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.

A trip down south

 Hiya Gang,

Little Fox and crew (Navy and Cocoa Beanie) here as we take a short walk around the Willamette River ner Eugene Oregon on our trip south.  This is the Defazio Bridge, named after a long time representative.  It's for walking, scootters, bikes, and other non motorized (ie cars) wheeled transportation.

The Defazio Bridge is ok but the real part of this trip is hiking on the real PCT while working on the virtual PCT.

Cocoa is starting us out on the the PCT near Mt. Ashland ski resort.

This trail section of the PCT is pretty flat and our destination is Grouse Gap.

A ton of the state is on fire but the smoke was kind enough to 

The Flowers are out (albeit if we were here 3 weeks before the flower show would be amazing). 

The Grouse Gap shelter was a great place to have a snack. They have picnic tables, a fire pit (can't use now because of the aforementioned state being on fire) but in the winter they usually keep a little fire going on the weekends so the cross country skiers have a warm place to relax.

Where to next?

Working on the virtual PCT via the real PCT.

 Hiya Gang,
As you may know Sandy and I are working on our virtual PCT challenge.  We've been plugging away at the hiking yet we're still in California.  Last time I checked we are nearing Lake Tahoe.

Since it's such a nice summer day the gang and I (Navy, Cocoa, Sequoia) decided to do a little hiking on the real PCT.  Today's destination is Upper and Lower Twin Lakes near Mt. Hood.  The lakes are accessible off of a side trail from the PCT but we still get some PCT miles in so that's cool.

Too early for Huckleberries (a wild berry that has had no luck in being grown commercially- don't get the roommate started on Huckleberies or we'll never finish this post) so it's a nice treat when its found in the wild (also super expensive to buy...almost double of Copper River Salmon).

Bark, whoof, whoof (translation: enough chit chat, let's go).

The PCT is a pretty amazing trail.  This fox has hiked portions of it in Oregon, Washington and some near Lake Tahoe.  Any hike along the PCT almosts guarantees some amazing scenery.

Here's the turnoff.

Eventually made it to the lakes.  Upper Twin Lake was quieter (we were there earlier) but the hordes of people were arriving.

Luckily, we started early and missed most of the folks at Upper Twin Lake.  So pretty.

Off to Lower Twin Lake (an easier hike).  It was much busier and there were all types of hikers (people were carrying innertubes up the trail to Lower Twin Lake.  

Us animals didn't get any pictures at Lower Twin Lake.  Sequoia insisted on walking around the lake and when he puts his paws down there is no stopping him.  Of course, the human left lunch in the car so the roommate got hangry and no pictures for us.

Good news for us Mice and Fox (we snuck Tillamook Cheese with us as our lunch).

Summertime exploring

 Hiya Blog World,
Little Fox, Navy and Cocoa Beanie here.  Today, I decided take take my esteemed guests on a hike to one of Portland's most famous homes.  Pittock Mansion.  Built in 1914, 46 rooms, and sits on 46 acres of prime land.  The flowers on the property are amazing.  Sequoia is off to the left enjoying a well needed break from our hike on the grass. 

What a day and what a garden.

The house is pretty amazing too.  It took 5 years to build and has many luxuries.  Central vacuum system, elevator, intercoms, indirect lighting etc.  The house was owned by the family until they wanted to sell it in the 1950s and there were no interested buyers.  Severe damage from a storm and no interested buyers provided the City of Portland with a perfect opportunity to save the house.  In 1965 (after a 15 month renovation) the house opened back up as a museum and park. 

Hard to beat the weather today - of course you can drive up here and park but us stuffies are hardy and we decided to park for free and hike 2 miles up.

Off to our next adventure

Finally, a blog post

 Hiya Gang,

Little Fox, Navy and Cocoa Beanie here.  As the resident tour guide at the ranch, I decided to take my pals Navy and Cocoa out for an exploration.

First stop:  Saint Stephen Church.  This church was built when the neighborhood was being developed around 1907.  Back then the neighborhood was kind of affordable, now....not so much.

A nice old church (they have lots of good google reviews as well).  Anyway, time to explore.

Ooh, this could be fun.  Of course we missed it, but perhaps we can convince the roommates to make us nachos.  Us stuffies can be very convincing when we need to. 

We found an old fire station that they turned into a fire museum. Sadly, it was closed today and the humans didn't get a picture of us in front of it.  I was a tad worried since they have this notice about the unreinforced masonry being a potential problem in an earthquake but Navy was unphased.  His words exactly: "I survived the tsunami at Mouse Island, I can tour an old building."

On our exploration we found these cool murals. 

Every stuffie chose their favorite mural.

Cool stores up and down the streets in this part of town.  Found a vintage store that had the audacity to sell this lawn chair for $39.00.  The metal bar where the back and seat meet is almost rusted out.  

Still a lot to explore.  Cidery, Acai Bowl Restaurant or see a movie (while having a beer and eating tater tots) at the neighborhood theater. 

An really really late mail call.

 Hiya Gang.

Wolfy, Baxter, and Reindeer Coyote here doing the mail.  

The regular crew is a little behind on the mail and had an "appointment" to attend to so they left the mail to us.  No big deal but some of this mail is from as far back as Summer 2023.  Sorry about that blog pals.

Wolfy thinks the best way to do the mail is by senders.  Okay, so first up is Droopy and his crew.  As you may know, he went to Italy last summer.  Looks like they saw the tower of Pisa. Baxter remembers when the roommates went to Italy in 2011 and did not take any stuffies..... unbearable.  I wonder if Droopy tried any Gelato in Italy?

Also from Droopy is a birthday card for Little Fox. Droopy asked about New Year's Resolutions - any that we made in 2024 has long been broken.

Thanks, Droopy for the mail, sorry it took so long to process it.

Up next is the mail from Team Jerry and Ben. Jerry and Ben would be happy to know that the pollinators are really liking our garden this year.  Bees have been seen.   Sounds like Ben has a few recipes to try including homemade ice cream.  Baxter being an ice cream aficionado is very interested in hearing more about Ben's ice cream adventures.

Looks like Jerry and Ben also took a little trip Gooseberry Falls State Park and up into Ontario Canada for a little get-away.  

Thanks Jerry and Ben for the mail - Baxter wants a review of the homemade ice cream Ben is going to make this summer. 

Finally, we have some mail from Sandy up North.   First up is a birthday card for Little Fox.  

Keeping with the holiday theme they also sent a Valentine's Day Card. Actually, this card was to Cocoa and Navy along with Little Fox. 

Up next is an Easter Card. Sandy mentions that Cocoa loves anything chocolate - who doesn't.  Apparently, Canadians also need to keep an eye on Cocoa prices as they have increased in Canada as well as the US.

Oh my, a card addressed to Baxter.  Sandy took the train to Jasper.  The humans did that drive in 2012 and saw a ton of bears.  Did you see any bears on the train?  Sandy mentions that Amtrak goes from Oregon to Vancouver BC. The humans have looked into this many times but always seem to never get any tickets - us stuffies need to get on them asap.

Looks like Sandy and the crew went to Denver but no sightseeing.  Oh my, it's time to get the grievance paperwork prepared.  

Stuffie pals thanks for the mail - us stuffies have made a pact to get the mail processed much much much faster.

To the beach!

Hiya Gang,

Little Fox, Cocoa and Navy Beanie here fortifying ourselves before our beach hike. It's still a little chilly and windy so some hot cocoa to start off makes sense. 

Navy and I here (along w/ Haystack Rock) in the background.  Where's Cocoa you ask? Cocoa ditched us to look for remnants of the sand castle contest a few days ago. 

I'm glad that Navy Beanie is able to enjoy the beach and not trigger any lingering trauma from the Mouse Island Tsunami. 

So many cool rock formations. 

Anyone  know what these growths on the rocks are? 

The seabirds are out in full force.  Has anyone seen Cocoa? Should we be scared?  Sneakerwaves?

Little Fox sat me down and told me that he got a text from Cocoa.  Cocoa went to the cheese factory (being that there were no remnants of the sand castle contest just a few days ago). Phooey.

Off to find Cocoa.

About 50 miles south of Cannon Beach Little Fox drove me to the Tillmaook Cheese factory.  I guess a good place to find a mouse is at a free cheese tasting event.   Today's cheeses:

1) Fresh Curds, 2) Aged Cheddar, 3) Colby Jack.

Back before the pandemic they used to sample the more unique cheeses made at Tillamook, sigh.

The cheese process is running strong today.  Looks like they are making cheddar cheese.

Those are 40lbs blocks of cheese.

How does a mouse get a job here? 

You would think that cheese directly from the factory would be cheaper than the grocery store.  Nope, not here. However, it's hard to pas up the unique flavors (curds, chili garlic cheddar, smoked salmon). 

This is the line for the ice cream shop.  It's long, but it goes fast. Little Fox recommends Moose Tracks or Strawberry Cheesecake flavors.

It's hard to miss the cheese factory (according to the internet 1.3 million visit the factory annually).  That's a lot but not as many as Spirit Mountain Casino (3 million) or 2 million at Multnomah Falls).    Of course with an obvious sign like this it's hard to miss.

Shh, don't tell anyone but some of the best fish on the coast is located across the street at the Old Oregon Smokehouse.  Yes, it's in a doublewide and you have to eat in the car or outside but the fish is the best around. 

Well we found Cocoa but where did Little Fox scamper off to?