Oregon

This past weekend we flew out to Oregon for my Grandmother's funeral. It was hard to say goodbye but it was a great time remembering her (and my Grandfather who passed away 2 years ago). My parents, Aunt Julie, Uncle Hal, and Cousins Lauren and Dane were all there for the weekend. It was great to be around family and celebrate who our family was and still is.

I have to say that I will miss visiting Medford, Oregon. It is a beautiful town in the valley nestled in between the mountains. There are pear orchards, vineyards, and olive groves all over and has so much history. Plus the weather was perfect. Hot during the day (with NO humidity!!) and cool in the mornings and nights. It was also great to be outside at night and not have to worry about bugs. Yes, that's right. Believe it or not they have NO bugs! It was just lovely.


As always it was hard to say goodbye to family when the weekend was over but hopefully we will be seeing each other again soon.

Rhubarb

For all of you Southerners who have heard me talk about rhubarb but really have no clue what it is....here are some pictures I took while in MN. It is a big leafy plant and you use the red stalk to make yummy desserts or jams. It has a sweet and tart flavor when you cook it. If you ever want to try it, come on over and I will make you some Rhubarb Crisp. YUM.

The AT - Woody to Hogpen Gap

Over the weekend we did an extended hike with our friends Michelle and Kelly. We started at Woody Gap on Saturday morning, hiked up and down Blood Mountain, spent the night on the trail, and ended at Hogpen Gap the next afternoon. All in all we hiked 17 miles. We had some interesting moments. One was when I fell, face first onto the trail after tripping on a root sticking straight out of the ground. That was fun. Kelly also caught someone peeing in the woods (awkward yet funny for all parties involved).

As always the trail had it's difficult and rewarding parts. Our last mile was the hardest by far. We climbed 400 feet in elevation in less than a mile. It was tough and we all wanted to be done! It felt so good to finish after that! This section of the AT was also the most beautiful. We saw some great views of the surrounding mountains. Here are my pictures from the weekend....

My Grandma

Early this morning my wonderful Grandma passed away. Her health had been failing for some time now but that never seems to help knowing we were going to loose her. I love my Grandma very much and I will miss her greatly. She was a strong intelligent independent woman and I only hope to be like her some day. She was a great story teller and would talk your ear off if you gave her the chance. She was a wonderful wife, mother, sister, and grandmother and she will never be forgotten. I will always remember that she sent me a car on every holiday (not only the major holidays but also St. Patric's Day, V-day, etc) with $5 in it. For some reason I would never remember it would be coming but when it came in the mail it always made my day. I hope I will always make her proud. I love you Grandma.

The AT - Gooch to Woody Gap

Two weekends ago we hit the Appalachian trails once again with our friends Michelle and Kelly. The section from Gooch Gap to Woody Gap is only about 4 miles so we decided to go on Saturday afternoon and hike the trail from Woody to Gooch and then back to Woody. As always the trail was beautiful with some great views of the surrounding mountains and the trail also challenged us with some pretty steep climbs. On the trail we also saw some lilly flowers. I have no idea if these are native but they were pretty!

The last days in MN

Well I am going to cram it all in to one post. On Monday we got up early to take the boat down the river and spent the day in the sun and water. It was a nice relaxing time.



Eric decided he was an Olympic diver... I think he really could do it.. :)




The next morning we woke up early and saw a young bald eagle up the river. Here is a picture...it was as close as I could get with my zoom lens. He sat on that branch for a few hours before the sun got hot.


Before we went back to GA we had dinner with the old gang again, and I was able to meet my friend Erin for Breakfast, and we did a little antique shopping. On our 8th day in MN we said goodbye to my parents and headed to the airport back to GA.

Day 6 in MN Part 2

While in Stillwater we were able to spend some time with my parents on their boat on the St. Croix river. This is where I spent most of my time growing up. I just love this place, it is so beautiful. On Sunday night there was a big fireworks display so we anchored the boat, had some dinner and waited for the fireworks. These fireworks were awesome. We were right under them and every time one went off we felt a big boom. It was great!

Day 6 in MN Part 1

We woke up on day six feeling slightly refreshed and happy to be in the cities. Feeling refreshed wasn't going to last for long...Day 6 was a busy day!! We said goodbye and thank you to Jenessa and Jason (we would see them later) and drove to my favorite place in Minneapolis. The farmers market! I just love this place. There are people and food from all over MN. It is always packed and you always find what you want and for a great price. I just love looking at the produce, flowers, and hand made crafts that are all over the market. Here are some of my favorite pictures....






After the farmers market we went to the stone arch bridge in Minneapolis so I could get some good skyline pictures.




After we were done taking pictures we drove to Stillwater, MN to see my parents. Stay tuned....

Day 5 in MN

As you can see we did a lot while in Minnesota but we are reaching the end of our trip. On our 5th day we hung out with Becky and Dan, went for a quick canoe ride around the pond...the lilly pads were a little hard to navigate around and the wind was blowing hard so we didn't stay out long. After lunch Eric went to play golf with his cousin Jordan and Becky and I went shopping. We found a cute little boutique that gave me a lot of ideas for fixing up old stuff. Once Eric got back from golfing we said goodbye to Becky and Dan and started the drive to Minneapolis/St. Paul.


In St. Paul we met up with a bunch of our old friends Jenessa, Jason, Tara, Brian, Tara & Brian's son Tyler, Rachel & DJ. We started off the evening with some grilling at Jason and Jenessa's place. We had a TON of food and enjoyed catching up on what was going on in every one's lives. Here is me with the girls...

After dinner we drove over to downtown Minneapolis for the Aquatennial fireworks. As always there were a lot of people and the fireworks were great! Here are some pictures of us hanging out before the fireworks and of the fireworks.




After the fireworks we crashed at Jason and Jenessa's place. Thanks guys!

Day 4 in MN : Part 2

After the 3 hour drive to Zimmerman we arrived at Becky's (Eric's mom) new house. It is a beautiful log cabin house on 10 acres of land with access to a pretty big pond. We saw the house the last time we were in MN for Christmas. The property has a lot to offer. Trails going through the wooded areas, a pond big enough to paddle a canoe through, lots of places to sit and relax. I think this was the first time on our trip we were able to relax and just hang out. Their pond is FULL of Lilly pads to I took the opportunity to take some pictures. (Dont tell the DNR but... I picked one of the flowers and it had such a sweet smell!!)


While we were there we played horse shoes with Becky and Dan and I learned that I am horrible at it! Eric and Becky beat me and Dan by at least 10 points.


For dinner Becky and Dan grilled a Turkey for us. It was very good! I think Eric and I are going to try that for Thanksgiving this year.

After Dinner Eric's Grandpa, Aunt Kay, Uncle Terri, and cousins Jordan and Trevor came over for a bonfire. We had a great time catching up with family and making s'mores.

Day 4 in MN : Part 1

Before I get into our days events I wanted to share about a gift that Chuck and Ada gave us. Eric's Grandma and Grandpa lived in this house on Rainy Lake that Grandpa built. It was a cute small house perfect for the family. Something unique about the house was there was a chalet on the lake front where the boat was stored. Eric and his family have a lot of fond memories of their grandparents place. Chuck and Ada had an artist paint a picture of the house and chalet as it was back in the day for us to have. We both love it and it reminds us of home in Minnesota. Here it is...


Anyways, back to day four....We woke up early on day 4 of our travels. Ada had to be off to work and Karen, Ty, and Motts were driving up to International Falls to see their family. We said our good byes to everyone except for Chuck. Chuck had a great idea that we use old barn wood to make a frame for our new painting and he happened to have an old barn he was going to tare down. So we walked over to the old barn and Eric and Chuck started doing a little demo.

While the boys were finding good pieces for our frame I started taking some pictures or my favorite MN flower that grows wild. Lupin. Here are some of my favorite pictures...




After collecting all the wood we needed and taking as many pictures of flowers as I could...we said goodbye to Chuck and hit the road, again. This time we had a three hour drive to Zimmerman, MN.