Bye bye Navy and Cocoa (for real)...it has been super fun.

 Hiya Folks. 
Well it's time for my good friends Navy and Cocoa Beanie to start the journey back north.

Step 1: Say goodbye to all of the gang.  Thanks for hosting us, we had a blast.  So many cool trips, hikes and adventures - LF says we are welcome to come back anytime.

Step 2: Snacks.  Time to put some snacks in the box.  Pirates Booty is always a fan favorite.  Additionally, some local chocolate for Sandy and his crew.  Sadly, no cheese.  There are a few other surprises in the box for Sandy and Crew (but don't want to spoil the surprise. 

Step 3: Put in some random things to do while traveling (a mini puzzle and trivia cards and a few souvenirs from our trip.  We had a blast at Tillamook Cheese Factory and sticker from Everybody's Brewing and Cosmic Bliss (plant based ice cream...yum).

Step 4: Get comfy.  We are traveling Canada Goose Airlines so it will most likely  take awhile.

As any stuffy knows there service is moderately questionable but they always get us stuffies there.....eventually.

Alrighty gang - have a safe trip be sure to text us when you arrive.

 I'll take care of all of the paperwork - your pal LF.

 

Tine to say goodbye to Navy and Beanie but not before one last adventure. . It's been a great year.

I've had a great year with Cocoa and Navy Beanie.

 We've done a lot of stuff together, like hiking, eating ice cream, bartending class, and checking out cheese factories.

Cocoa really enjoyed our hikes on Mount Hood this Summer and Fall.  Fun to hike on the real PCT while working on the virtual PCT with Sandy. 

Navy fell in love with the Columbia River Gorge.  The open spaces really called out to him. 

Navy also enjoyed doing some hiking on the PCT in Southern Oregon.  Looks like he found some snacks (aka trail magic)  for through hikers. 

One cannot exist on hiking alone, Navy took up bartending this summer. 

He seems to have a pretty good knack for it, but you might notice the tip jar is empty.  Little Fox and Cocoa mysteriously forgot some dollar bills for tips. 

When the mice visit a trip to Tillamook Creamery is a must. 

Free cheese tasting?  Yep, all three of us were in on that.

Navy and Cocoa wanted to take observe the factory making cheese.  Looks like they are working on their Cheddar blocks today. 

Good lord, this place is popular. That is the line for the ice cream.  Luckily LF knows of a better, cheaper place for ice cream. 

Navy needed to visit Astoria Oregon, the oldest  permanent settlement  west of the Rockies. Navy was indifferent to the history but enjoyed watching the boats enter the Columbia River on the Graveyard of the Pacific. 

LF took us over to the State Capital during Cherry Blossom season. 

Whenever the roommates take LF to the capital they have to stop by the worlds best statues.  A parade of Animals. 

Sequoia even got in on this picture. 

Our last adventure took us to some of the fancy neighborhoods in town.  Reed College is part of the area we walked through.  Super nice homes.

The walk was near Reed College - a spendy little place (if you aren't getting any financial aid) but a nice campus. 

Then we did something very Portland: we ate at a food cart. Food carts have come a long way from the ones you might remember seeing on a construction site or at the parking lot of warehouses.  Not so much anymore. 

Today's food carts are CORE food carts. Lots of interesting food: Korean, Mexican, Middle Eastern, BBQ, Asian Fusion and food from Myramar.  Portland is very pro.ud of it's food cart culture

Us stuffies had some hard decisions but ended up with the Korean.  Purple Rice (Yum), Kimchi (meh) and Korean Style Fried Chicken (Mega Yum).

A fox needs to eat - 29 palms edition.

 Ok, a fox needs to snack. Here is my list of my favorite Joshua Tree places.  Amazing chicken at Fans Sportsbar (and cheap drinks).

If you are looking to get some exercise and have delicious nachos you have to check out the Bowladium in 29 palms. 

Locally owner and operated (and made locally too) at the Coyote Cone.  

If you are ever in Indio California and hungry (or not hungry) but you have to get a date shake at the Shields Date Farm.  The shake is the best date shake around - trust me.

They also have a display garden at Shields - but the shakes are not to be missed. 

Finally, a beer or two.  I dragged the humans to the 29 palms beer company a couple of times.  The porter was fabulous. 

This beer is amazing - it's the Delly Jonut. A raspberry infused beer - so great. 

One cannot survive on hikes alone.

 There are many cool places in the desert.  First up is the Glass Outhouse gallery in 29 palms - so cool. 

The houseband at the Glass Outhouse.  Do you think they know "Don't stop believing"?

I wish this fountain was up and running.  The folks at the outhouse are super friendly - complimentary bottle water if you need it. 

This moose is missing an ear - just like a moose we have back home who is also missing an ear. 

By far, the Glass Outhouse is the friendliest gallery in the area 

More J- tree hikes.

 The desert can be a tricky place to navigate (i.e. cacti galore) but this fox is an experienced hiker so no injuries. Besides the Wall Street Mill from the previous post I was able to explore panorama loop and warren mountain, along with the lost palms oasis and the ladders/painted canyon area. 

Panorama Point and Warren Mountain were pretty cool places.  The air quality was great so you could see all around on top of the mountain. 

Joshua Trees accompanied us along our hikes. 

View galore. 

Next hike is to the lost palm oasis.  

Finally got to the oasis - the trails are not maintained past this sign but you can explore the oasis w/out any problems.

The oasis is very calming. 

Next stop is painted canyon and the ladders - it's near Mecca California. 

The canyon was so cool. 

Views along the way. 

Narrow corridors but this fox did great. 

Wall Street Mit Joshua Tree.

So many reasons to take this trip.  Sun, hiking opportunities, and warmer winter weather than back home.  Today we are focusing on the hikes.

According to the sekrebearies notes 5 hikes were completed in 6 days. 

All of the hikes were desert hikes (don't worry I made sure they prepared with water, sun screen, and tons of salty  snacks..  

First up is the Wall Street Mill Hike.  This mine area was a nice desert hike out to a historic location - 

Came across a few old buildings - this is a remnant of the Wonderland Ranch.  This ranch was owned by Worth Bagley a competing rancher to William Keys.  Both early homesteaders in the area. 

The Wall Street Mill was pretty cool - very well preserved. It was used sporatically to process gold that was either mined by William Keys or milled for other miners. 

Professor Thomas at the University will be very pleased with this hike.  Professor Thomas is a challenging professor for my desert archeology 203 course. 

Keys and Bagley did not  care for each other.  According to one source Bagley ambushed Keys near the Wall Street Mill and Key's killed Bagley.  They did not care for each other.  Keys apparently created a tombstone where Bagley died:  Here is the inscription:

"Here is where Worth Bagley bit the dust at the hand of W. F. Keys, May 11, 1943.

  Keys spent about 5 years in prison for the crime then went back to his ranch at Joshua Tree till his passing in 1968.