened for business this weekend! Let me tell you, we were putting finishing touches on everything up until the minute guests walked in on Friday at 3pm. The stress of last week was probably far worse for my health than a bloomin’ onion from Outback, but we had happy guests this weekend…
My family seems to have this trend going on in that wedding anniversaries should be spent in the hospital. First, J & I spent our 7th anniversary in the hospital this past October due to my blood clot. Now my mom & dad celebrated their 45th wedding anniversary in the hospital, as my dad had…
We open in 10 days and our to do list seems to be growing instead of shrinking! Our have projects varied, of course. Aside from the whole business of hiring a new chef (DONE!), we had to clean the whole lodge from top to bottom and perform care on the grounds as well. This is…
We have a *few* friends/family willing to make the long haul out to visit us this summer. But we know we are a far way from anywhere. So, we are willing to take second best, which is meeting up in Spokane, a quick 3.5 hours from us. Our kindred spirits from NH (Paul/Second Nature and…
As soon as we saw a glimmer of good weather, we knew we needed to take our kayaks out for a spin. We live in an area surrounded by snaking rivers (including the Snake River), which is why we lugged our kayaks all the way across the country. We’ve missed our kayaks. Last summer, they…
Current mood: surprisingly content, with all that is going on Currently thankful for: Snail Mail Netflix DVD mail service, since we can no longer stream video! Currently worried about: Hmmm, where to start? My Nana is still not healed from a fall she took in December and even though she is back back home, we’ve…
J & I went down into Joseph Canyon this past weekend and this time, we turned it into an overnighter. The last time we hiked down, we left right from RR, crossed private property and dropped 2,000 feet over 5 miles. We are scouting out other trails that do not illegally cross private property and…
“You can’t get anywhere from here,” J and I lamented the other day. By here, I mean RR and this northeast corner of Oregon. For years, J & I have talked about living off the grid. When we lived in Penacook, NH, and Bluemont, VA, we were 8 miles from the closest grocery store and…
J & I high-fived last Sunday as we entered Oregon, marking it as our 11th state we’ve lived in (collectively). Living in the Pacific Northwest as I always wanted, a big plus. Learning a new address and telephone number, a big minus. So what is our role at RimRock (RR)? Well, it is both lodging…
We’ve been on the road since Feb. 24, but we will be completing the final leg today to settle in Oregon for the next 7 months! Before we do, I figured I’d squeeze in a last-minute March edition of “Currently.” I enjoyed sharing “Currently” last month and maybe I will make it a regular part…