Camping, Beach & Allergies

Ok guys- I know I haven't posted in awhile. I took a vacation from my day job, and the vacation slopped over to a vacation from posting, as well!

So in the last few weeks I've been doing many things. First it was camping:

Camping at Champoeg State Park

Then we went to the beach with our friends for my birthday weekend. We stayed in Lincoln City at the Ester Lee Motel & Cabins. It turned out to be quite nice. We had a load of fun playing Apples to Apples, Mad Gab, and little pirate board game my husband and I picked up a few years back.

On the beach at Lincoln City with T, C & Tonka goggie.

No, I'm not frowning, I'm concentrating on my stitching.

Our view of the beach from the room we rented with our friends. Ok, we did splurge a bit for my birthday weekend.

In between camping and the beach, I underwent allergy testing because I am fed up with vertigo and migraines, and I'm finally doing something about it. My husband and I think the migraines may be partially due to my sinus problems, and my sinus problems most likely stem from allergies. Well, we were right that I have allergies. No, I won't show you pictures of the ginormous welts on my arms, because I didn't take any.

So, it turns out that I'm allergic to grass. I live in Eugene, which is part of Lane county, and is situated in the Willamette Valley. Guess what title the Willamette Valley gets? You got it - "Grass Seed Capitol of the World." You don't have to trust me on that, you can go ahead and google it. I'm so freaking thrilled.

We've been published!

Neat-o!

My photo of our campsite in Yosemite's Housekeeping Camp was chosen for inclusion in the newly released eighth edition of Schmap's Yosemite Guide. Yep, that's Richie standing there.

Some of you here might not have heard about our trip, as we did it before I started this blog. You can see more photos on my Flickr page.

Unfortunately, I didn't get better pictures of the interior because it was already getting towards dark, and we didn't find our hidden light switch until late. :P

See what looks like a covered outlet under the mirror? Yeah... the top cover hides a switch for the light above the mirror. We felt like silly monkeys for not figuring it out sooner.

We didn't pull into camp and start setting up until around 7 p.m. because we were exploring Hwy. 41 and Mariposa Grove.

Here is a little rill I couldn't help but snap at the grove. It just seemed so refreshing.




We kept seeing these everywhere, but never figured out what they are- plants or fungi? Still scratching our heads. Leave a comment if you know what they are!

Our feet and legs were killing us due to our 14 mile hike two days prior, but I just had to go see the tunnel tree. It wasn't all that spectacular, but stretching our legs was good for us. The best part was what we found on the little side-trail we took back to the parking lot:

Richie's shot of these deer.

They were standing on the trail, browsing. They didn't seem at all concerned that we were there.

Some Lupine in a meadow. We stopped on the way back to the valley from Wawona so I could capture some of these.

Richie at Tunnel View. El Capitan on the left, then Cloud's Rest & Half Dome in the back there. One can see Sentinel Dome and the Fissures on the right, then there's Taft point (I believe), and Bridal Veil Falls. This is a great place to be awed by the beauty of the valley. That is, if you aren't being elbowed out of the way by other camera-happy tourists. :P