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| Helping me up the muddy hill |
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| Four wheel drive helps in the Oregon spring mud |
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| An Oregon slug |
Showing posts with label Spring. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Spring. Show all posts
Wednesday, April 26, 2017
Wordless Wednesday: Wet Spring
Thursday, March 30, 2017
March Hiking Goals
One thing is immediately obvious to me while putting together this post. And that is, I have an entirely excessive number of pictures to share. I think I'll take that as a good thing- it means I have made it out to a number of different hikes and beaches this month.
A trip up to visit a friend in Portland gave us the chance to visit a totally new park. I've heard about the Sandy River Delta park (also called Thousand Acres) for years from the Portland area people, but I've never had a good chance to go until now. We went for about a two hour hike with five dogs, and there were plenty of trails we never even saw let alone hiked. Some areas were a little flooded, but not nearly as bad as I hear it is now.
Early this month, the lower Willamette Valley got hit with some surprise snow. They originally told us it would snow but not stick because the ground was too wet. When the snow was obviously sticking first thing in the morning, and I knew I didn't have to work until later that afternoon, I just had to go out for a hike. I actually managed to be the first person on top of Bald Hill in the snow.
A trip to the coast with a friend was a spur of the moment decision. The weather wasn't great to begin with, and just got windier and wetter the longer we stayed there. We had a goal in mind, but ended up not being able to find the beach we were looking for. Instead, we took the scenic route along the Three Capes and stumbled onto a small collection of trails. We turned around when the sheer cliff drops combined with the wind gusts freaked me out too much to keep going. I might try that trail again in the future on a calm day.
We stopped at Cape Kiwanda (in Pacific City) on our way south) to grab a picture of some of the rock formations out in the surf. My friend had been there the previous weekend and forgotten to grab a picture. We walked on the beach for maybe five minutes before deciding the wind and rain was just too miserable to be worth it and heading back to the car to continue south. I'm including it because we technically hit the beach there, even if it was a short visit.
On that same day, we stopped for lunch in Neskowin, at a really nice little restaurant that has a fireplace in the corner (very welcome after our short beach walk at Cape Kiwanda) and great local food. The weather had dried up a bit once we were done with lunch, so we headed down to the beach for a little while. The tide was high but headed out.
Back in Salem at the end of our very wet and windy coast trip, the sun was out and the sky was blue, so we decided to take a bit of a walk at the two connecting parks along the Willamette River. We started in West Salem and then went across the foot bridge to the downtown riverfront area, and then back. These are some nice trails, and the footbridge is fun, but large and stable enough to not be scary.
I shared some pictures of kayaks earlier this month. Well, we went out to Sunnyside Park in Linn County to do a little bit of kayaking on a gorgeous day- the last day of winter, in fact. We had enough time to either do a little hiking or get some lunch before heading to flyball practice, so we chose lunch and decided to leave hiking for another day.
Dr. Martin Luther King Jr Park is in Corvallis, and has some off leash trail options. The off leash areas aren't very long, so I often end up doing a few laps, or combining with some of the on leash areas. This time of year, the off leash areas were basically sucking mud swamps. Ptera had fun though, and it held off on raining until right after we left.
Another trip to Bald Hill just a few days ago, and I noticed I hadn't gotten a picture with this sign yet. We probably went to Bald Hill 2-3 times this month without taking any pictures, as well as the times where the camera came along. It really is my favorite local trail system, being accessible, allowing dogs off leash, and having a variety of trail options.
Overall, I think I did pretty good for hiking, beaches, and lakes in March. An early kayaking trip landed me at Foster Lake, we hit two different beaches, a new park in Portland, a new hike on the coast, a new park in Salem, and a number of trips to Bald Hill and other local city parks.
Having this goal in mind really does help motivate me to get out and do stuff. Instead of sitting at home watching Netflix, I decide to get in a quick hike at Bald Hill. Instead of enjoying a full day off at home, I ask friends if they want to go to the coast for the day. I'm enjoying it a lot.
First, the local Bald Hill trail system got our visit. March is the beginning of the nesting season for some local birds, so it becomes pretty important in the off leash stretches to keep your dog either on leash or under close voice control, because letting them off into the fields can cause some serious damage to the nesting birds.
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| This counts as being on the trail, right? |
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| Most of our trails in Benton County have these brown markers |
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| Showing the way the trail goes |
A trip up to visit a friend in Portland gave us the chance to visit a totally new park. I've heard about the Sandy River Delta park (also called Thousand Acres) for years from the Portland area people, but I've never had a good chance to go until now. We went for about a two hour hike with five dogs, and there were plenty of trails we never even saw let alone hiked. Some areas were a little flooded, but not nearly as bad as I hear it is now.
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| A carved wood trail marker at the Sandy River Delta |
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| One of the many trails to walk on at the Sandy River Delta |
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| Sandy River Delta trail map and information |
Early this month, the lower Willamette Valley got hit with some surprise snow. They originally told us it would snow but not stick because the ground was too wet. When the snow was obviously sticking first thing in the morning, and I knew I didn't have to work until later that afternoon, I just had to go out for a hike. I actually managed to be the first person on top of Bald Hill in the snow.
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| Bald Hill's main sign in the snow early this month |
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| A less than completely useful trail marker |
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| I don't think newts are generally out in the snow. |
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| We walked far enough to get to the other parking lot and grabbed a picture of the sign there |
A trip to the coast with a friend was a spur of the moment decision. The weather wasn't great to begin with, and just got windier and wetter the longer we stayed there. We had a goal in mind, but ended up not being able to find the beach we were looking for. Instead, we took the scenic route along the Three Capes and stumbled onto a small collection of trails. We turned around when the sheer cliff drops combined with the wind gusts freaked me out too much to keep going. I might try that trail again in the future on a calm day.
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| I'm honestly not sure of the official name here- we were kind of lost and found some hiking trails |
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| This was a rainy, windy, overall terrible weather day at the coast, but we stopped at Cape Kiwanda anyway |
On that same day, we stopped for lunch in Neskowin, at a really nice little restaurant that has a fireplace in the corner (very welcome after our short beach walk at Cape Kiwanda) and great local food. The weather had dried up a bit once we were done with lunch, so we headed down to the beach for a little while. The tide was high but headed out.
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| Neskowin Beach, which happens to have a really good place to stop for lunch |
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| Sometimes the beach isn't accessible this way due to high water |
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| The waterfront in Salem has some nice casual walking trails and a foot bridge over the river |
I shared some pictures of kayaks earlier this month. Well, we went out to Sunnyside Park in Linn County to do a little bit of kayaking on a gorgeous day- the last day of winter, in fact. We had enough time to either do a little hiking or get some lunch before heading to flyball practice, so we chose lunch and decided to leave hiking for another day.
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| Sunnyside Park in Linn County is on Foster Reservoir, and has boat ramps and camping, but not much in the way of hiking. |
Dr. Martin Luther King Jr Park is in Corvallis, and has some off leash trail options. The off leash areas aren't very long, so I often end up doing a few laps, or combining with some of the on leash areas. This time of year, the off leash areas were basically sucking mud swamps. Ptera had fun though, and it held off on raining until right after we left.
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| Dr. Martin Luther King Jr Park is a local Corvallis City park. |
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| This is a fun painted sign at MLK park |
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| MLK park has some off leash trail sections which can be fun, though they are mud pits this time of year |
Another trip to Bald Hill just a few days ago, and I noticed I hadn't gotten a picture with this sign yet. We probably went to Bald Hill 2-3 times this month without taking any pictures, as well as the times where the camera came along. It really is my favorite local trail system, being accessible, allowing dogs off leash, and having a variety of trail options.
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| Duster joined me and Ptera for a Bald Hill hike |
Overall, I think I did pretty good for hiking, beaches, and lakes in March. An early kayaking trip landed me at Foster Lake, we hit two different beaches, a new park in Portland, a new hike on the coast, a new park in Salem, and a number of trips to Bald Hill and other local city parks.
Having this goal in mind really does help motivate me to get out and do stuff. Instead of sitting at home watching Netflix, I decide to get in a quick hike at Bald Hill. Instead of enjoying a full day off at home, I ask friends if they want to go to the coast for the day. I'm enjoying it a lot.
Wednesday, March 29, 2017
WW: Spring Flowers
A few spring flowers and a short hike with a new friend.
This adorable guy is staying with us for the week, and is looking for a perfect home of his own. Ptera thinks we should keep him.
This adorable guy is staying with us for the week, and is looking for a perfect home of his own. Ptera thinks we should keep him.
Saturday, March 25, 2017
Quick Walk Snapshot
I don't always bring my nice camera with me, and sometimes I regret it. Our short walk down to the Irish Bend covered bridge earlier this week is one of them. We passed by daffodils, some awesome logs, and of course the covered bridge itself. But sometimes a picture is about technical details, and sometimes it is just a quick snapshot in time.
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| Irish Bend covered bridge |
Monday, March 20, 2017
Happy Spring
Today is actually cold, grey, and raining. Which, to be honest, is pretty typical for spring in Oregon. Yesterday, however, was amazing. The day started off cold, the night had been below freezing, but it warmed up and was clear, bright, and sunny all day.
I met up with some friends for the day, and we went for our first kayak trip of the year. That is my sunrise colored kayak in front, waiting to hit the water for the first time since August. My wrist wasn't thrilled with paddling, but my friends were awesome. I got a tow for part of our trip to help my wrist out, and shared a tandem kayak for a short jaunt as well.
After we finished up our trip, we stopped at a burger place and sat at the outside tables for lunch. I managed to, between kayaking and lunch, get a pretty nasty sunburn (bad enough I was running a fever last night). But overall, I have to say, it was an awesome last day of winter.
I met up with some friends for the day, and we went for our first kayak trip of the year. That is my sunrise colored kayak in front, waiting to hit the water for the first time since August. My wrist wasn't thrilled with paddling, but my friends were awesome. I got a tow for part of our trip to help my wrist out, and shared a tandem kayak for a short jaunt as well.
After we finished up our trip, we stopped at a burger place and sat at the outside tables for lunch. I managed to, between kayaking and lunch, get a pretty nasty sunburn (bad enough I was running a fever last night). But overall, I have to say, it was an awesome last day of winter.
Friday, June 17, 2016
Tiny Ptera and Medium Koira
I've heard more than once that the size of my dogs surprises people in real life. When we went to BlogPaws and met people who have read our blog, Koira was always smaller than they thought she would be. Pallo was always bigger than they thought he would be.
Well, I can tell you for sure, Ptera is smaller than you think she is. Every time my neighbor sees her, he says "It's like a dog, but tiny," which is pretty much exactly right. Ptera is 10.5 lbs and measures at 13.5" tall at the shoulder.
Koira is a solid medium sized dog by most standards. She stands 19" tall at the shoulder and weighs in at or around 40 lbs. She is heavy for her height because of her muscular build, which I think is part of what throws people off about her.
All this is to say, if I thought it was challenging to get good pictures of Pallo and Koira together because of their differences in height, I don't know why I thought it would be any different with Ptera. Pictures are much easier if both of the subjects' faces are close together in terms of distance from the camera- and when one of my dogs can literally walk underneath the other, their faces are never going to be in the same place! So if you've been wondering why there are no pictures of Ptera and Koira posing together, this is one major reason for that. The other major reason being that I am still in the process of teaching Ptera how to do stand stays and sit stays and pose for the camera, and it is easier to work with her alone than to have both dogs doing it at the same time.
Koira is a pro poser, and she should be after this many years. She has her times when she doesn't want to do it, and refuses to put up her ears. And sometimes she manages to just look sad even with her ears up. Some places are no-goes for posing with her too, due to her phobia of traffic noises (though she is getting better with it!).
Ptera so far is fearless, but sensitive. Noises and movement and things don't phase her. Being addressed in a harsh tone can flatten her, though, and being reset for a broken stay tends to make her Dobby ears come out- where instead of nice forward tipped Jack Russell ears, her ears kind of flop half open out to the side, even if the reset is done in an upbeat way with no words of disappointment. Thankfully, she is quick to recover, and while she is sensitive, she is naturally a quick and inquisitive dog.
And I am finding out that there are shots you can get, like being totally embedded in the lavender, with a tiny dog that you have no chance of getting with a medium or large dog. But on the other side of the same coin, there are shots where a tiny dog gets totally lost, such as posing with larger things like statues, tall flowers, etc. If the flowers are above her head, it is like she is just getting her picture with a bunch of green stems! There are so many things to get used to about having a tiny dog for the first time, and adjusting my photography to work with her is just one of them.
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| Posing in the lavender |
Well, I can tell you for sure, Ptera is smaller than you think she is. Every time my neighbor sees her, he says "It's like a dog, but tiny," which is pretty much exactly right. Ptera is 10.5 lbs and measures at 13.5" tall at the shoulder.
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| Koira posing in the exact same spot that Ptera is in, above. |
Koira is a solid medium sized dog by most standards. She stands 19" tall at the shoulder and weighs in at or around 40 lbs. She is heavy for her height because of her muscular build, which I think is part of what throws people off about her.
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| Ptera and Koira's first official posed picture together. Koira isn't a very big dog, and Ptera really is that tiny. |
All this is to say, if I thought it was challenging to get good pictures of Pallo and Koira together because of their differences in height, I don't know why I thought it would be any different with Ptera. Pictures are much easier if both of the subjects' faces are close together in terms of distance from the camera- and when one of my dogs can literally walk underneath the other, their faces are never going to be in the same place! So if you've been wondering why there are no pictures of Ptera and Koira posing together, this is one major reason for that. The other major reason being that I am still in the process of teaching Ptera how to do stand stays and sit stays and pose for the camera, and it is easier to work with her alone than to have both dogs doing it at the same time.
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| Three kinds of lavender- one behind her, one beside her, and one in front of her |
Koira is a pro poser, and she should be after this many years. She has her times when she doesn't want to do it, and refuses to put up her ears. And sometimes she manages to just look sad even with her ears up. Some places are no-goes for posing with her too, due to her phobia of traffic noises (though she is getting better with it!).
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| Ptera is in the same location that Koira is in above. So tiny. |
Ptera so far is fearless, but sensitive. Noises and movement and things don't phase her. Being addressed in a harsh tone can flatten her, though, and being reset for a broken stay tends to make her Dobby ears come out- where instead of nice forward tipped Jack Russell ears, her ears kind of flop half open out to the side, even if the reset is done in an upbeat way with no words of disappointment. Thankfully, she is quick to recover, and while she is sensitive, she is naturally a quick and inquisitive dog.
And I am finding out that there are shots you can get, like being totally embedded in the lavender, with a tiny dog that you have no chance of getting with a medium or large dog. But on the other side of the same coin, there are shots where a tiny dog gets totally lost, such as posing with larger things like statues, tall flowers, etc. If the flowers are above her head, it is like she is just getting her picture with a bunch of green stems! There are so many things to get used to about having a tiny dog for the first time, and adjusting my photography to work with her is just one of them.
Wednesday, May 18, 2016
Saturday, May 14, 2016
Tulips
Tulip season has passed. We're waiting on the lavender to bloom now.
Luckily, while the tulips were still going strong I found an adorable little local tulip farm, and stopped by one morning to get some photos. Pallo's new mama came along to be my photo assistant, and brought Pallo for his glamour shots.
He wasn't really into the posing thing...
Koira of course is a pro at posing. She wasn't so sure about the stool we had her standing on with her back legs, and tried to come through the window a few times. Pallo's mama is inside the building steadying her and keeping her from leaping forward.
Ptera was, and still is, new to posing, but I think she managed to rock it pretty well. She is a happy, eager to please little dog. She is super smart, so while it can take a little bit of explaining what you want, once she figures it out, she does her absolute best to do it.
Luckily, while the tulips were still going strong I found an adorable little local tulip farm, and stopped by one morning to get some photos. Pallo's new mama came along to be my photo assistant, and brought Pallo for his glamour shots.
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He wasn't really into the posing thing...
Koira of course is a pro at posing. She wasn't so sure about the stool we had her standing on with her back legs, and tried to come through the window a few times. Pallo's mama is inside the building steadying her and keeping her from leaping forward.
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Ptera was, and still is, new to posing, but I think she managed to rock it pretty well. She is a happy, eager to please little dog. She is super smart, so while it can take a little bit of explaining what you want, once she figures it out, she does her absolute best to do it.
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Monday, March 21, 2016
Happy Spring
I hope everyone got a chance to enjoy the first day of spring yesterday. We spent the weekend at a Barn Hunt trial, and while Saturday was gorgeous and sunny, Sunday brought in clouds, heavy rain, and some thunder storms. But it cleared up a bit on my drive home, and some gorgeous daffodils beckoned.
Oh, and hey, go enter the giveaway for a $75 gift card to Vision Bedding I posted about last week. Enter. Share. Much awesome.
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| Ptera is short. Like, really really short. |
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| Koira is a pro poser. She knows her job. |
Oh, and hey, go enter the giveaway for a $75 gift card to Vision Bedding I posted about last week. Enter. Share. Much awesome.
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