Unknown prairie flowers

One of the exciting things about growing our native prairie is finding the new plants that come up each year. This year, with a second-year prairie planting in bloom, is no exception. Allow me to introduce...the two newest mystery plants. 

This red-orange flower is on a tall spike with tiny leaves. 

This short purple flower is connected to the awesome 9-loved leaves below. 

Portland Vacation Day 3 - the coast!

We had to take one day of vacation and make a trip to the coast. Tom had never been to the Pacific Ocean before, and I had only briefly seen it on a family vacation years ago. 

We headed out early-ish Wednesday morning for a drive out to the coast. The forecast was for clouds and a bit of rain so I wasn't quite sure how it would be. 

We headed first to Astoria, Oregon. The first place we went was this little coffee shop on a pier. And when I say it was on a pier, I mean that we had to drive on a wooden deck/road/bridge to get to it. It was kind of nerve wracking.  So much so that I didn't get a picture. So here is one thanks to Google. 

Yes. We parked on. the. dock.

The coffee was great though, and the scenery was pretty good too. 

 

It was still cloudy and cool, and I was regretting my sleeveless dress (more on that later).  I almost bought a Coffee Girl sweatshirt to take the chill off, but at $40 I didn't love it enough to own it forever. 

After coffee we hit (can you guess??) another brewery for lunch. I didn't take any pictures, but they had a beer called the Truffle Shuffle. You see, the movie Goonies was filmed in Astoria. I was in 80's geek heaven. We are definitely watching the movie with the boys very soon. 

We then set off for a drive down the coast. We stopped in Seaside at Seaside Brewery for a forgettable beer sampler. It really wasn't good at all. 

The first beach we went to was Arcadia Beach. Holy smokes, was this gorgeous. 

I took a minute to write a name in the sand. A friend from college and his wife lost a baby at birth and now they collect photos of her name written in the sand from all over the world. You can see the wave coming - a second later this name was washed away. I barely got the photo. 

After this beach we drove further down the coast to Oswald State Park. Here we found a beach that was so far off the road you had to walk down a heavily forested path along a creek to reach it. You don't see this in Illinois. 

Yes, this is the way to the beach. 

Completely gorgeous. 

This is where that sleeveless dress came back to haunt me. Remember the forecast for clouds?  See the sky?  The sun was intense, but the air was cool, and I got a bit sunburned. I know better but, well, I know better. 

After this beach we headed back to Portland.  Our navigator (Siri) led us on a journey through 13 miles of tight S-curves before reaching a main highway. Apparently there is no shortcut or easy way through these (mountains? Hills?). 

Portland Vacation Day 2

On Tuesday, we decided to just stay in the city and explore a little bit on foot. 

We started with a run in Forest Park. This park has 80+ miles of trails - talk about a running and hiking paradise!

The pictures don't really capture how beautiful this place is. The trees are dark and the shades of green are so beautiful. It was also 58 degrees - perfect for running. 

The main trail/road has nicely marked miles. 

This was a really cool valley. 

After running we went to a coffee shop, then headed back to the hotel to shower. The rest of the day was shopping and visiting breweries.  I found a local yarn shop and bought some beautiful yarn dyed by local artists. 

I've sampled more beer in the last few days than I could have ever imagined. Believe it or not, this is a coffee stout. It tastes just like an iced coffee. Amazing. 

Portland Vacation Day 1

Tom and I are on a kid-free vacation to Portland. Our first trip away alone in what feels like forever. 

We arrived Sunday evening and visited a few breweries and ate dinner. On Monday, we headed to the Mt. Hood area to see waterfalls. And oh, did we see waterfalls!

The first one, Latourelle Falls, turned out to be our favorite. Probably because there was nobody else there. It was also beautiful. :)

We then hit Bridal Veil falls, which was a nice 0.3 mile "hike":

(I wasn't brave enough to climb out on the rock.)

I think this was Wahkeena Falls. We ran into a family wearing Hawkeye gear here. 

The last one, Multnomah Falls,  is the most famous tourist attraction in Oregon. The parking lot was packed and the visitors center was full. (This is why we loved the first waterfall best. No crowds.)  But it was also gorgeous. 

After the waterfalls we had a lunch at Thunder Island brewery. Just look at the scenery. 

After lunch we debated whether to drive north to see Mt. St. Helens, or drive south to see Mt. Hood. We chose Mt. Hood. We were surprised that there wasn't an official route, but we were able to find Trillium Lake, which was gorgeous and offered postcard like views of the mountain. 

This view?  Doesn't stink. :)

That was pretty much the end of Day 1. We drove back to the hotel and went out for dinner and a few drinks at a bar. 

Pollinator Paradise

I love our backyard prairie.