Back in Montana

It has been a while since the last update and updates there are....

We got back to Butte on Monday night after leaving Oakridge early in the morning.  It turned out to be a 14 hour drive back from Oakridge.  All in all, the trip was a really nice break from the usual routine.  Oakridge has some unbelievable riding!!!  It ranks right up there with the best riding I have ever done.  Imagine riding through Oregon old growth rain forest where everything is green and old growth trees 10 ft in diameter.  The higher trails are at around 5,000 ft and the valley floor is at around 1,000 ft so when you get a panoramic view it really opens up into some awesome vistas...will come back to the riding in a bit (or maybe the next update).

Our drive through Montana, Idaho, Washington, & Oregon gave me a new appreciation for just how diverse our landscape is.  We went through these beautiful rolling hills in E Washington on the way to Bend.  As we got closer into South Eastern Washington we noticed that there were a lot of windmills that dotted the landscape.  We soon realized why there were so many windmills as the truck started to get blown around on the road.  We drove through 2-3 hours of high winds, worked our way through SE Wash and NE OR to get to Bend. 

Throughout, the dogs remained very patient and turned out to be great travelers...then again they had their home doggy beds and got to sprawl out in the crew cab.  This was Otis' first long roadie and camping trip so we were curious to see how he was going to do.  We stopped along the way so they could stretch their legs and smell the new scents of road trip!  

They quickly settled into their new digs and got comfy while doing some extended checking of their eyelids for leaks.  When we finally got to Bend they were anxious each time we stopped in the hopes that this was the stop that they were going to get out and finally be out of their car.  Unfortunately for them, our trip to Bend entailed several stops and they would hang in the car with either Erin or I (depending on who had to go into a store, etc)...Otis showed great concern each time Erin or I would disappear into a store, but like magic we would re-appear and his tail would start to wag joyously.  I am constantly amazed at just how different Moby and Otis' personalities are.  Otis is much more overt and bubbly while Moby was always much more subdued and more of a thinker.  I am curious to see how whether Otis will mellow out and be closer to what Moby is or whether is will always remain his goofy self.  Regardless, we are blessed to have them both and not a day goes by that they don't put a smile on my face.

While we were in Bend, the Och's came down to play from Portland!  We had a great time catching up and I am amazed how cool their son Connor is.  He is very sophisticated for a 3+ yr old!  We visited Powell's store while in Bend and were quickly all taken back to our childhood.  They have an awesome collection of candy that I have not seen in 20+ yrs (or since the last time we were in Powell's). 

After hanging in Bend, we bolted down to Oakridge for the Cascade Cream Puff...will post another entry on the race...the short version is that it was HoTT but I managed to survive and finish.

When we returned to Montana we unloaded and I quickly realized that our house had been egged yet again.  The little loser punk neighbor kid has nailed us twice now.  The first time was our new truck and our fence...this time it was our bedroom window and high up on one of the gables on the overhang of the roof.  It sure was a buzkill coming back from a nice vacation to discover the white trash neighbors had struck again.