Sayonara Peugeot

You may have burned sustainable fuel, but you gasped your last breath on the way into the Johnson-Rockers wedding. When the gear shift snapped off in our hands on that last corner, we knew, if only in our hearts, that the time had come to part ways.


Fortunately we got a great tow truck driver who seems to know all the bio-diesel folks and tow them regularly. He even came up with a plan for how the three of us could live for the rest of our lives splitting one year of the Carolina Football coach's salary; great guy that tow truck man.


Bye Bye Peug, hello fossil fuels.

Jack & Mary's Beautiful Wedding

Snipes Farm



Juggling Johnson Family


Carolina Lisette & Me




The Cutting of the Cup Cakes




Jack, Rett, Neil

the first men to ever crash an ng retreat, jasper and david came to pick up jenny and sick little ashlyn from our boone mountain cabin.



happy baby pose

Red Woods

We camped in Prairie Creek SP for a night, saw tons of Roosevelt Elk (the bucks had huge racks, the biggest i have ever seen!), and lots of big trees. Big Trees are cool; these definitely beat the giant tulip poplars of Joyce Kilmer National Forest in Western North Carolina. Dogs aren't allowed on any of the trails; national parks are dog haters, dog lovers beware, creasy only saw the big trees from the car and from the leash at the camp site.

Now all i need is a band....



this is probably the only picture of us together ever taken.


can you find neil in this picture?


neilio, me, hills

Hillsnobillsno

Sorry Sean, somehow you didn't make it into any of the pictures.

Jammin' with Hills.



the OR sand dunes with hills, abby and creasy doggie.


hillshire hit with a compound bow


Sara points out the simiarities of Neil & St. Sebastian


King Oyster Mushroom Production.


a hummingbird nest made of lichen, lined with spider web, suspended on a black berry cane: a marvel of nature, this is beautiful!

His Dark Materials

Gund sheds a tear as the realization sets in: he was not cast as Iorik Byrensen. Susan says it may be because they were not looking for a mangy, dingy colored bear....mmmm.

The San Juan Islands

Fishing with Creasy off a small rock in Obstruction Point State Park, WA.


We have been searching for this plant for 1.5 years: Epipactus, a moderately common orchid that has been eluding us for a long time, it may be common, but this is the first time we have ever seen it, and this plant is growing right in our camp site on Orcas Island!! We were lucky to be so far north and catch it blooming this time of year.



Looking over the main land from Oras Island from Mount Constitution, part of the San Juan Islands off WA State.

Hey You Guys!!!!!!

Ruth...baby ruth?1?
This one's for Willie....

Pit Cooking

My newest obsession is cooking things in a hole in the ground. We have successfully produced a fine variety of yard birds in this method and one undercooked still frozen 30 pound buffalo roast that will not be added to my list of successes.

This would make a great way to do up a thanksgiving situation. All you need is a place to dig a hole, some rocks (that are fire worthy -- nothing all full of quartz or river rocks that will explode during heating) and a bird.

Here she is, the yard bird all seasoned up with a Moroccan spice blend with lots of sumac. Make sure to wrap the bird tight in tin foil, shiny side in please, and place her breast down during the cooking to ensure tender white meat.


Cut some branches of apple, alder, birch, whatever tree, shrub or rush you have hand to add to the smoking. We used the red ceder this time.


All this time you have had large rocks baking in a fire, heating them up for hours, now you are ready to remove these stones and find some way to get them into the pit you dug. The pit does not need to be wide, but needs to be about 1.5-2ft deep. This one was even a little deeper. We used the cast iron dutch oven to transport the rocks to the hole. Toss them in there. Lay down half your branches on top of the rocks, if you were able to pre-wet them that would have been good. i just dunked the whole arm load in the stream and layed half the branches down on the rocks, put the bird on top of the branches and covered it with the rest of the branches.



I poured a stock pot full of water over the whole thing and then its time to re-burry it.


We went on a foray and were gone most of the day, probably about 6 hours. When we returned dinner was hot and ready. We had thrown some individually tin foil wrapped beets right in the coals from the rock fire and they were baked to perfection.
The best advice i have for you is to be very careful when you excavate it, don't gouge your shovel through the tin foil. But, please do be prepared for the best tasting, most deliciously tender chicken you have ever tastes.


I don't have a picture of the finished product because i was too busy getting my hands dirty eating it.

Boletus and such

Yesterday we found our first lobster mushrooms, some weird paracitizing bright orange fungus in Cape Perpetua, OR. Here is Neilio with a pair of King Boletes aka Porcini mushrooms.


A family of Admirable Boletes: a lovely lemony flavor.


A hike to a waterfall on the scenic waterfall highway outside Portland.


A New Culinary Sensation: Bolete, Kale and Bacon Guacamole.


Creasy Doggie practicing her new berry picking hobby on the ubiquitous Oregon Blackberries.

Camping never tasted so good....

The main thing i have to report is how well we have been eating and how much money we have been saving by not living any where. we have spend $95 total on lodging so far and we anticipate that to remain the same for the rest of the month -- the road has been good to us, the people kind and the wifi free!

here i am dorking out in the middle of the mt. hood wilderness, it's nice to know you can access your notes, plant pictures, recipes, etc from anywhere; we're a mobile database.


Crissy and Jeff graced us with a 250,000 pound cast iron pot that costs about .70/mile to transport but is really worth it when it comes to cooking over the open flame. 1 canister of fuel later we have cooked up some of the most delicious dishes ever to grace a picnic table or camp chair. The list includes braised pork short ribs, split pea and bacon soup with campsite-made chicken stock, beans from scratch....


local shrimp from the Olympic Penninsula, one of only 3 commercial shrimpers in the area. these are like mini lobsters, creamy, fresh and delicious.



and they make one hell of an Inari-zushi with saguaro seeds.


Oysters on the beach on Orca Island in the San Juans.


Clamming on the beach in Tolmie State Park in WA: all the state parks are free day use here!



We've been trying all the different types of salmons; how different fish tastes when it is fresh, the sockeye here is an entirely different piece of meat than anything i have ever had before. Coho and Kind salmon we bought from the Portland farmer's market, hands down the best market i have ever been to, manageable and with tons of stuff, fresh fruits, veggies and meats and prepared foods. This is Pikes Place Market in Seattle and some of their displays; got the best salmon jerky i have ever had here, a belly strip of the king salmon, oily and delicous filled with that omega-3 lovin'.


King Ranch Cassarole lives on and on and on: this one gave us 6 meals, i almost never want to see another one.

Fish Tacos for Life

This fish is bigger than she is. Andrews in Homer, Alaska with a giant Halibut.

Of Horror Movies and Hoodlums

Keota, Co. The creapiest little "town" : one water tower, two houses.

The family