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.

 

A holiday trip to downtown

 Hiya Blog World - 

Little Fox and Navy here.  Just us two today since Cocoa Beanie booked a cheese tour of the pacific northwest and is out traveling to different creameries and tasting all sorts of cheese. 

We decided to head out to Portland's living room (aka Pioneer Courthouse Square) and the Christmas tree is all lit up.  

So much public art in town, this one is a hat sculpture.  It's called "Will Martin's Hat" and Will Martin was leader of the team that won the design contest for Pioneer Courthouse Square in 1980.  There were over 160 submissions - way to go Will!

The Benson Hotel does an amazing job every year for Christmas.  The tree is well decorated but we always come for the Gingerbread display. 

This years masterpiece is Germany's Eltz Castle. All the gingerbread is homemade (over 50 pounds).

Next stop is a pop up store in the lobby of another fancy hotel.  The stores were pretty quiet but had some cool stuff.  In the basement of the hotel they had free arcade games, we played a round of Rocky and Bullwinkle Pinball.  So fun. Our score was in the millions!

Finally, a few more stops around town and we came across the Portland Therapy Llama who was out and about. A long line for therapy so we enjoyed the fireplace and the fake snow.

Onward team.  Where too next? 

A trip to olive country with a couple of mice.

Hiya Gang.  Little Fox took us out on a day trip to Durant Vineyards and Olive mill.  Today we are focusing on olive oil tasting.  

A crazy group of birds flying over the vines today. 

Cocoa Beanie is very interested in the olive trees growing in the nursery.  Cocoa wonders what customs and immigration would think about importing an olive tree to Canada. 

All the oils were on display today for tasting - even the expensive (ok, more expensive) ones. 

Of course one needs vinegar if you are going to taste olive oil.

Cocoa and I wandered around the gift shop and found this jar of bitters with a fox on it.  Super expensive, but it does have a fox on on it so it's probably worth it. 

They even had an old truck on display. 

Next stop is lunch, the olive oil place was offering some food but the roommates think they can find a good lunch in town as well (Cocoa and Navy are hoping to find a cheese shop for lunch). 

 

Mail Call!!!!

Hiya Blog World.

LF and the gang here processing some mail on a rainy November day.  

First up is a letter from Snoopy, oh wait it's actually from Jerry and Ben. It's a super awesome Halloween card from the gang in the midwest thanking us for joining the Halloween contest. Us west coast stuffies think we should be thanking them for hosting the contest.

Little Fox got a postcard from team midwest (AKA Jerry and Ben). Quebec City has always been on LF's bucket list and according to J +B it's a great place.

Ben got to practice his French (comme c'est cool) and Jerry got to taste a maple syrup cheesecake.  Sounds amazing, LF doesn't have the French skills but could certainly check out the Quebec City cheesecake situation.

Sandy and Canadian Crew sent us a great Halloween card.  On the cover are animals decorating for a Halloween party.  

Sandy mentioned that I might want to supply the mice with some Cheetoh's to keep the mice out of mischief.  I need to add Cheetoh's to my list. 

Hmm, this is interesting It looks like Sandy sent a road map from 1959 of BC.  Is he hinting that the roommates should take me on a trip to BC?????IF so, Sandy might need to be more direct with the roommates.

Oh wait, Navy turned the map over and noticed a letter was written. Apparently, the map was sent to Sandy from their cousins in Germany and Sherlock Sandy deduced that his grandparents sent the map as gift wrap to the family in Germany.  That is so cool.

Sandy got back from Vegas and had an amazing Smoked Scottish Salmon Platter on toast with capers and tomatoes - yum.  Also, tried a few beers or two.  Apparently Sandy's humans realized that Budweiser is sold in resealable beer bottles.  Interestingly, Sandy said they don't have these types of bottles in Canada but in the USA, that's surprising since this seems like a more Canadian idea compared to a US idea.

Sandy mentioned that the humans went ziplining on Fremont street.  He did not make the minimum height or weight requirements.

LF always wanted to see the Neon Museum near Fremont Street.  LF's roommate said the last time he was in Vegas Fremont was still a neighborhood in transition - seems like things have come a long way.

 

Jerry and Ben's Halloween Contest

 Hiya Gang.

Little Fox, Navy and Cocoa Beanie here taking a break from hiking to work on our entry for Jerry and Ben's contest. 
Let's see what LF did last year....oh yeah the Candy Corn Cocktail.  It was disgusting.  Bleh.

2022 submission is missing (Sekrebeary issues of course).  

2021 was the costume "Twins"  and a healthy Halloween snack from Reindeer Coyote.

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However, this year we think we might have our most tasty treat yet - Homemade Pumpkin Ice Cream (ok, ice cream is a stretch, it's a banana based "nice" cream, but this year the treat we made actually tastes good.  

Start off by getting quality ingredients.  Real maple syrup was key.  Cocoa said imitation vanilla extract would work.  I have learned that no one argues with Cocoa Beanie when it comes to cooking. 

 

Of course you need bananas.  We used 3 frozen bananas and 1 brown banana. 

You need to have pumpkin for pumpkin ice cream. Cocoa says canned will do.

Whirl it up in the food processor. 

Freeze and enjoy with your pals.  

Blog world wish us luck with our entry, we are going for the gold this year in the snack category.

Note to judges: Making a dessert is in no way trying to gain favor with Judge Jerry (however if it does gain favor then we'll take any advantage we can get).

Chanterelles are in season.

 Hiya Gang,

Navy and Cocoa here - Little Fox took us mushroom hunting today.  What a haul we got!!!!  

Two mice and a mountain

 Hiya Gang,
Cocoa and Navy here.  Little Fox is "resting" today after a long night of partying.  Us mice decided to go hiking ourselves.  A pretty amazing fall day on Mt. Hood. 

Water is flowing nicely in the waterfalls. 

Appreciate the sustainability feature of this sign, reusing the other side makes so much sense. 

Take it from here Navy.  
Ok Cocoa, found another waterfall along the trail.  Later on in the hike but maybe the same river?  Hopefully we can find a view of the mountain and a nice picnic spot. 

When the mention of food is involved Sequoia gets pretty serious about the hike. 

Great job team, found a nice spot with a view of the mountain. Some grass, a little sun and the roommates brought along cheese for us mice. 

It was hard to miss the mountain today - even from the ski lift areas it was out and in full show.

Finally, something to post about!

Navy and Cocoa here, and today Little Fox took us back out to the gorge and we went to Tracy Hill.  LF took us  there a while back when the flowers were blooming and the grass was greener. Navy found Mt. Hood but barely see it.

Sequoia wanted to be in this picture with Navy.

Navy found the old Corral.  Little fox says it's one of his favorite spots.

Little fox and Cocoa are hanging out in the backpack…Navy is the more adventurous stuffy today.

Eventually after lunch Cocoa decided to come out and switch spots with Navy.  After the hike, none of the animals could be found as it was snack time and they each got their own cookie to munch on.

More real PCT and a new budding bartender in the blogger world

Good day blog gang.

Cocoa here (do you see the PCT marker in the background)?  Navy, Little Fox and I are doing more hiking near Mt. Ashland looking for sweeping vistas (not today....thanks wildfire smoke) and lots of flowers.

Navy stumbled across a little trail magic on the PCT today.

Coolers full of soda (shasta brand - ironic since we can see Mt. Shasta), some LaCroix and a logbook.

In previous years Little Fox has found boxes of apples, granola bars, beers, and coolers of soda.

The trail angel also set up some yard chairs, the gang likes this one as they can put their tired feet up and relax. 

The flowers on the PCT are doing well, today our hike was chosen by Navy Beanie.  Grouse Gap to Siskiyou Summit (and beyond).

The trail calls - Navy must go.

We made it to Siskiyou summit and what a nice view.  360 degrees and on a non-smokey day you can see everything.  Oregon, California, Lakes, Mountains etc.

On our way back Navy mentioned he signed up for a class at a local winery that was happening today.  

Apparently it's been a dream of Navy's to be an amateur bartender.  From the looks of things it seems he has two customers who are ready to enjoy a glass or two of wine.