Inhabitation

I'm not sure how the word "vacation" came about. It puts the emphasis on the place you are leaving or vacating. When I begin planning and dreaming of vacat ion it is often to get my mind off of my environs with their particular worries and put my mind on a different place, hoping for a change of pace, new adventures, and rest. So during the first week of September we (including Grammy Becky) vacated our home in Bellingham in order to inhabit a rustic little cabin on Lake Wallowa near Joseph, Oregon. We enjoyed a wonderful inhabitation.

The above pictures were taken outside of Portland at the McMinnamins hotel in Troutdale. It was a totally cool place to stay--it was a renovated county poor farm and very kid-friendly.

This picture and the previous were taken when we took a tram up a mountain. It was a very easy way to see some mountain views. 

Our main reason for traveling to Wallow County was to celebrate the marriage of our dear friend, Katie, to our new friend, Jeff. 

Here's the crew posing in front of Lake Wallowa.  

Doesn't this one just make you want a VW van? 

The Few and Fleeting Days of Summer

Where did summer go? Did it ever arrive? Here in the Northwest, it seems like summer weather is sometimes start and stop, but mostly stop. That's the sort of summer we experienced this year. Now, I'm not really complaining. I grew up here and love a "soggy" day, to use a term Levi coined (to read more about NW weather and other fitting terms see our friend Emily's post here). With all its sogginess you'd think I would've had more time to blog. Guess not. Sorry. So here is a slew of pictures--many on those blue bird days when we enjoyed being outdoors.