Kissing salamanders

We came upon some kissing salamanders during a lovely hike to the land bridge at olalla lake Friday evening. The water felt almost swimable! Summer is almost here! Yay!

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Closed campgrounds

We had some extra days off the other week (aka, vacation). As usual, we love to stop along the way while road tripping to check out the parks and trails along the way. A lot of the parks were still closed for the winter season, which is awesome for us, then we get the whole park to ourselves.


Above is the view of the river access from a sweet campsite. The campsites always look better when they are empty though :)





And there were trilliums everywhere!


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Hillbilly road trip

My grandma really wanted to go to the monthly community club meeting. She has been getting up less and less, so everyone thought it would wear her out just getting her out of her chair and into a car seat. So we got her down there the hillbilly way......just loaded her into the back of the truck and headed out!
(in the picture below, the orange strap was only added for special effects:)
She made it the few miles down the road the few miles without any problems, plus it was very entertaining for everyone watching. She had a great time.




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Pretty spring day

Apparently, the beach access at work was getting a little too complicated for some...... So I spent my morning watching Ryan, the beach ranger cut up some of the logs that were in the way.

I couldn't help but notice what a pretty day it was on the Oregon coast. I haven't been to the beach much lately, which is embarrassing to admit, since my office is like 500 feet from it!


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Rainbow at the holly house

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Hearts, hearts, everywhere

On our evening walk.


This heart was sitting on the ground, welcoming us to the park.

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Mushrooms in all sizes

Small


Medium


And large!


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Lunch at the park

Our lunch date was closely watched by this hungry seagull. Silly seagull, sandwiches are for people!


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Spring is coming!

Skunk cabbage or trilliums, a sure sign that spring is on its way.
They are both beautiful, but now I hope I find a trillium to share :)


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Kayak trip

It had been a long time since we had gone out in the kayak, so we were very happy to learn that it didn't have any new-found leaks when we went to take it out the other day. The tide was going out, so we decided to float out to the Yaquina River from the park. We may have brought a few beers.



The tide was very low, so it was very muddy. Which was pretty at first, but when we wanted to stop, it was hard to find a place to get out.


The sun set while we were still out. Excited to get out more this summer!


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INSANITY!!

As a proud sister, I have to give props to Ashley, who managed to complete the insanity work out. I saw the infomercial, and believe me, it looks hardcore!


She earned this shirt, and looks fabulous in it!


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Cute dogs

Saturday was spent out visiting Grammie and playing with the dogs. Jered played fetch with Shilo until she could barely walk anymore, and she loved every minute of it.


Penny didn't play fetch, but was comfortable enough to come outside with us a few times. She loves to be inside so much that it can be hard to coax her out sometimes.


It is pretty cute to see them cuddling together though. Penny on the left, Shilo on the right.

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A walk on the railroad tracks

We took a wonderful, stink free walk last night. I say stink free because although the walk is beautiful......


We walk by multiple treatment ponds that give off some pretty strong smells sometimes. Not tonight though, it was calm and quiet. It is nice once again getting home from work while it is still light outside....it means spring is coming soon!


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Beaver pond hike

We took a quick walk up to the beaver pond behind Grammie's house last night. It was impossible to capture, but there is a little beaver in this pic, just hanging out in the pond he built.


And the sunset was awesome!!








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