Home...with the bourbon barrel!

We made it home and so did the bourbon barrel. After picking it up at 4 Roses Distillery in Kentucky we carried that dang thing around with us for over 8,000 miles. Our plan is to age some Trinidad nibs in the barrel. Hopefully we'll have some yummy bourbon barrel aged chocolate available this fall.

 

 

 

 

Guess who was at our house when we arrived? Megan and Kevin! We enlisted Kevin's help in getting the bourbon barrel opened up. So exciting! The day we bought this barrel, bourbon was emptied out of it that very morning. It definitely has a bourbon aroma. We dried our towels over the barrel daily and yes, they always smelled like bourbon. mmm, maybe so did we?

Megan was so cute anticipating the bourbon fragrance.

 

 

Opening up the barrel and Kevin's face says it all. Yep, Angel's share right there!

Thanks family and friends for joining us on our latest road trip adventure. It was so fun sharing our journey with you.

Now, back to chocolate making, building a chocolate lab and selling chocolate!

 

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Crater Lake - Last Night of our Adventure

Location: Collier State Park, Oregon

We had a long hot drive thru Washington & Oregon, but the big pay-off was stopping by Crater Lake. We've been here many, many times, but one never gets tired of seeing this deep blue crater.

 

 

 

Crazy to see how much snow is still on the ground here.

 

Even funnier to see all the kids and families playing in it, with shorts and summer clothing.

 

 

 

Do I look hot and road weary? Our air conditioner went out so we drove old school style...windows down for 8 hrs.

 

You know what fixed that?

Drinks at the lodge.

 

 

Ned looks pretty happy with that cold beer too. (Hurry up Debi and take the damn picture I want to drink this beer.)

 

We're camped at Collier State Park in Oregon. Our last campsite of the trip. What a great journey it has been.

Nevada City here we come!

 

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Cherry Pie Making Day

Location: Uncle Bug's House, Nine Mile Falls.

I woke up first thing this morning and couldn't wait to pick those luscious sweet cherries. Before you know it, Uncle Bug and Ned were picking along too.

 

 

 

 

 

Bud's strategy...pick one, eat one.

 

 

We ended up with about 7 lbs. of cherries.

What's a girl to do?

 

Put my cousin Cary to work pitting them, that's what!

 

 

Before you know it, we were all pitting cherries. Nope, we didn't have a cherry pitter, but Ned and Uncle Bud poked around the garage and came up with a set of allen wrenches. Worked like a charm. Cary perfected the technique. Poke the Allen wrench in the pointy side and the pit squirts out on the stem side.

 

Lisa and I made them into cherry pies. (And there were still lots of fresh cherries left over for our ride home tomorrow).

The hardest part was keeping Uncle Bud out of the pies as they cooled.

 

Such a fun day just hanging with my cousins on the back porch enjoying the warm breeze, talking the day away.

Cary and I were going to do some wheelchair races, but he called the electric chair and was going to stick me with the manual one. So, not fair cuz!

 

 

In the afternoon, Lisa and I picked a couple more bowls of cherries. Didn't even make a dent in the trees.

 

Tonight the big activity was getting a lesson on "Airdrop". Afterwards, a flurry of photos flew between iPads. Yes, we are an Apple Family. Good times.

p.s. Cary is sneaking in a game of wordswithfriends. I see you Cary.

 

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Family Time

Location: Uncle Bug's House, Nine Falls, WA

We left Idaho and headed to just north of Spokane to visit my Uncle "Bug", and cousins Cary and Lisa. Sure was good to connect with them!

 

 

Uncle Bud moved into this place about 3 months ago. Amazing what he's done in that short period of time. The place looks great. There are some loaded cherry trees in his backyard. Yep, munched cherries right off the tree. Yum!

 

Ned testing the grapes. Not quite ready for wine making yet. (Uncle Bug did mention that we have the barrel to make it in!)

 

 

Cary and Lisa moved in with Bud last night. Yes, we are THOSE relatives that show up on the next day when all the work is done and everyone is exhausted. Lisa's so sweet and welcomed us anyway.

 

 

Ned and Bud talking about tractors and stuff. Mr. G. you were really missed today. Would have loved to have you giving your 2 cents.

 

 

Hanging out on the back porch getting caught up over boysenberry pie and ice cream.

 

 

Here's Ned earlier in the day, scoring the pie at a roadside stand. Fortunately, Uncle Bug had vanilla ice cream in his freezer. Match made in heaven.

 

 

The property is so pretty with sweet little touches around. We're having so much fun, I can't wait for what tomorrow will bring.

 

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Chill Day

Location: Cascade State Park, ID

Leaving Redfish Lake wasn't easy. Such a fun place. It rained last night and when we woke this morning everything was fresh and clear. We only drove about 150 miles to our next destination. We have a spot right on Cascade Lake. Our big activity today was chillin'.

 

 

Loved the drive through the canyons, especially along the Payette River. I can't believe the kayakers and rafters actually do this river. There were some really scary rapids along this river.

This view is looking down into the canyon near Garden Valley.

 

This was my big activity today. It was really hot and felt so great to cool off in my floatie.

 

 

 

Ned got involved with his book and by the time he got in the water, the wind had picked up. Does this man look cold to you? Ned needs to perfect the art of chillin' in his floatie...or maybe he really is chillin'!

 

 

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Redfish Lake, Idaho

We had a long drive today across the dusty desert of Idaho. There wasn't a whole lot to see as we drove across the land belonging to the Idaho National Laboratory (a Nuclear Research Facility). However, we did manage to catch a cowboy round-up on the range in action. So fun to watch a herd being rounded up by Cowboys and working dogs.

We eventually caught up to the Salmon River running next to the Sawtooth Mountain Range. Wow what rugged gorgeous country. We passed lots of whitewater raft adventure places. Megan's boyfriend, Kevin, used to be a river guide around these parts. This stretch of the river in the picture is right next to Sunbeam, ID. I can't imagine shooting the rapids here and not smacking into this cement structure before going down this chute. What the heck is that about Kev?

 

We're camped at Redfish Lake. What a little piece of heaven. After hardly seeing a soul all day you can imagine our surprise when we pulled into this USFS campground and saw the "campground full" sign. I had completely forgot that I had made reservations for here back in January. So, when I opened my planning book and saw we had reservations we were thrilled! Life is just full of surprises when you get a touch of "senoritis".

After the long drive, Ned deserved some hammock time and a beer.

 

When things cooled off a bit, we decided to go on a bike ride and check out this awesome area. Two deer with budding antlers crossed right in front of us. Here is one of them. Sawtooth mountains are in the background.

 

Ned looking pretty happy. I think it was because the temp had begun to cool off...or maybe because he knows that I promised him we'd be home in time for his birthday.

 

 

We had no idea this Redfish Lake area was so dang popular. There's a lodge, cabins and several campgrounds scattered around this very large lake. We rode up to the lodge and stumbled upon the most epic summer scene! Music playing, kids dancing on the grass next to the lake, boats coming up to a dock bar, BBQ going, and lots of beer.

 

We need to spend a week here. Duly noted for future trips.

 

 

Me taking it all in.

 

 

 

Who's in for a week camping trip here with kayaks, bikes, and all the floaties we can bring?

 

 

 

If we have time, we'll get in a raft adventure too!

 

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Grand Tetons, Wyoming

Signal Mountain Campgroud, Grand Tetons, WY

We got so lucky! We had our sites set on a specific campground. We pulled into Signal Mountain campground by late morning. All the campsites here are first come, so we didn't even know if we'd get a spot. We snagged a gorgeous site, high on the hill, with a peek at the lake and the Tetons. Sweet! The Tetons are just breathtaking.

This view is from Jackson Dam.

 

 

 

After a picnic at our site, we headed off exploring the park.

 

The view of the Tetons from a meadow.

 

 

 

 

We strolled around String Lake. It was a hot day. There were people swimming, paddle boarding and diving from huge rocks submerged in the lake. Just like home! Really made me miss the Yuba River in the summer. Mmmm...could I possibly be getting a yearning to head home and swim in the South Yuba?

 

On our walkabout, Ned heading to Jenny Lake.

 

 

 

We also visited Jenny Lodge and Jenny Lake. Here's Jenny Lodge, very understated compared to the grand Jackson Lodge.

 

Loved all the wildflowers in the park. The wildflowers across Wyoming are really spectacular this year.

Here's a view of Jackson Lake from Signal Lodge.

 

 

Mr. Ned, at Jackson Lodge, where we stopped in for some afternoon libation.

 

Another great late afternoon to spend in the hammock reading. Here's the view from my perch.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Well hi there.

 

 

 

Another great day camping with my honey. Lucky girl.

 

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