Oh my.

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"Excuse me ma'am, do you have an axe in your carry-on?"

So, I made an eensie meensie mistake when packing the bags for our return flight home. Darn those new baggage fees that cause us all to carry as much as possible to save a few bucks. I packed the bags at 5:00 am, so forgive me.

When the woman asked me about it, I was all "Why yes, I do". Totally not thinking that it could be some sort of a problem. I guess when they say people can't carry tweezers on board, they mean they can't carry axes either. I don't remember seeing axes on the list of things that aren't allowed to be in a carry-on. Who knew?

Plastic bags are the devil

Its true. If you don't believe me, check out this presentation.

There is no excuse for not getting your own reusable grocery sacks. Nowadays, they sell them everywhere. They make it a heck of a lot easier to carry your groceries anyway - you can load them really heavy and carry just 2 or 3 bags in the house instead of 10 icky plastic bags. If you still cannot be bothered to bring your own bags, at least ask for paper. I don't believe a paper bag has ever choked a bird to death or drown a turtle. There are also lots of times when you don't need a bag at all. Just tell the checkout person that you don't need a sack. Just make sure you do so BEFORE they rip it off the rack (otherwise they'll likely wad it up and toss it in the trash).

There is one problem with carrying your own bags, and that is forgetting them. It is easy to do. Another problem is shopping at a store other than the grocery, where you feel weird carrying a big sack in with you. For these two reasons, I recommend keeping a small reusable sack in your purse or pocket. I have been using Envirosax which fold up to about the size of a candy bar. I love it and keep it with me at all times. I just saw another cool tiny bag at the airport. Its called the Flip and Tumble Bag. The Flip and Tumble smooshes into a tiny neoprene thing attached to the bag. Once open, it is super simple to convert back to a squishy fun little ball. You could even play catch with them! I highly recommend them. I actually didn't buy one because I figured they'd be more expensive at the airport. If anyone wants one, let me know and maybe I'll compile an order to decrease shipping costs.

Home again

We made it home after two long flights yesterday. The pups seem to have missed us and we were so very happy to see them, too.

I have a few photos to share from our time visiting my aunt and uncle (Laurel and Brian). They took us to a beautiful old growth forest as well as the Oregon coast. We lucked out as the weather was beautiful.

Corey "torturing fish" as my aunt Laurel says:


Me, Brian, Serena and Laurel:


Serena in playing fetch in the crystal clear water:


Corey staring at a huge fish in the plunge pool:


Brian resting on a pile of sand at the coast:

Photos from Yellowstone

Moonrise at Yellowstone


Me and "Old Faithful"


Corey and me at the sulfur pools in Yellowstone

Idaho's famous namesake

This is what a potato field looks like at 80 mph.

-Corey

Not just potatoes in Idaho

I always thought the farmers in Idaho only grew potatoes, but to my surprise we saw thousands of acres of wheat fields, onions, and occasional corn fields.

-Corey

See what I mean?

The Hertz people are going to LOVE us when we return this car.

So, apparently Idaho has lots of bugs

That is, if our windshield is any way to judge. At times it sounds like it's raining, but nope, just bugs.

Waiting on the fisherman

I took this photo with my phone while taking a solo hike around Jenny lake in Grand Teton. Corey was fishing but before long he caught up with me since the trout weren't biting. I kind of like hiking by myself because sometimes it's hard to keep up with "Crazy Legs" Corey.

One thing I have to mention about the Tetons is the amazing smell of the woods. As you hike and the warm winds twist through the canyons, the smell of the pines is awesome. I love it :)

Now, with video

On our way to Yellowstone

We stayed in a hotel last night but we have been camping up until now. Two nights ago it poured rain all night and the wind was so fierce that the tent would lay down on top of us with particularly strong gusts. It helped us forget about the threat of Grizzlies eating us in our sleep.

Glacier was an amazing place. The views are just unbelievable and the water in the lakes is crystal clear. We hiked up the Continental Divide at Logan Pass and were able to get quite close to mountain goats. Yesterday we hiked in Many Glacier where there are lots of Grizzly bear sightings since lots of huckleberries grow there. The bears are trying to fatten themselves up for hibernation. As you hike, you are supposed to sing or clap to make noise to avoid surprising a bear. We did get to see one Grizzly from a safe distance - the bear was on the mountain above us.

Here are some photos of our adventure so far.

Me, cooking pepper-jack eggs:


On top of the Continental Divide:


Corey fishing on St. Mary's lake.The sign said we needed to keep alert since a Mountain Lion had been frequenting the area:


Mountain goat:


Marmot making its loud whistle noise:


Moose!:

Heading east to Montana

Here are a few photos from our trip so far. We are in Spokane at the moment - in a bakery eating breakfast. Mmmmm poppyseed bagel with egg and cheese :)

Big tree in our campsite near Mt. St. Helens in Washington:


Overlook near Mt. St. Helens:


Woodland creature:


We should be in Glacier National Park later today! I probably won't be posting anything until Saturday when we drive to Yellowstone. I also finish my 365 photography project on Saturday. Yikes!

Wish us luck in not getting eaten by bears..

When it says "compact" it means "compact"

Corey's head hitting the roof of our Cobalt.

We made it!

Stopping to smell the roses in Portland before moving on to Mt St Helens. The weather here is beautiful! No humidity :)

I just figured out how to post iPhone pics straight to my blog so expect lots of random, insignificant posts.

And we're out!

We are officially on our way to Portland OR - via Charlotte NC. I am sitting in the Charlotte airport using their free wifi. We almost didn't take this trip due to a situation with Corey's work but at the last minute we made the decision to go ahead and go.

For those of you who don't know, we are taking a big trip traveling around the NW states and visiting some of the National Parks we've always wanted to see. Whenever we have internet access I'm going to try and update the blog with photos and commentary on our trip.

Our flight is about to leave so talk to you soon!

:(

I was wandering around the back part of our yard yesterday and came across this sad sight.

Way back in the spring these little peppers didn't look like they were going to make it. We never bothered to take them out of the cold frame and plant them. They were not watered at all. We forgot all about them. Look closely. They each put on one pepper. For some reason this makes me want to cry. Seriously, I got teary. There they were, trying to survive putting all of their energy into creating one little pepper so the next generation could live on. Such is life.

I think I am way too emotional these days...