Asparagus on the ditch banks...

When I was a girl, mom would drive the two of us out into the countryside to pick asparagus. We'd find a patch on the ditch banks, cut a few stalks, find another patch, cut a few stalks, and so on until we had enough for dinner.

I didn't like how it tasted as a girl but I loved being with mom and cutting the beautiful green slender stalks. Fortunately, I've passed those picky-eater days and I adore asparagus!

I'm always on the hunt for a new yummy recipe and got lucky this week. This Chicken Asparagus Salad was the bomb! Just had to share it with my siblings, nieces, nephews, and friends who love asparagus too. Hope you like it!   :)

Grilled Chicken-Asparagus Salad

This is their image from "myrecipes.com"

Oregon with radical Styles, Mr. Sandman, Zac's Buddy, sweet Nouget, and trippy Mocha...

We like to try new things on our summer vacations. Over the years we've had a blast experiencing things like zip-lining...

...scuba diving...

...jet boating through rapids with this guy at Jerry's Rogue Jetboats...

...who was expert at doing 180's in rapids like this (their picture, not mine, cause I was soaking wet and laughing myself silly)

 

...which made our hair look like this.

So when I asked the Mr. and the twigs what they'd like to try this year (bungee jumping, hot air ballooning??) I was a little surprised to hear them say horseback riding on the beach. It didn't sound crazy high-adventure but it did sound beautiful so I made reservations. This little paragraph, however, on the participant agreement form got my adrenaline racing as I realized it may be "high-adventure" after all.

     ...A horse,regardless of its training and usual behavior, may act unpredictably causing you to be thrown or injured by the horse. Horses may bite, kick, buck, lie down, or stumble. Saddles may slip...Your horse may collide with obstacles such as creeks, bridges, wild animals, stumps, rocks, and cliffs..."

The last time we rode a horse it looked like this. Don't you just love Hunter hanging off the back.  :)

I sure hoped I wouldn't collide with any bridges, wild animals, or cliffs as my horse was biting me and my saddle was sliding off!

No worries, the horses were gentle and the ride through the forest and along the beach was totally beautiful.   :)

 

The picture quality is a little wonky, sorry. I wasn't letting go of the saddle horn for nothin' on account of my vivid imagination and those participant agreement tidbits.

We rode along a stream and through a forest out to the dunes and then onto the beach.

 Some of the horses were more willing to enter the water, like Zac's horse, Buddy.

Our guides, Emily and Matt, were on the ball at every turn and even took a picture for us. Thanks guys!

Zac on Buddy, our girlie on Nouget, the Mr. on Sandman, me on Mocha, and Hunter on Styles.
We love this world and God's breathtaking creations!

Oregon punch with a side of crab...

This was our first visit to the Devil's Punchbowl on the Oregon coast and it didn't disappoint! We skipped looking into the punchbowl from the top and just headed right under the arch and inside because the tide was rising and our time would be limited.

Since Hunter was a tiny little guy he's always been interested in crawly things. He could spot a bug lickety split!

This moment made me laugh... there's our Hunter...looking at some interesting itsy bitsy creature.

 Back out on the beach, Hunter found more creatures.

I used to say he might be an entomologist some day. He's leaning more toward Orthodontics. Guess brackets are itsy bitsy things too.    :)

 The tide caught our girlie and the Mr. out on this sandbar.

I think he was trying to persuade her to give him a piggyback ride to dry ground.    :)

No luck this time, big guy. Looks like you're wading.    :)

Oregon...we love your waterfalls!

There were more fabulously beautiful waterfalls along the Colombia River Gorge than we could fit in! Along with Oneonta Falls here, we did manage to see Horsetail, Ponytail, Middle Oneonta, and Triple Falls.

Zac, (Elder Branch now) was learning to use his camera that Rachelle & Debbie gave him for his mission on Horsetail Falls. Thanks ladies!   :)

The next falls on the hike, Ponytail Falls, looked interesting to us when we were planning our trip because the trail actually goes behind the waterfalls! We couldn't wait to see it.

Halfway up the mountain we lost this guy. He stopped to tie his shoes then...he took a "short cut" and we didn't notice. I know, how could we not notice? His "short cut" went straight up the mountainside instead of following the dozens of switchbacks.

We started calling for him and when we'd pass other hikers we'd ask if they'd seen a really tall blonde guy dressed like batman.

Finally our paths crossed, whew!

Just around the next turn was Ponytail Falls. It was spectacular!

Zac wanted to get the full experience of the falls and climbed down next to the pool.

After Ponytail Falls we continued on and up to Triple Falls. It was a beautiful hike with numerous little waterfalls, bridges, lush moss-covered trees, and wildflowers along the way.

The twigs loved this tree near Middle Oneonta Falls.

Our sweet girl and our photo-bomber...

I noticed a trend in these pictures of Zac trying to climb everything he sees. Ha ha ha   :)

 

There were opportunities to talk together of our gratitude for people who make trails and repair washed out trails like this one.

 

We eventually reached Triple Falls! The viewpoints were from across the gorge (below) which makes the scale of the falls deceptive until you realize the little dots at the tops of the falls are actually people, pretty gutsy people, we decided, when we hiked around to the top of the falls but passed on getting to their same vantage point.

Oregon, we love your waterfalls!

Oneonta Gorge and a frog named George...

Just before Zac left on his mission to North Carolina, we had him all to ourselves on vacation in Oregon!

The hands down favorite part of the whole trip was this hike. Actually, it was more of a wade than a hike.

It was a little 1/2 mile hike up a gorge near Multnomah Falls along the Columbia River that dead ends at a beautiful waterfall. 

Along the way there was an immense log jam to climb over.

Climbing over the logs was fun but the real excitement hit when the walls narrowed and the water grew deep, so deep you had to swim for it. Well, swimming was the route most of us took. The boys, however, decided to put their rock climbing skills to use and made their way along the slick, wet rock. Zac's rock climbing class at Weber State paid off and he made it through both ways without getting dunked.

The waterfall at the end of the gorge was misty and fabulous!

On our way out of the gorge we found this little fella. We're pretty sure his name was George. He lives in a breathtaking place!

The twigs all say this hike was their favorite part of our vacation! We'd love to do it again!