Hiking Mt. Rainier, twice

Today was the best, and worst, day ever! And probably the hardest, and coolest, thing I've done in my life!

Oh my holy heck! How to describe our day? We climbed Mt. Rainier, MILES UPHILL, TWICE, thanks to lost keys. Picture Matt lying on the trail (in front of other hikers) yelling MOM PLEASE JUST LEAVE ME HERE TO DIE! And me considering... but I didn't, and we found them! Someone (pointing at Allen) was sliding down glaciers with keys in his pocket. Yeah, don't do that!

I'm pretty sure I had hypothermia & pulmonary adema. It's COLD up there at 10,000 feet (40F)! Yet still it was a FREAKING AWESOME DAY! AND I finally saw bears! A momma & 2 cubs!!!

Despite the pain, cold, pain, breathing difficulty, and pain, it was awesome! We went from 5400 feet to 10000 feet in 4 miles straight up, in 4 hours. Twice (points to Allen). Going down was easier on the lungs, but not the knees & thighs (which we made up a song for to Ring of Fire). It also went from the 50s in the morning when we started, to the 40s at the top, to the 70s when we got back down.

We stood on Mt. Rainier and could see Mt. Adams, Mt. St. Helens, and Mt. Hood (yeah, in Oregon)!!

More pics soon, after I recover, if I do.

Forks, Church, Twilight, Rainforest, Kayaking

Today we headed to Forks, WA (yes, of Twilight fame). We visited a small church (there’s nothing big in Forks) and enjoyed a nice service with friendly people. They had another RVing family visit last week (tell me if it was you!)
Then we dropped Allen and Josh off in the rainforest for some kayaking. They paddled 12 miles, all the way to our home on the side of the Hoh River. I finally got to see the rainforest!
Then Lizzy, Matt, and I (mostly Lizzy) headed back into Forks for some Twilighting. And really there’s not much. The movie wasn’t made here, so there aren’t many locations to see. There’s a house that kinda looks like Bella’s and one that kinda looks like the Cullen’s (a bed & breakfast), Charlie’s police car at the station, and Bella’s truck at the visitor center. And that’s about it. Of course we didn’t go to La Push (where I heard there was a sign that says no vampires beyond this point). So not super exciting, but we're here, so we did, so that we can say we did. Alrightythen?

Backpacking the rainforest

Allen and the kids left on a big adventure, a 3-day, 35 mile backpacking trip in the rainforest to a glacier! Allen had backup plans because he didn’t know how far the kids (especially the youngest) would be able to go. Turns out it’s 18 miles and 2 days. Not too bad for 8 and 10 year olds.
They had a great time exploring the rainforest, squishing banana slugs, spotting wildlife, crossing streams on logs, and hiking with Dad. Temps were only in the 60s during the day and 40s at night, cold and rainy, but they stayed toasty in their tent and hiking with their packs.
I stayed behind to work, enjoy some peace & quiet, and stay warm. Turns out the quiet is overrated and I was cold! I was productive though, so it was a good few days, just lonely and boring without the fighting playing in the background. They took some pics with our little camera so I didn’t miss out on all the fun.

Free camping in the Hoh Rainforest

We took a chance on some free camping on public land (Hoh Oxbow Campground) in the Hoh Rainforest and wow! It was a gorgeous spot alongside a beautiful blue river. We had a camping area over the hill and a path down to the river. (Yes, once again, we live in a van down by the river!) We had to boondock of course (no water or electric) but we had plenty of water and the generator, so a great free stay!

We made it to the Pacific Ocean

We made it! ALL the way west to the Pacific Ocean! We stretched a 40 hour drive into 3.5 months. Now THAT is how you experience America! We sure are enjoying this!
And Allen drove the entire way! Granted, it was usually 3 or 4 hours at a time. :) But he's very appreciated by this family.
We left Oregon for a few weeks in Washington, since we have time before the laptop crop in Portland. We stayed on Copalis Beach, although it was quite a hike to get to it, and way too cold to enjoy it! But it was certainly very pretty. And we got to watch the sun sink into the Pacific.
We're really looking forward to driving back down the coast once we leave Portland. We spent a few days hunkered down there to catch up on work, which we almost did.
Kayaker guy sees the Pacific for the first time.
The drive up to Washington was pretty too.
We're now near Forks, WA (I know, Twilight fans just gasped) enjoying Olympic National Park. Rainforests in the US, who knew? And glaciers too! More on Olympic soon.

Blackberry pie recipe

This was the easiest and best (and only) blackberry pie I've ever made! I searched for the easiest recipe with ingredients I had, and it was a hit. These are Himalayan blackberries from the side of the road somewhere in Oregon. I won't win any awards for pretty pies, or even yummy ones probably, but it was voted my best so far. (I've made 3 berry pies in my life). So I'm happy. And I don't even like the blackberries!
Here's the recipe from cooks.com.

Hip Homeschool Hop 8/24

For the Hip Homeschool Hop, the question is: What do you currently use as a student desk in your homeschool classroom?
Since we don't have a house, we don't have a desk! As we roadschool, the kids learn wherever we are, so they might use the RV kitchen table, couch, floor, picnic tables, trees, very often their laps in the truck on the road, floors in visitors centers, benches in parks, shopping carts in stores, sand on the beach, just about anywhere!

Oregon Caves

We took a little road trip to see the Redwoods, but decided to stop at the Oregon Caves instead. (FYI, I personally don't recommend a long, thin skirt when you go caving, but then I didn't think we were going caving!) Luckily for us, they had many loaner jackets so we could take the 90 minute 40 degree cave tour! The kids did the Jr. Ranger program and earned another badge. We also took the long way back after the tour and enjoyed the hike over the cave and the gorgeous views of the Siskiyou Mountains.
On the way we stopped at Eight Dollar Mountain to see the carnivorous plants! Allen's kayaking buddy Adam is out here in Oregon, and he told us about these. They were very interesting, really called insectivorous pitcher plants and they trap insects who can't get out of their hair-lined tunnels. The kids were hoping to see violently snapping jaws! :)

Nowhere, Oregon

Lizzy's art project was so cute!
Here's the view from my office. This Airstream had to be made in the 70s, and I think it's been parked here since then too!