Bend, Chicago, Fort Wayne, McCall

After visiting my family in Reno, we took a road trip up to Bend, Oregon.  There was still a lot of snow in McCall, so we thought we'd check out the biking trails in eastern Oregon since we had heard so many great things over the years about it from friends.

Smith Rock State Park was a stunning place to hike.

Loved this State Park just a short drive out of Bend, where we stayed.

Gorgeous flowers in downtown Bend.  We met up with our dear friend Stacie from Palmer Station for breakfast and a dinner in downtown.  It was awesome, and well timed as she's headed off to Afghanistan soon for work.

We loved the Bend downtown area.  We biked a long loop trail around the periphery of the city called the Twin Bridges route.  It was through the city and ranch lands nearby, with views of the 3 Sisters Mountains.

After a fantastic time in Bend, we headed east to the John Day Fossil Beds National Monument.

It looked a lot like the Badlands in South Dakota with the colorful hills.

We hiked a couple great trails to beautiful overlooks.

Hiking in John Day.

Loop hike in John Day.

Beautiful bentonite clay hills.

There was still a bit of snow left in McCall when we returned, but the lake was quick to melt.

We went biking with our friends on the Weiser River Trail and soaked in Starkey Hot Springs.  Our first time!  The entry is $3, open only to adults from 4-6, and have delicious mineral water onsite that Whole Foods now carries (the hot springs are owned by Whole Foods now).

After another three weeks at work, we went straight to Chicago.  Loved being back!

We stayed steps from the Sears Tower (the black building in this photo).

There's a sandy beach on the shore of Lake Michigan.

I had been excitedly waiting for our opportunity to eat at Cafe Spiaggia, which features a James Beard award winning chef.  It was such a delicious dinner!  We had soft crab, wild boar, cured korobuta pork and kobe beef and an amazing appetizer with prosciutto, pan fried dough bread, a balsamic reduction and house made cream.

Downtown Chicago

Chicago at night

We took the train to Gary, Indiana where Dad met us to see Indiana Sand Dunes National Park for a couple days before heading to Fort Wayne for the rest of the week. We timed it just right because the wildflowers were in peak bloom.

A hike in the National Park

Lupine blossom in Gary, Indiana

Columbines and lupines in Gary

Such a beautiful sight to see!

Sunset hike with a Ranger in Indiana Sand Dunes National Park.

It became a National Park this year in February.

Railcar in Chesterton, Indiana where we caught a farmers market and had a lovely breakfast.

Dave making gnocchi from scratch for Memorial Day dinner.  We got to see Uncle Deny and Aunt Judy, Uncle Paul and Aunt Doris, Dave's Godparents and the neighbors.

Gnocchi, pesto sauce, homemade tomato sauce, flank steak with Chimichurri, roasted eggplant dip, bacon wrapped jalapenos, tomato and cucumber salad and two kinds of pie.

Butterfly display at the Fort Wayne Botanic Gardens.

Hike in the Fort Wayne's Lindenwood Nature Preserve.  Beautiful!

A historic building in Graegle, an Amish town outside of Fort Wayne.

Back in McCall, we hiked to the top of the Crestline Trail and encountered some snow.

Spring was progressing beautifully in the city.

We watched sunset and some osprey catch fish from a floating dock.

Spring is amazing here!

The trees outside our condo were gorgeous, but needed a bit of pruning, which Dave did.

We went on a hike up the East Fork of the Lake Fork river and found some lady slippers (orchids).

Always a beautiful viewpoint and gorgeous wooded hike along the river, East Fork of the Lake Fork.

We found some morels, which we cooked in butter and salt for an incredible appetizer.

The hot tub at Burgdorf Hot Springs.  We went for our first soak at Burgdorf this year.

I spent a couple days in Boise before flying out since Dave was on an earlier flight.  The foothills were in blossom.  These are mostly corn flowers.  And below some flowers in the North End.

We had a rich spring full of great sights, trips and beautiful flowers.  Love you all!

Alabama & California

We started our trip in Atlanta for a few days with Brian, his family and his adorable dog Mugsy.

Atlanta was in full blossom with gorgeous magnolia trees everywhere.  This one was in Brian's yard.  Dave got to go to an Atlanta United soccer game, we went on a beautiful hike and had the best ice cream ever at a place called Bruster's before leaving town.

We stayed at an Airbnb in Gulf Shores, Alabama. There were some huge alligators that we spotted.

It was still chilly in the area, but the beaches had nice white sands and lots of sea birds.

Gulf Shores sunset.

It was a great family vacation, spending time with Dad, Mike, Isaac and Abby.  This was at Fort Morgan historic site.

Fort Morgan is a historic masonry pentagonal bastion fort built between 1819 - 1833.

Sunset in Alabama

Turtles in the Audobon Bird Sanctuary on Dauphin Island.  We took the ferry for the day.

Bellingrath Gardens was a huge treat after such a long winter in Alaska!

The azalea shrubs were in gorgeous pink and purple blossom all over the grounds.

Bellingrath Gardens, Alabama

Hydrangea & Lizard

We toured the USS Alabama, which was awesome!  It's a self-guided tour and you get to walk all around the ship and see some aircraft as a bonus at the end of the tour.

Inside the USS Drum, a submarine, near the USS Alabama.  This is the second submarine we've gotten to tour (first was the U-505 in the Science and Industry Museum in Chicago) and it's so awesome to see what life must have been like on board.

Pelican with Orange Beach in the background.

Abby, Isaac & Mike joined us for a week.

An outdoor dinner and family photo.

Gulf State Park Fishing Pier

Uncle Dave and Abby outside the Naval Aviation Museum, after we toured the Pensacola Lighthouse.

After another 3 weeks at work, we started our time off in Boise.  We rented an Airbnb on the greenbelt with an incredible view of the river from the living room.

I was in town for a 4 day Wilderness Medicine course.  We biked on the river greenbelt trails after class and enjoyed Boise's downtown restaurants for dinner.  Lots of fruit trees were blooming!

Headed out for a bike ride.

After my WFR class, we flew to Reno to visit family.

We had a nice time bowling, each of us getting strikes and spares... and gutterballs.

I got to see Grandma too and help her remember some crocheting patterns.

We took a springtime trip down to Auburn and the Sierra Nevadas.

There was still quite a pile of snow left on the top of Donner Pass.

We stayed at an Airbnb in Auburn, and visited the family park we frequented when I was a kid.

There were lots of beautiful springtime shrubs in bloom such as this peppermint Camellia.

Pink Camellia in Auburn, CA.

Pink Dogwood tree blossom in Auburn, CA.

We walked around the historic downtown portion of Auburn, which we hadn't done before and it was a great place for a walk.  Lots of old buildings, pretty flowers and statues.

Downtown Auburn.

Afterward, we visited Lake Clementine Dam and hiked around the area.

We had a great time sightseeing with my parents!

Dave hadn't seen Empire Mine State Historic Park so we took him there for a walk on their grounds and to see inside the mine shaft.

Flowers at Empire Mine.

Mine shaft at Empire Mine State Historic Park.

Small Gauge Rail Museum in Nevada City, California. We had a nice Italian lunch downtown after.

Mountain Lion napping at the Animal Ark wildlife refuge in Reno, Nevada.  

Springtime was incredibly beautiful with plenty of flowers everywhere we went.  In an effort to avoid snow and the cold winter in McCall, we took a trip first to Atlanta and Alabama and next time off to Reno and the Sierra Nevada in California.  We had a wonderful time seeing both our families, Brian and his family and DJ and Karen in Atlanta.  Love you all and thanks for looking at our photos!