Weaselmouth – Riveted

Last Day in Cary, NC

Laura Domela — Mon, 06 Apr 2015 13:24:47 +0000

Those are called "American Redbud" and they're all over Raleigh and Cary, in multiple shades of pink. I took these on our walk yesterday to the Fortnight Brewing Company along the Cary Greenway:

We've had such a great time visiting Tiffani and Deke. It's been a pretty chill visit, with much eating and drinking, some video games, a couple movies, an Alt-J concert, and a nice walk yesterday to a brewery (and then more eating).

Alt-J at the Red Hat Amphitheater on Friday night (great show!):

On Saturday afternoon Deke cooked up some wings on the Traeger. We had four different kinds, with several dipping sauces, and they were ALL fantastic. Yesterday we went to Beasley's Chicken & Honey for chicken and waffles (sides: creamed collards, beets, and mac & cheese):

Deeee-licious! And when we get home, we're starting back on the salad-fish-veggies-chicken diet. OMG seriously.

Also, while we were here, we PLANNED FOR ALASKA! Tiffani and Deke are going to meet us in Juneau in June and cruise Southeast Alaska with us for two weeks. We're ALL so excited! Together we'll see Juneau, Petersburg, and Sitka, and tons of stuff in between!

Walton Lake and Painted Hills

Laura Domela — Mon, 16 Jun 2014 17:35:57 +0000

After we left Detroit Lake we met up with Tiffani and Deke over at Walton Lake Campground in the Ochoco National Forest in Central Oregon. This is a gorgeous little lake with campsites on both sides. There are no hookups (and only a tiny bit of Verizon service).

We arrived first and did a couple loops around the campground looking for spots. There were a couple of spots (not together) that looked potentially not occupied or reserved and just as we were trying to decide what to do, the camp host lady drove up in her little car:

Camp Host Lady: Are you looking for a campsite?

Us: Yes, we're actually looking for two sites, for two nights…our friends are meeting us here.

Camp Host Lady: Well, I'll tell you what. Why do you go park over in the small group site, and I'll just charge you the $15 per night same as everyone else, instead of the $100 a night that site is normally. There's plenty of room, but just one fire ring, and if I need to put someone else over there I may have to do that. If that's okay with you, you're welcome to have it.

Us: That's fine with us…we're friendly! Thank you so much!

We set up camp and pretty soon Tiffani and Deke arrived and it was a perfect spot. I mean, it wasn't on the lake or anything, but weekend campers without reservations can't be choosers, right?

Pretty sweet! We set up the Traeger(s) and the hammock(s) and the chairs(s) and we were ready to get to some serious lounging and visiting!

Tiffani and Deke (and Lucy) making fire while Kevin swings in a hammock:

Walking the trail around Walton Lake:

On Saturday after a delicious iron skillet breakfast prepared by Deke, we headed out to check out the town of Michell, Oregon, and the Painted Hills. Mitchell is tiny and most of it is in this one photo:

We went in "Judy's Place" and Tiffani found a tiny pair of salt and pepper shakers that said Mitchell, OR on them:

Check out the paint surface of this place:

Arty sidewalk shadow:

And here's the obligatory photo of the "Whole in the Wall" curiosity shop that is never open and is owned by the trust of someone who's long gone. Apparently the city wants to tear it down, but one local told us it's really what Mitchell is known for and they can't tear it down!

Kevin was getting gas while we were looking at junk antiques and had a fabulous story to bring back along with his gas. (Regular was $4.19/gallon)

Kevin (making small talk): Gas prices going up or own these days?

Old guy selling the gas (with grumpy old man tone): Up. Always Up.

After the 4 minutes it took for us to see all of Mitchell, we headed into the Painted Hills.

This place is pretty spectacular. We did the short hike out to the overlook:

Next we drove a little further to another trail (this one quite short, partially on boardwalk where you could get up close but not too close to the brightly colored hills):

Here's what that texture looks like close up:

And see this lavendar part in the foreground here? That part is rhyolite flow and it's 40 MILLION YEARS OLD!!! (Shh, we touched it.):

Reds and golds:

Another freaky shot of the path:

Pretty neat! We headed back to camp after oooohing and aaaahing our way through Painted Hills and once back, we decided to get our bikes out and ride around the lake.

It was a short ride, but still it led straight to some hammock time. Here's my view from the hammock:

We read books and magazines and made fire and good conversation and enjoyed our afternoon and evening very much. We cooked a feast for dinner: tenderloins, seared scallops, pork chops, asparagus, and baked potatoes (we had leftovers, of course).

In the morning, we all headed to Redmond and then waved and honked as Tiffani and Deke headed for Bend and we headed back to Portland. I didn't tear up at all. (Total lie.)

We meet so many people while we're traveling around the country the way we do, but it feels pretty rare to meet people we'll probably be lifelong friends with. We are so grateful our paths crossed with these guys a few years ago when they moved to Seattle. Bon voyage, Tiffani and Deke! We'll see you soon!

Oh yeah, and this thing (!!!!)…a coathook in the ladies room of a mexican restaurant where we had lunch in Sisters, OR:

Kevin says his legs and arm just must have broken off. I checked. I assure you that is not the case. I'll concede this this could have been intentionally modified by an artist/ironworker, but it was not an accident. At all.

Orcas Island with Tiffani and Deke

Laura Domela — Sun, 08 Jun 2014 00:55:17 +0000

Today we busted out the flying RV to go say goodbye (temporarily) to two of the coolest people we know. Tiffani and Deke are moving from Whidbey Island to North Carolina, and although we're happy for them, we're bummed for ourselves. We love these guys!

We flew up to Whidbey Island to pick them up and take them flying (and we got to see Kyle again, too! — Kyle stayed at our house for the several weeks we were in Italy, but we only got to see him for two days when we were home before he headed North.)

Taking off in Portland (this is what happens in photos when the prop is going around):

The flight up to Whidbey was incredible. We could see Mt. Baker, Mt. Rainier, Mt. St. Helens, Mt. Adams, Mt. Hood, and Mt. Jefferson all at the same time. Crazy!

Mt. Adams behind Mt. St. Helens, off the wing:

Flying into Oak Harbor. This runway is 3200 feet, but look how narrow it is…it's only 25ft wide (with a 1.6% downward slope the direction we were landing). It's there, right off the wing, running perpendicular to the shoreline (Tiffani took this photo when we came back, so I'm cheating and putting it out of order):

We were greeted enthusiastically at the Oak Harbor airport by Tiffani and Deke and Kyle. See the three of 'em there? (This photo was taken after the waving and jumping up and down had stopped):

"Take Tiffani and Deke flying" was still on our "Things To Do with Tiffani and Deke" list and we're SO happy we got to do this before they left! It was a blast!

We headed up to Orcas Island and parked in the grass area for visitors at the Eastsound airport. Kevin and Deke talking planes:

We walked into town and decided on a spot called The Madrona Bar & Grill (no idea how the food was going to be, but they were waterfront, and that's what mattered). Turns out the food was quite good!

We took a quick self-timer group photo (nice reflection in the wing!) before taking off for a bit of sightseeing around the San Juan Islands:

Tiffani and Deke each got some front seat time with a bit of flying. I think they dug it. (I'm sure of it, actually.) Eastsound Airport on Orcas, right off the wing:

We had such an amazing day with wonderful friends, good weather, beautiful scenery, and not enough time. We dropped Tiff and Deke off back on Whidbey Island and flew home, talking about our next across-the-country Airstream trip that will include North Carolina. We DO still have that whole upper right corner of the United States to explore!

Aluminogan Day Two

Laura Domela — Sun, 25 Aug 2013 03:30:01 +0000

Today was spectacular. We did an awesome group hike up the road, around the back and to the top of the mountain, and then back down the front to our campsite (about 4 miles). Some shots from the hike:

Interesting sign at some of the neighboring property:

Zoom in here:

Evidence left from a lightning-caused fire:

We hiked about 2 miles to the top of the hill overlooking Leigh & Brian's property (and our very tiny, far away enclave of aluminum…right in the middle tiny dots of gray):

Looking back toward the top of the ridge:

Back at camp we showered, prepped some food for our group dinner, played guitars, sang songs, mixed drinks, played with sticks, and took tons of photos. Here's Dave and Ann (and THOSE CLOUDS!):

And after dinner:

Dinner was fabulous. Everyone just made stuff to go with a "taco night" theme and it worked out beautifully. We had pulled pork (three different varieties), grilled zucchini, guacamole, salsa, corn salad, black beans, delicious homemade sauces and salads and cheeses and, well, a big bowl of bacon thanks to Dan of Mali Mish…a great hit, actually! Amanda (Watsons Wander) made two pies for dessert…both vegan, both amazing: chocolate, and peach, with vanilla ice cream.

And here are a bunch of pretty shiny trailer photos (L to R: Watsons, Mali Mish, Works, Riveted):

And here's everyone:

(L to R: Watsons, Mali Mish, Works, Riveted, Democratic Travelers)

Tomorrow: Canada!