Last weekend we set out for some good old car camping. We headed for the coast with our comfy sleeping bags, whole foods deli items, smores makings, and surf stuff. Our goal was to score a great spot on the Nehalem River and commute to the coast on Saturday for surfing. Of course it never works out like you plan and usually turns into an adventure.
By the time we finally left town and ended up at the river, there were no spots left. Actually let me rephrase that..... The hobo camping spot was left. We camped right next to where the bridge has washed away and the combination of transient garbage and the bullet hole beer cans gave our camping spot that 'lived in feel'. Luckily Heather and I were accompanied by our friend Tim so we didn't feel completely vulnerable.The next day we headed for the coast and managed to get a campsite at the Nehalem Bay campground. Unfortunately, it was freezing and Very windy making the surf terrible. We made the best of it by keeping ourselves busy at the campground.
Thomas, Heather and Amye joined us after playing in Portland's 3-on-3 street b-ball tourney.
Burma belongs to Tim. This white pitbull Boxer mix has a lot of energy and played ostrich in the sand. He is such a cutie and thinks that my pumpkin is a cutie too. We had to make sure he was not in 'humping' distance. He is also deaf, making him difficult to redirect. Interesting fact- most white pitbulls are deaf.
Heather and Tim looking cute at the beach.
His friends Jared and Mike were also down for the event and we had food and drink before playing several games of pool. Pool is a favorite pastime for Jamie and myself. We used to meet at Jillian's in Tacoma back in the day.
As the night went on, picture taking kind of dominated the entertainment. I think photography is very contagious and when you have a decent camera and other people into taking 'out of the ordinary' shots, it can be entertaining.
It was a great night and the goal is to hopefully join them in the STP madness next year. That's 200 miles in two days. I better start training soon!
We took 99 back to Portland and ended the day with a cold drink from Starbucks. Did I mention I love this Starbucks? This particular coffee shop attracts the same crowd of older adults full of great stories. I always find myself hanging out with much older people?? What's the deal? With that- off to get a coffee now.
Betty and a big tree.
Our camp was literally on the bank of the lake. We stayed for three nights and had to share on the first night, but had the lake to ourselves the rest of the weekend.
Home sweet home. 
I packed my fishing pole with no expectations of actually catching fish. My first cast in and this is what I caught!
Because I wasn't expecting there to actually be big fish, I didn't pack my frying pan and so Betty and I went into improvisation mode. This rock served as our cooking platform and I had some damn good trout burritos. This fish made my weekend!!!
Day 2 was really our relaxing day. Along with catching fish, we played cards, napped during a rainstorm, read books, played with fire and just relaxed and took in the nature. It was also nice to hear very active Elk at about 6am that morning.
On day 3 we planned a day hike to Tanner Butte. This was an 8 mile round trip hike with only around a 1200' elevation gain. It was cake compared to our hike in. The morning fog and trees were stunning.
Once at the top, the cloud cover was pretty heavy. Luckily the rocks were warm and we brought lunch. We both napped up top and sure enough the clouds burned off while we were eating.
On our way back, we found this in the middle of the path. It was a big pile of poo and it certainly wasn't there when we left for the butte. Our suspicions were that it was bear poo and after googling it, I think it was. 
On Day 4 we fished a bit before leaving. The weather was perfect and we were looking forward to the views on the way out. We were also excited about going down and not up.
My Pumpkin!
I ended up catching a releasing about 5 rainbows. They were so hungry!
We went out of our way to 
