A new adventure

Today's adventure in Cincinnati starts with a walking tour in a really nice neighborhood.  This house might be a good rental for me and my stuffy friends.

This house isn't available for rent but maybe this one is.  It does have a mural on the side of the house, that would be an easy place for all of my stuffy friends to locate.

Attention:  Everyone be careful.

A beary cool fountain in a nice park.  My goodness I am getting hungry for some famous Cincinnati food. 

Oh yeah.  Skyline Chile.  Not a bean based, Texas style chili but a more Greek flavor chili.  It's so good. 

They start you off with some crackers.  I recommend them. 

This fox came here for chili, where is it??

Oh my goodness!  This chili looks amazing, I can't wait.

Mine, all mine,

Flash forward to the next day.

I have had a chance to explore Cincinnati and now we are off to the Smoky Mountains.  Lot's of rain today.  Perhaps if I take a lunch break the rain might go away. 

My goodness, this rain is so intense that it's flooding the street.

Perhaps relaxing with a beer sampler will take this fox's mind off of the rain.

Yep, the beer worked.  This fox is happy. 

A proper vacation

Hi Gang, I am hanging out at the airport wondering where my roommates are going to take me.  Do you think I am flying first class?

First class?  Yeah right, I don't even get a full seat.  What stuffies put up with for a good vacation. 

8 or 9 hours later I have arrived in the Queen City, that's right Cincinnati Ohio.  They have a huge chair for me to relax in.

After lunch at the Findlay market it's time to explore. 

This is a cool church.

This is the opera house.  

More opera house.  It's huge!

Cool old buildings.

Narrow alleys.

I am staying at my roommates friends house.  Hello world, meet Dylan. 

World meet Stella.

And there is a special guest.  He used to spend most of his time running around the Southwest chasing a certain road running animal.  Hello blog pals meet Wiley Coyote.

A great first day.  So much to see in Cincinnati. 

Recipe #2 - Ajdin's Salmon

Hello Blog Pals,
It's time for another recipe from my recipe contest.  Today, I am featuring Ajdin's salmon. Ajdin has the coolest toys, here he is showing off his salmon puzzle, I hope his recipe isn't too puzzling.

Enough chit chat.  Let's get to work. 

Step 1:  Get salmon and defrost it. 

Step 2: Begin organizing the ingridients.  Lemon juice (what not fresh, ugh humans).  Oyster Sauce for a little saltiness.

Don't forget the garlic powder and lemon pepper. 

Voila.  A little of this, a little of that and mix it all together. 

Preheat oven to 375.  Layer a cookie sheet with tin foil, place salmon on foil.  Spread the sauce over the salmon.  

Well, it's baked but I think it needs a nice side of rice.

A

Ah, this looks better. 

Thanks Ajdin for sharing your salmon recipe.  Time to eat!

9:30am lunch?

Greetings from the trail.  I am at a beary popular trail head in Oregon.  It's 8am and there are already cars in the parking lot.  It's Monday, I know the post is on a Thursday (humans.....).   Down to business I am hoping to see some wild rhododendrons and a good view of Mt. Hood.  

The rhododendron tree is looking green but no flowers.  I wonder if I am too late?

Ah, there we go.  This rhodie is blooming.  The wild ones are only pink.

I wanted to take a break and guess who showed up on the same rock as me?  Sequoia jumped right up and wanted to get in the picture. 

Back on the trail.  I have a choice.  I  can go to Tom, Dick and Harry mountain or to Mirror Lake.  Let's check out the lake first.

You can kind of see a reflection of Mt. Hood in the lake. The mosquitoes are out so I must keep moving.

See that hill out there?  It's Tom, Dick and Harry mountain and it's my final destination.

A few wildflowers are out today.  Indian Paintbrush and Bear Grass.

Mt. Jefferson looks good.  The air needs to clear up and Mt. Jeff needs more snow for a better picture.  

I am now near the top of Tom, Dick and Harry mountain.  Mt. Hood in the background looks nice and there's more Indian Paintbrush and Bear Grass.  This is not a great spot for lunch.  Perhaps a rock. 

This spot looks good.  Of course, it's 9:30am.  Is that too early for lunch?  Yes, but I am hungry so I am eating. 

Sequoia is not one to be shown up.  He decided to pose for this picture and I must admit he looks good.

Recipe #1. Cake

 Hello Blog Pals!
Welcome to my recipe contest entry #1.  This entry is from my close friend, Little Bear.  Little Bear might be a cousin of Sandy's, Jerry and Ben but we're not 100% sure.  Little Bear loves coffee, anything Starbucks related, and is a guest judge at the International Chocolate Competition.  He shared a recipe for a chocolate cake with a cup of coffee in it, a box of pudding, and special cake flour.

I like Little Bear's thinking, start with dessert (hmm, maybe he is related to Jerry?)

Step 1, preheat oven. 

Step 2, grease the pan. 

Time to get supplies.  Oh my, Godiva pudding.  This should be good. 

 Premium applesauce and cake flour.  I wonder if the applesauce is going in the cake? 

Tools of the trade:  Cooking spray, baking soda, baking powder.

 A strong cup of coffee goes in this recipe. 

Greek yogurt? Huh, what is Little Bear up to? 

Ready to go into the oven. Now I just have to wait. 

Isn't it funny how a fresh cake from the oven can bring all of your friends out for a visit. Big Bear, Drunk Fox, Lightning, Reindeer, Kermit the Frog, and Wolfy all make it out for the final product.  Little Bear informed the gang this is a low fat/lower calorie cake.  Hmm, who would have guessed?

Little Fox, construction supervisor.

I was happily hanging out with Sequoia today and then my roommates pulled up in the car.  Hmm, I wonder what they have gotten themselves into?

Uh oh.  They got back from Home Depot, looks like a home improvement project.  I better get my supervision hat on (if I had one that is).

Looks like an odd assortment of tools.  Ant killer, a hammer, tape measure, saw, a soda the size of Alaska, and a tool box.   

The wood is in good shape and I am intrigued as to what they are making.

I always tell my humans to measure twice, cut once.  Let's see if they listen.  Apparently, they did.  This looks like a table, but I have to admit it's not very stable.  According to my roommates it's supposed to be a garden tool storage caddy.  

Well, as you can see by this mess there is still work to do.  This little fox is signing off for the day.  It's lunch time. 
PS- Happy Early Father's Day everyone.