Fontenelle Smoke

Demarcation of the smoke from the Fontenelle Fire is clearly visible from our house today.  The fire started on Sunday.  It has grown from 300 acres early yesterday to 12,000 acres today.

Above is the view from our house looking south . . .

west . . .

east . . .

and north.

Yes, this lovely half of a trailer home is what we gaze upon as we look out our front windows.  I've been purposely avoiding displaying it in any pictures because I don't want it to be the impression folks have of our new place.  Yes, it's an eye sore, and no, I don't think it's going away.  The lot behind it has been leveled and a "foundation" put in place.  Looks like the owners got about half way through the project and quit.  I have a feeling it has been sitting there a long time.  We have yet to ask any neighbors about it but will when we get a chance.  Anyway, what's important is that we are not letting it get to us.  Usually, on a non-smoke day, we have gorgeous views of the mountains in the this direction and continuing to the east.  I have perfected looking beyond the black plastic to the beautiful granite peaks in the distance.  I only see the forest, not the one ugly tree.

Photographer's Point Hike

We enjoyed our first hike in the Wind River Mts on Saturday.  The hike was 9 miles roundtrip which we feared might be pushing it for Isaac.  He did great!  We do think that's about the limit though.

The hike begins at Elkhart Park Trailhead, only a 25-minute drive from town.

It is a beautiful, pleasant trail covering fairly easy terrain.  Total elevation gain is only 1,000 feet.

Although it was an easy 4.5 miles to our destination, I started feeling the effects of altitude towards the end.  Photographer's Point is at about 10,400 feet, only 800 feet less than the summit of Mt Hood!

What's for lunch?

We had this spectacular viewpoint to ourselves the whole time.

The view is the northern part of the Wind River Range.  Fremont Peak is the prominent peak on the far right in the above photo.  At 13,743 feet, it is the second highest in the range.

We definitely have a little climber on our hands!!

Happy to be settling into our new home.

Much love,

J, M, & I

Moving Month Madness

I am getting lots of requests for photos of our new home, and I assure you there will be lots to follow. But first, a post about the crazy busy weeks leading up to and including our move.  So many exciting things happened, and I've been too busy to share until now.  During one month, we celebrated birthdays, Mother's Day, and a wedding, bid farewell to work, friends, and the place we called home, anticipated and enjoyed two family visits, and traveled to our new home.  Phew!  Here's the recap:

Mother's Day

 For my first Mother's Day, we enjoyed a spectacular hike on Dog Mountain.  I had wanted to do this classic Columbia Gorge hike ever since moving to the area.  It made my Oregon bucket list as soon as I knew we would be leaving.

        No matter where he is, Isaac finds the dirt.                              I had a wonderful Mother's Day!

Isaac's 1st Birthday

We were so busy we barely had time to notice.  I am so grateful we had celebrated early (see the post here).

Nana and Grandpa's Visit

  In true Anderson-Guilliams fashion, we went for a lovely hike.

Falls Creek Falls, Washington

Mount Hood Farewell Party

Matt's Mt Hood family sent him off in style with a really nice going away bash.

Baby Everett and baby Luke, the newest additions to the Mt Hood family.

It was so nice to have Steve and Mary with us during this time.

The Mt Hood team would not let Matt head off to Wyoming without proper attire.  They bestowed upon him the obligatory supervisor's glasses and all necessary accoutrements for the wild west.

The stellar Mt Hood Fisheries team (minus one).

Mike & Emily's Wedding

Wenatchee, Washington

The happy couple

 The Arkansas men represented.  What a handsome crew!

Anderson brothers

The elder Anderson brothers.  Just looking at these two, you know they have stories to tell.

He never fails to find the dirt.

          The adults making a valiant effort to distract him.                        And it's working.

Nevermind.  At least they're having fun.

Goodbyes

We said goodbye to many dear friends and places during our last few weeks in Oregon.  A few of the goodbyes were documented.

 Farewell to the Bartows

 We miss them already.

Saying bye to Jennie and Everett who are headed out for a western adventure also.

The boys are scoping out their soon-to-be homes.

Matt even said goodbye to his '97 Nissan pickup that he had driven for 12 years.  Sad to see it go.

Packing

Time to get down to business.

Isaac wanted to be sure we didn't forget to pack Hoppy.

During all the chaos of packing, we tried to keep things as normal and calm as possible for Isaac. 

 He did pretty well in the midst of it all.

 Even though things really weren't totally normal.

In fact, he stayed pretty relaxed given that his whole world was being boxed up and rearranged.

 He actually thought packing was pretty fun....lots of empty drawers and boxes to play in.

 Ya'll just keep working, and I'll just keep being cute.

Loading The Truck

How appropriate that our Uhaul depicted a moose for our move to Wyoming (kind of goes with the log house we moved into).

 We had the most stellar loading crew ever!

Thanks ya'll!!!!!!!!!

The Drive

5 adults, 1 baby, 1 Uhaul, 2 vehicles, 800+ miles, and 14 hours driving.  Really, that all just boils down to 2 days of baby management.

Long rest stops to keep the baby happy.  We intended for him to play to burn energy, and all he wanted to do was swing.

 Day 2 required a little more baby entertainment.  Luckily, he was a fairly agreeable passenger.

 As a mom, I learned not to underestimate the value of squeezable food and cell phones.

 Same look of concentration as his Daddy.

 First sign for Pinedale!

We're Here!
 

Thanks so much to Dad, Mary Ellen, and Daniel for being the best moving crew!!

 Isaac thinks the new house is not so bad.  It also has lots of empty drawers and caves to play in.

Happy trails everyone!