Sep 122014
 

DeschutesRiverOutfitters_1

Fishing on the Deschutes River with Matt Carter and Nate Turner with Deschutes River Outfitters via J5MM.com

Matt Carter, our guide — from Deschutes River Outfitters showing me how it’s done.  Matt is a super talented angler and has been featured in many magazines and recently was featured on the cover of Fly Fisherman.  In addition, each summer he travels to Mongolia as a fly fishing guide.  Kinda crazy if you ask me, but follow your passion I say and this man certainly does :)

Continue reading »

Jul 172014
 

Peak to Valley Airstream Road Trip via J5MM.comCampfire Cookout via J5MM.com

It’s getting close to one week when we returned from a beautiful summer road trip through Idaho and Oregon.  In between working in corporate America, taking care of hubby and B, walking Oliver and the rest of the usual day to day activities I am doing my best to sort through all of the photographs I took during our Peak to Valley adventure.  I call it Peak to Valley because our trip took us from the peaks of alpine life in McCall, Idaho to the valleys down below where Hells Canyon in Idaho and the Deschutes river in Oregon call home. Continue reading »

May 092013
 

Last year, this time we were returning from Oregon’s high desert making a stop along its majestic coastline on this beach called Tierra Del Mar.  It is a trip that is still very vivid in our minds . . .

Airstream on the Beach

When you spend time in Oregon you begin to realize just how incredible it really is here in all that it has to offer. Dramatic coastlines, high deserts, state parks galore and so much more.

A couple more places to visit were on our agenda and then our trip would come to a close. On this day we stopped at one of our favorite places to be with our Airstream.

Right next to the sea.

Hubby and B started exploring and I started preparing lunch for us.  Continue reading »

Apr 202012
 

“I just don’t feel like cooking tonight,” I mentioned to hubby as we headed back down from the mountain (it was another beautiful hike that day).

I had plenty of delicious fresh goodies in the fridge, but tonight I wanted to do something different.  I wanted to go and see the Chinook Room located in the Lodge where I have heard from many guests here at Kahneeta that it is the place to go for incredibly delicious cuisine.

Apparently it is so good there that people drive all the way from Portland and beyond to enjoy the gourmet fare.

Boy were they right.

We enjoyed perfectly cooked salmon with hollandaise sauce, tender lamb (B’s favorite),  flaky elk empanadas (yes, elk — my first time ever trying it and it was delicious!) and thinly sliced venison that was topped with the most incredible berry sauce I had ever tasted.  The combination of all the flavors were perfect and everything was cooked to absolute perfection and served, once again, but a smiling face from our sweet hostess.

No wonder everyone is always so happy here and smiling.

It really is such a wonderful place to be — beautiful landscapes and amazing cuisine.

Bon appetit!


Apr 172012
 

Here everyone is all smiles.

Really.

So kind, so caring and so, well . . . always making sure you are having a good time.

This for sure, we were having. Especially B.

We could hardly wait to take a hike up into the beautiful mountains that surround Kahneeta.

The views were so beautiful.

So incredible.

To fuel our day I made chocolate crepes.  Oh those crepes . . . B is still talking about them.  This time we kept them plain with just a sprinkling of sugar and I can tell you, we probably won’t have them any other way after tasting them.  What that sugar does to those crepes, it’s magical almost.

I also want to share with you photos of double bruleed custard oats that I also made. The hard candy topping on the custard oats, well, it was almost desert.

There was so much to see on our hike from wildlife tracks (I am guessing these are mountain lion maybe?) high up in the mountains to the cool rushing river down below . . .

I also was eager to make beautiful bowls of berries with vanilla stewed rhubarb from my garden.  Greek yogurt with some honey finished it off perfectly along with a sprinkling of chopped pistachios.

It was quite the feast that morning that took us through to the end of the day when I prepared an amazing rice pasta and cheese dish (using this recipe and subbing out the pasta with the rice version).  If you want to add an extra layer of “cheesiness” to your mac and cheese — try a sprinkling of nutritional yeast.  It’s really SO delicious (and what is typically used as the main cheese substitute in vegan mac and cheese versions).

Kahneeta is a very special place for us.  It was our very first time here and it will most definitely not be our last.  The combination of the beautiful landscapes, outdoor activities, incredibly friendly people that always have non-stop smiles on their faces and just general overall feeling of complete peace really sets the stage for the perfect family vacation.

I miss it there, very much.

So does B.

“B, can I take off your wrist band for you?” (It was a wrist band for access to the slippery slides)

“No mommy, please don’t.  I want to keep it on forever.”

See?  It’s a paradise for children and adults alike.

Thank you so much Kahneeta for the memories that we will keep forever :) xoxo


Apr 162012
 

Dear friends,

Just yesterday is when we returned home from our spring trip to beautiful Oregon.  

Oh how I miss it already . . .

I took over 1,500 photographs on this trip if you can believe it.  I couldn’t help myself, Oregon is so beautiful with some of the most incredible landscapes you will ever find.  I keep thinking how I will put all of my photos together so I can clearly share with you our experiences.

Until then, I will leave you with some images of places that we visited and meals that I prepared.  If you can tell it, we had an incredible time and are already planning when we will return.  I can hardly wait.

“I wish we could have stayed for just one more day mommy,” said B over dinner last night.

“I know it darling.  Me too . . . me too.”


Apr 082012
 

Warm springs, hiking, biking, swimming, horseback riding, golfing and the list goes on . . .

These are just some of the things you can enjoy here at Kahneeta Resort located in Central Oregon’s high desert.

Tomorrow we go on a hike.  A day hike and I very excited about it, especially to take some photographs so I can share with you just how incredible this landscape is out here.  You won’t believe it — I promise.

The landscape is absolutely breathtaking here.

Breathtaking.

Today we celebrated the welcoming of Spring and Easter.

B participated in the annual egg hunt here and found two golden eggs.  Two!

Guess what was inside?

Money!  Oh the look on his face, lol.

He also had his traditional Easter basket hunt.

“Mommy?  Do you think the Easter Bunny came?” he asked me, first thing when he woke up.

“I’m not sure, why don’t we go and have a look?”

B is eight years old by the way — and he still believes in the Easter bunny.

My sweet boy.

After the morning festivities, we enjoyed brunch at Kahneeta.

Here is talented chef David preparing my omelette.  It was delicious, thank you David!

Back at camp and looking forward to new adventures and some home cooking on the Airstream.  Stay tuned . . .