Family Camping at Herald Provincial Park

In mid-July, we embarked on another camping trip, this one to Herald Provincial Park, near a town called Salmon Arm, BC.  We left Boise on Saturday, July 13, and drove up to Osoyoos, BC, a lovely little resort town on Osoyoos Lake which is known for being the warmest freshwater lake in Canada. We stayed in a hotel suite that had a separate (bunk bed) room for the girls, so they were happy, and we enjoyed a beautiful view of the lake from our balcony.  The girls splashed in the hotel pool the following morning and then we were on our way for the final leg of the drive to the Provincial Park.

Unfortunately for us, it was the Penticton Gran Fondo weekend...which means that for miles and miles and kilometres and kilometres, we were stuck inching along behind approximately 459,347 cyclists making their way up the hilly highway.  After what felt like our entire lives, we parted ways with the interminable clusters of bikers in Pentincton!! We stopped in Kelowna, BC for lunch at White Spot because that's just what you do when you're in BC.  Unsurprisingly, it was delicious.

We got to the campground and said hi to the crew - Liz, Cathy, Margaret Wells, Megan, Ben, Matt & Emily, Dave, Greg & Kristy. And Sydney & Kona, of course! We knew that the weather might not be awesome...but we didn't realize that meant thunderstorms and 2 hour long downpours! We were all a little worried that the tents would wash away at one point, or that we be sleeping on soaking wet sleeping bags, but luckily our tents all stood the test throughout the whole week of on again/off again rain.

We definitely made the most of the sunnier times, hanging out at the beach and swimming in the lake whenever there was a break in the weather. Dave & Ben got some fishing done and Zach took Claire to check out a big totem pole near the campground. We ventured into the town of Salmon Arm and spent some time at a cute little farm stand & petting zoo! We stocked up on some necessary rain gear, and tarped down our tent to protect against the rain showers. The kids had a great time hanging out with their cousins, swimming, smore-making & eating, reading and hanging out in Grandma's trailer! We got to hang with the family and really, truly catch up, which is always fantastic, even if it's raining!

On Saturday, July 20, we packed up the sites under threat of rain, but luckily it missed us! Everyone else headed back to the Lower Mainland, and we headed south to Richland, WA. We stayed at the Homewood Suites hotel, which is always great, and were all happy for showers and actual beds!  On Sunday we finished the drive to Boise with a lunch stop at Nells-N-Out in La Grande, OR.  We didn't get home until almost 6pm MT - it was great to be home!

We all had a wonderful visit with the Shepherd side of the family, and the rain this year just means that next year will be beautifully sunny and blue-skied! 

We're about to head off on our next (last) summer adventure - we're going to visit Jan, Ron & Grandma Dow in St. Augustine, FL for a week! We'll check in with an update when we get back, in the meantime, here are some pictures from our trip!

BC Camping 2019 Pictures!

Oregon Camping 2019

For the 10th time, we met our friends the Pilons for a summer camping trip.  This time we chose Prineville Reservoir just outside of Prineville, OR.  This turned out to be a great choice as the weather, campground, and lake combined to offer a great camping experience!  We arrived on Friday after a lunch in John Day at the Outpost Pizza Pub & Grill and quickly set up camp.  Despite not seeing each other for two years, our girls hit it off immediately with Cecelia (10) and Mallory (7) and they were quickly playing in the tents and exploring the woods near our sites.  We had a great night making smores around the campfire and enjoying each other's company!

On Saturday we woke up early (thank you to the chattering birds!) and enjoyed a nice breakfast.  I went on a short kayak trip and hike to the nearby island while the girls watched a ranger presentation about hiking safety for kids.  The camp host and Park Rangers had an amazing amount of activities for the kids to do all weekend, which was fantastic! Afterwards, we met up on the beach, where the girls went swimming for several hours.  They had a great time other than Claire getting a fish hook in her foot.  Luckily it was easily removed and she recovered after 30 minutes or so.  After swimming, we had a relaxing evening until Nora crashed her scooter in the evening.  Despite injuries to her head, lip, both elbows, and a knee, she recovered quickly and was cracking jokes about "Knee-asporin".  But it was an early bedtime for the kids after a busy day filled with injuries!

Sunday was our day to depart and we had an uneventful drive home.  We stopped in Burns for a late lunch and let the kids play at an old-school playground in nearby Hines.  They had a great time and it was a great end to a great weekend!

Oregon Camping 2019 Photos!

Playing Catch-up, Part Deux

Yep, that's right, folks - 2 blog posts in a week!! We can't believe it either...please don't get used to it!

So, when last we blogged, we were heading into Summer & looking forward to lots of nice weather. This summer has been a great one, both weather-wise & otherwise, so let's discuss, shall we? Great.

We kicked off the summer at the beginning of July by driving up to Vancouver to spend the July long weekend with my family. We headed out of Boise on the Thursday night (July 3rd) and drove through the night, arriving in Vancouver around breakfast time. The girls did really well on the overnight trip - Nora slept through a lot of it, and Claire slept off & on, but at least when she was awake, she would just talk quietly to herself & look out the window. No complaints from us!

The visit in Vancouver was great - the weather was gorgeous (and hot!), so we spent lots of time with Auntie Megan, Emily & Matthew at pools and playgrounds, which Claire loved of course! We also headed out to Cultus Lake to visit Uncle Dave & celebrate my birthday. Dave has a truly beautiful place to call home - the lake is practically at his doorstep, and is absolutely stunning! The water was amazing & even Claire splashed around in it after some serious coaching & coaxing from various family members. We were able to coordinate this visit with a cross-country visit from my Auntie Cathy who lives in Manitoba, so it was wonderful to see her & introduce her (and the whole family) to Nora!

Zach drove back to Boise & Claire, Nora & I spent another 10 days hanging out with everyone. It was so nice to just hang out at the wading pools & parks while the cousins played together. The girls & I were sad to leave, but had to head back to Boise so Zach wouldn't forget what we looked like! We flew to Portland & then to Boise, and both girls did very well. I was quite worried, flying with both of them by myself, but luckily the flights weren't long (1hr 15mins each leg), and Nora slept for a lot of the 2nd flight so I was able to keep Claire busy.

Our next adventure came in mid-August - camping with an almost-3 year old & a 6 month old! Such fun! No really, we had a great time. We headed out to Lewis and Clark Trail State Park, in Washington State, to meet up with our friends Joey & Sam and their daughters (Cecelia, 5 & Mallory, 2), and Tracy & Dan. We spent 2 nights at the campground, which was just lovely - the sites weren't big, but they were nice & right close to a small river. The girls played really well together & kept each other entertained for long stretches, which allowed the adults time to visit. Both Claire & Nora did very well sleeping in the tent with us - Claire was so worn out by bedtime on both nights that she'd just pass out cold & not even bat an eyelash if Nora woke up & cried! Yay for tired kids!

So, those were the two big trips of our summer, and now that we're heading into Fall, we're very excited to be flying down to Florida this Tuesday to spend a week with Jan & Ron! More about that trip in our next blog post...until then, here are the pictures from the rest of our summer...Enjoy!

Love,
Katie, Zach, Claire & Nora

Late Summer Update Pictures!
Nora Tries the Jumperoo Video
Nora Getting Used to the Jumperoo Video
Nora in the Jumperoo Video
Splashing Claire Video
Nora Splashes Video
Grass Fed Baby Video
Nora Eats Rice Cereal Video
Pool Slide Video
Nora Jumping Video
Nora Tips Over Video
Nora Reaching Video
Carousel Ride at the Fair Video
Jeep Ride at the Fair Video
Boat Ride at the Fair Video
Train Ride at the Fair Video
Camel Ride at the Fair Video
Nora in the Yard Video
Claire Pushes Nora Video
Labor Day Dinner Video

Vickery Summer Camping Trip 2013

Hi everyone! Now that you've recovered from the exciting news in our last blog post, let's talk about our recent camping trip! We go on an annual long weekend camping trip with our friends Joey & Sam (and their kids, Cecelia & Mallory), who live just outside of Olympia, WA, and our friends Tracy & Dan, who live in Portland, OR.
 
We usually try to pick a spot that's sort of halfway, but that's not exactly easy - there's not much around the halfway point between Boise & Portland/Olympia! This year, we tried a campground at the base of Mt. Rainier - La Wis Wis Campground. Since it was a 7 hour drive for us, we decided to split the trip into two days. We left Boise on Thursday night, stopped in Hermiston, OR (the apparent watermelon capital of the universe..or maybe just the Northwest). We made the rest of the drive to the campground on Friday morning/early afternoon, arriving around 2pm.

The campground was absolutely gorgeous - lots of tall pine trees & plenty of underbrush, moss-covered logs & fun areas around our sites for the kids to explore. We had a small site & a much bigger site, so we left the bigger site to the rest of the crew & set up in the small site (which was a good thing when night time rolled around..that's some foreshadowing, people!). Our site had a beautiful little creek running behind it!

We spent most of the weekend hanging out, going for walks, checking out the area & reconnecting with our friends, since we hadn't seen them for a year. Claire had a great time playing with Cecelia (who's 4) and Mallory (who's 17 months). Cecelia brought her bike (with training wheels), and Claire was OBSESSED with it. She loved honking the horn, and figured out pretty quickly how to climb onto the bike (over the back wheel & onto the seat!)..and then wanted us to push her around everywhere! We're already looking for the perfect tricycle for her birthday, of course!

Claire (and Mom & Dad!) had a tough night the first night - she went to bed just fine, but woke up a few hours later very upset, and didn't fall back asleep until 4 am. It was rough, to say the least. Luckily she was in a great mood all day after that, took a nap & then had a fantastic night's sleep the next night (exhaustion will do that to you!). Because of that first night's mayhem & screaming/crying, I was very glad we chose the small site, across the street from our friends & not near any other sites!

On Sunday morning, we all packed up & headed out to check out the park at the immediate base of Mt Rainier. Claire slept on the 30 minute drive there, and we enjoyed the gorgeous scenery...Mt Rainier is absolutely stunning! The Visitor Center area was packed with people - lots of hikers starting their climbs, and lots of tourists checking out the sights. We spent some time checking out the area, but unfortunately had to head out, since we had a 7 hour drive to make, and knew that we'd be losing an hour with the time difference.

We drove to Richland, WA and stopped at a park so that Claire could run around and burn off some energy before we made the rest of the drive. There was a pretty cool riverboat docked at the park, complete with a big paddlewheel! We had dinner at the Atomic Ale Brew Pub. Claire had a shrimp & cheese quesadilla (and insisted on dipping it in the salsa they provided, since any kind of dip is her favorite food). We split a thin crust pizza - half Bangkok Chicken (peanut sauce, bean sprouts, chicken, green onions, mozzarella, cilantro, shredded carrots & peanuts!) and half Ham & Pineapple. Zach also got to try a couple of their beers, which he enjoyed!

We made the rest of the uneventful trip home, and Claire slept most of the way. We were happy to get home at 1am!

It was a wonderful camping trip, in an awesomely beautiful location! We both agreed that we'd love to go back there in the future.

Here are some pictures & video of the trip...enjoy!
Camping 2013 Pictures!
Claire on Cecilia's Bike Video

September Camping Trip

On the weekend of September7-9, we met our friends Joey and Sam (with children Cecilia and Mallory) of Olympia and Tracy and Dan of Portland for a two night camping trip.  We planned on staying at Maryhill State Park but upon arrival there were no sites available.  Luckily our backup site, Brooks Memorial State Park, was only 20 miles away and had plenty of open sites.  We finally arrived just after 2PM and managed to find a single site that would fit three tents and three cars!

We had a great time camping - introducing Claire to everyone, meeting Mallory for the first time, watching the kids interact, catching up on everything, and just being outside!  As always, we had many great meals and enjoyed the various park amenities.  The park was mostly quiet (and surprisingly empty) although there was a bit of highway road noise audible from our site.  Thanks to the dry summer, camp fires were banned which was disappointing.

We left around noon on Sunday and made a pit stop in La Grande where Claire played in a park for a bit.  We arrived home at about 8PM very proud of Claire for completing her second camping trip!

September Camping Trip Pictures!
Claire in a Rocking Chair Video
Claire and Cecilia Play With Dirt Video
Scenes From Camping Video
Cecilia Loves Claire Video
Claire Likes Ladder Golf Video 
Katie With Mallory and Claire Video
Claire on a Slide Video
Claire on a Swing Video

Baby's First Camping Trip!

***Disclaimer: I've added some pictures into the text of this blog post, but there are lots more pictures (and videos!) at the bottom of the post!***


On the morning of Sunday, August 12th, we loaded Claire into the (already-overloaded!) car & headed out for a camping trip of epic proportions! Not only was it one of our longest camping trips to date, it was also Claire's first time camping - that's a recipe for success, right?! Well, it ended up being a fun trip, and Claire was a champion camper & road-tripper for the most part. Yay!

Sunday was a loooong day of driving - we left Boise at 7am local time & didn't get to our Bed & Breakfast (Inn at the Lake) in Newport, WA until 7pm Washington time...it made for a 13 hour day, but there was one highlight to the day! Since it was our 8th anniversary on August 12th, we stopped in Spokane, WA for an early dinner, at The Flying Goat & had some absolutely delicious food! We started with their Focaccia, which had fresh tomatoes, fresh basil, garlic & goat cheese...

This was SO good & a great start to our meal. For our main course, we decided to share a pizza, and did a half-and-half, since we couldn't choose just one pizza - everything sounded yummy & it was hard enough to choose two! We ended up with 1/2 "Waikiki":

Waikiki - Zoe's sweet coppa and artisan ham, caramelized pineapple, roasted jalapeno, house cheese blend and plum tomato sauce

...and 1/2 "D Street"

 D Street - Yellow Coconut Curry, chicken, potato, jalapeno, carrot, house cheese blend, cilantro, sriracha and lime juice

 Yep, you read that right - we had Yellow Coconut Curry on a pizza! And, as unsure we were about it, it was absolutely fantastic! The Waikiki (basically a fancy Ham & Pineapple with jalapenos added) was also delicious, but we both agreed that the D Street was our favorite - the flavours worked really well together, the heat of the sriracha (which is a Thai Chili Garlic hot sauce) was a great kick at the end, and the cheese (which I was worried about, in combination with the other flavours) wasn't out-of-place, it just added a little something & played well with of the other toppings. We'll definitely be going back if we're in Spokane again, and will recommend it to anyone we know who is going there! Oh, and Zach loved their beer selection...and Claire liked looking out their window..and eating bits of pizza crust!

Ok, now that my food reviewer duties are complete, let's move on, shall we? After dinner, we stopped at Audubon Park in Spokane, so that Claire could crawl around & play a little before the hour-long drive to the B&B. She had fun on the swings, and crawling in the grass - they even had a little water park, but she wanted no part of that!

The B&B that Zach found for us to stay in was absolutely gorgeous! Here's the view from the dock, towards the back of the house.

 It was right on a lake, and the back of the house (that faced the lake) was pretty much all windows! Claire spent lots of time crawling around & stretching her legs after being in the carseat, and slept pretty well that night. Zach was even able to fit in a little kayak on one of the B&B's hard-shell kayaks...it was a little too short for his long legs, but at least he was able to get out on the lake & paddle around in the morning!

The breakfast, prepared by the owners, was delicious - a Southwestern quiche with tomatoes, bacon & chives; fruit & yogurt parfait; fresh orange juice; a small piece of coffee cake and the star of the show - freshly baked biscuits with homemade huckleberry butter! I'm pretty sure we both would have eaten huckleberry butter with nothing but a spoon, if we could have - it was outstanding.

After breakfast on Monday morning, we were on the road again. We crossed the border & made our way to Nelson, BC, where we stopped for lunch (A&W, which we ate at a sketchy park that was populated mainly by homeless people...lunch was eaten quickly, needless to say!). The views on the trip up were beautiful:

We made it to the campground at McDonald Creek by 4pm & started the camping extravaganza!

It was a wonderful week of camping - we got to spend lots of quality time with my immediate family, as well as my Auntie Margaret & my Mom's sisters, Cathy & Barb, and 2 of Barb's kids, my cousins Graham & Allison. It was so nice for us to get the chance to introduce Claire to the extended family! We wish we could have spent more time with Auntie Cathy, since she wasn't able to get there until Friday & we had to leave on Sunday so Zach could get back to work, but at least she & Claire got to have some quality time.
During the week, we celebrated Mom's 65th birthday, as well as Margaret's birthday - unfortunately we had to leave before Allison's birthday on Monday, but we were thinking of her! The rest of the week was spent splashing in the lake (Claire wasn't a fan of the cold water!), hanging out in the sun (or shade!) and eating lots of good food. Here's a shot of the lake early one morning:

Claire also got to experience sand for the first time, and seemed to be pretty intrigued with it - she kept grabbing handfuls & letting it fall through her fingers. She did (of course) try eating some, but figured out pretty quickly that it was gross.
Zach also got to use his inflatable kayak & paddle the lake - my cousin Graham gave it a try, too.

Since the weather was so gorgeous, some of the crew decided to go for a hike one day - Zach, Megan, Greg, Graham & Allison hiked up to the peak of Saddle Mountain - the pictures are absolutely breathtaking, and it looked like quite a stunning hike, both on the way up, and at the peak. Maybe next time Zach can take Claire in our backpack carrier!

For the Arts & Crafts portion of Camp, my Mom came up with the great idea of making Claire a rattle out of an empty can & some rocks - the top was sealed with duct tape...we (of course) used an empty beer can (because we're klassy like that), and Claire LOVED it! It kept her entertained for minutes, which in Baby-World is basically MONTHS!

Then Allison, Emily & Matthew made Claire an amazing beer can mobile, with sticks, embroidery floss & (you guessed it!) beer cans (we had a few empties hanging around). It was beautifully trashy, and again, Claire was fascinated with it - I was disappointed that we didn't have space to bring it home with us! Thanks again for all your hard work, guys!

We were sad to have to leave everyone on Sunday, Aug 19th, but we had to drive to Pullman, WA, so that Zach could work at his corporate office on Monday. Zach worked all day while Claire & I entertained ourselves - we spent some time hanging out at Sunnyside Park so that Claire could get some exercise & fresh air in preparation for our final leg of the journey home. We picked Zach up at work, grabbed some dinner & hit the road.

Our trip home was long, and made a little longer by some road construction delays, but Claire was (once again!) a road-trip champ & slept pretty much the whole way home. We got home at 2am & passed out!

Now we're getting ready for our next (and final) camping trip of 2012 - we'll be spending a couple of nights in Oregon, with our friends from Olympia, WA. We don't get to see them very often, and they have a 3 year old & a 4 month old, so it will be fun to see the kids interact!

Sorry for the LOOOOONG & rambling post - clearly I have a problem being concise!
Enjoy the pictures & videos!

Summer Camping Trip Pictures!
Claire Crawls Around Audubon Park Video
Claire In A Swing Video
Claire Climbs a Step Video
Claire Beer Can Rattle Video

Oregon Camping 2011

In the spirit of past MVP trips, once again we met Joey, Sam, Cecilia, Tracy, and Dan for a short (two night) camping trip. This year's destination was Deschutes State Park along the Columbia River just east of The Dalles, Oregon. We arrived on the afternoon of Friday the 10th and were the first to show up. We checked out the park and played some Scrabble (Katie won) before the Pilons arrived later in the afternoon. Our immediate observation was that the park was quite windy and it nearly blew away our Scrabble board! Fortunately it calmed down just after sundown and was pleasant during the rest of our stay. Another interesting feature we immediately observed was the horde of super-aggressive blackbirds that would swoop down on you, chirp incessantly, and poop in your general direction. Unfortunately, the birds never calmed down!

On Friday night we enjoyed a hot dog dinner and sat around the fire and waited for Tracy and Dan to arrive late in the evening - they made it just after dark. After hanging around the fire and chatting for a while, we retired for the night. Sadly, our sleep was interrupted by the Union Pacific trains rolling by the campground several times through the night - this wouldn't have been so bad if they didn't blow the horn roughly five times each time they passed the campground! Argh!!

Saturday was a great mix of eating, hiking, hanging out in the sun, napping (in between trains), and taking it easy. Just like camping should be! The hiking was spectacular and consisted of a nice trail paralleling the Deschutes River upstream. Sunday we spent the morning packing up and enjoying Katie's lovely bacon and french toast breakfast! After some group pictures, we were on the road just after noon for the long drive back to Boise.

I really liked the campsites and the hiking/biking options at this campground but the train noise was pretty bad. It quickly became pretty obvious why we were some of the few tenters in the whole campground! Even with that, it was a great weekend camping with friends!

Oregon Camping Pictures!

MVP Camping Trip #3

The follow-up to last year's MVP Camping Trip was going to be Ohanapecosh Campground within Mt. Rainer National Park. This would be a long drive for us but an opportunity to see the park for the first time. In addition, there would be be two new participants, Tracy and Dan, both of Olympia. Sadly, Karen and Shaun couldn't make it so in combination with Sam, Joey, and Cecilia the trip would consist of the seven of us. The name "MVP" doesn't really work as well for this trip but I'm using it anyway!

The site reservation was chosen on the weekend following our anniversary. We thus decided to leave a day early and spend our anniversary night at the Geiser Grand Hotel in Baker City - a 111 year old hotel that was restored in the 1990s. After work on the 12th, we left Boise around 7pm, making to Baker City just after 8pm local time. After checking in, we ate a nice dinner at the restaurant - Katie had the crab cakes and I had the Idaho trout. Both dishes were great and the restaurant had a great vintage feel to it. We stayed in the cupola suite which was great - lots of room, windows, and nicely appointed. When checking out we were told this room is supposed to be haunted - other than a slightly moving chandelier, we noticed nothing.

On Friday we ate a late breakfast/early lunch at Subway before undertaking the drive to the campground. Driving was mostly highlighted by the eclectic iPod shuffle I put together. We ended up arriving at the campground at about 4pm - at almost the exact time as everyone else!

We were very impressed with the heavily wooded campground along the glacier-sourced Ohanapecosh River. The campground features a near-complete tree canopy of tall second-growth trees, a swimming hole complete with diving opportunities, a visitor center, and trails leading to nearby waterfalls and old-growth forest. We very much enjoyed our time in the beautiful surroundings relaxing with friends! We had a great time meeting Tracy and Dan, catching up with Sam and Joey, seeing how much Cecilia had grown since last time, hanging out around the fire, checking out the area, and eating lots of food!

On Sunday we all departed around noon, beginning the long drive home. We got home a little bit after 8pm, forced to prepare for a week at work.

MVP Camping Pictures (I apologize for the poor quality - we forgot our "real" camera and had to use the cell phone)

Summer Vacation 2010!

Katie and I departed Boise around 11pm on Friday night, July 30th, for an all-night drive to Vancouver. We took turns driving and sleeping (though Katie got more sleep than I) and made it to Bellingham by the early morning. In Bellingham we visited the site of our wedding before stopping at Trader Joes to buy a few items. We soon crossed the border and were at the Shepherd house around 10am.

We were starving upon arrival so we ordered some Panago pizza. After this nice meal, we crashed for a few hours before meeting Kelly (who was at our wedding) at the Elephant Walk Pub. We had a good time catching up over Kokanee and then proceeded to head home to hang out with Dave and sleep.

On Sunday Katie met a couple of her friends. I chose to use the day to instead hike Dam Mountain in North Vancouver. This also gave me the opportunity to do the Grouse Grind, a famous and incredibly steep Vancouver trail that leads to Grouse Mountain Resort area. The Grind was much more prolonged and tougher than I expected... basically it is a staircase that is the approximate height of the Burj Khalifa. The trail was packed with people, which made the trail feel like some kind of outdoor gym and also meant getting stuck behind people and occasionally being tailed by someone faster. I even encountered one guy having a seizure (he was being attended to) and was just above another guy who kicked a small log down the trail which nearly wiped out one or more people. Basically the trail was nuts and struck me as a little bit unsafe given many of the people on it. After a lot of work I made it to the top in just under 65 minutes - pretty good in my opinion!

Once at the top I checked out some of the exhibits, including the zip lines and the grizzly bears. After some questions about the location of the trail (it was not signed) and the "bear in the area" sign, I was eventually headed toward the peak. Once I got going it became evident that the peak would be shrouded in fog - so much for having a summit view! I continued upward on a much narrower and more rugged trail than I expected - pretty much the total opposite from the Grind and much different from the somewhat busy Mt Seymour which I climbed last year. The trail was kind of surreal because it felt like wilderness but was actually paralleled by a noisy irrigation pipe, was overflown by zip lines, and was in earshot of the crowds cheering as they watched the lumberjack show. After scarfing some M&Ms and checking out the foggy summit, I headed back down to the resort where I managed to catch part of the raptor show. Every time I see that sort of thing it reminds me that falconry is cool. From there it was back to the aerial tramway and parking lot.

Sunday night I was left alone (Katie and Dave were both out and about) so I watched some TV and hit the Flying Wedge for dinner. On Monday we mostly ran errands in preparation for the camping trip, however the three of us did meet Greg and Carmina for dinner at White Spot.

Tuesday started bright and early with a 4am departure for the Syringa Provincial Park campground. After performing the final packing of our two vehicles, the five of us hit the 7-11 then headed east. We had some two-way radios to communicate which also made for good entertainment. We made good time and had breakfast at a Subway in Osoyoos which was memorable mainly for the bad service and the depleted pop fountain. Around 1pm we made it to the campground, being the first of our group to show up. Liz and the Aprims followed shortly thereafter and we all proceeded to setup camp.

Camping was great and was highlighted by the usual activities - eating, swimming, reading, relaxing, walking the dogs, sitting around the campfire, etc. In my case, hiking around the park and kayaking across the lake were also included. We also managed to power through a lot of beers - maybe as many as 100?

On Saturday we packed up our stuff and headed home, leaving the campground around 11:45am. The Aprims headed back to Vancouver, Liz and Dave continued camping at McDonald Creek, and we headed back to Boise. Katie and I did eat at the Subway in Castlegar before heading south. We had a minor navigational faux pas in Trail but otherwise headed right on down. We decided to have a nicer dinner in Lewiston and stopped at Matt's Grill where I had the bratwurst and Katie had the lemon chicken. Both were good and I had my first exposure to sauerkraut - a food I truly don't understand. We arrived in Boise just after 2am and 550 miles of driving. After unpacking a few things and a quick shower, we crashed and used Sunday to recover.

Summer Vacation Pictures!
Dam Mountain Pictures!
Dam Mountain GPS Track

MVP Camping Trip #2

In 2007, we met our friends Sam & Joey Pilon, Karen and Shaun Mouton (all of Olympia) at the Crow Butte Park in south-central Washington. This trip, appropriately dubbed the MVP camping trip, was a great way to reconnect with old friends and made for an excellent weekend. Sadly, there was no such trip in 2008 but thanks to Facebook a 2009 edition was planned for Labor Day weekend. This trip also featured a new participant, Sam and Joey's 8 month old daughter Cecilia!

Due to last-minute planning of the trip, our camping choices were limited but we were able to secure two adjacent campsites at Memaloose State Park in Oregon, just outside of The Dalles. We had concerns that this would be a lackluster place due to it being one of the few unreserved sites left on Labor Day weekend (as of July). Upon arrival, we were quite impressed that our two sites were together, somewhat spaced from other sites, and wooded. The sites also had water and pretty good restroom ("washroom" for any Canadians reading this) access. The park does have some noise issues with a nearby rail line and freeway, however neither was disturbing enough to consider a major negative.

We had a great time meeting Cecilia, catching up, eating lots of food, drinking beer, taking it easy by the fire... all the usual camping traditions. Joey, Sam, and I took a brief hike down through some of the other areas of the park to check out the scenery. The Columbia Gorge is a fascinating place and is a great locale in which to spend a few nights outdoors! Before leaving we resolved to put together a 2010 edition of the trip.. possibly at Ohanapekosh Campground?

MVP Camping Trip #2 Pictures!

Summer Vacation!

We are pleased to report that we had a most excellent summer vacation to Canada! We left our respective jobs around lunchtime on the 14th and began the drive to Bonners Ferry. This drive was uneventful except for us listening to some Spanish language CDs in a futile attempt to learn a new tongue. I think "embajada Americana" is about all either of us remember! After a quick dinner at Subway in the outskirts of Spokane, we arrived about 10pm at the Kootenai River Inn and after briefly surveying the casino we decided to retire for the night. I think our expectations were set too high in Las Vegas!

After a nice sleep at the hotel, we were intrigued to discover a farmer's market going on just across the highway near downtown. We checked it out and ended up with some delicious bagels, doughnuts, and kettle corn! It was a small farmer's market, but very well done. We didn't buy any of the excellent-looking produce since we couldn't take it across the border.

Our drive from Bonners Ferry to McDonald Creek Park was uneventful. The border lineup (Porthill, ID) consisted of about 2 cars and the questioning was similarly brief. We did get some rain along the way, which is always discouraging on a camping trip. Fortunately it had moved through the campground by the time we got there. We must've brought some good weather since we didn't get rained on once during our stay! The first night at the campground was pretty crazy as we had approximately 19 people at the site for dinner that night. From there, things slowly quieted down over the course of our stay.

Monday featured a memorial service for Ian, in which some of Ian's ashes were placed at the park and balloons were cast to the sky. It was of course a very sad ceremony but also one I found to be very appropriate given his love for camping at McDonald Creek. You are missed Ian!

On Tuesday, Auntie Margaret, Megan, Dave, and I went on a hike to Idaho Peak. The drive over to Sandon was a little bit long and the final stretch of Forest Service road was kind of wild on the steep, one lane road that leads to the trailhead. However once we were hiking we were rewarded with epic views and easily the best wildflower display I've seen anywhere. I was actually astonished with how many people were up on the peak... probably 25 other people at least, maybe more. The register had names from all over BC, the US, and especially Europe. I must say I do understand the appeal!

The rest of the trip was defined by relaxation, swimming, kayaking, checking out places in Nakusp, and my reading of one of Bill's favorite books, Expert F#. We also had two meals at the Mushroom Addition in Fauquier, which is the only restaurant I've encountered which serves a wild mushroom mix with their burgers. Highly recommended!

On Thursday (the 20th) we returned to Vancouver and on the way stopped at Helmut's in Vernon for some excellent bison pepperoni. I think I need to find a supply for that stuff closer to home because it's really good!

In Vancouver Katie visited with her friends and I went hiking to Mount Seymour, a popular local hiking destination. The hike was enjoyable but the views were sadly marred by clouds. At least I got to experience the views while snowshoeing up there in February 2006! Our dining experiences in town were pretty limited, consisting only of Panago Pizza (yum) and wings (not so great; the URL is false advertising).

The evening before we left, I noticed a tire on the Escape was looking pretty low. Sure enough, it was down to 15psi. I hit some kind of debris on the way up to Mt Seymour and that apparently damaged the tire. Fortunately with more air it was good to drive home. After getting back home, it turned out we needed to replace the tire (and thus the other three too). Annoying, but at least it didn't mar our otherwise excellent vacation!

Summer Vacation Pictures!
Idaho Peak Pictures!
Mount Seymour Pictures!

Summer Vacation Pictures

It's been over a month but we've finally gotten the pictures from our summer vacation online. To recap, our itinerary was:

• Camping one night at Heyburn State Park near Plummer, ID (no pictures from here)
• Camping three nights at McDonald Creek Provincial Park near Nakusp, BC (all pictures are from this time)
• Spending the remaining time at the Shepherd household in Vancouver (no pictures)

The majority of the pictures are from when I took a hike up Saddle Back Mountain. This peak is very near to the campground and has a nice trail to the top. The peak features an abandoned fire lookout and postcard views. Enjoy!

Summer Vacation 2008 Pictures!