Liz and Brad's Big Adventures: Buzzard Point, Beaver Marsh (4/7)

If you're from the Portland area, you know that we had an amazing weekend - weather like we haven't seen in months and months and months.

Despite lots of chores to do, inside and out, there's no way we're going to stay home on a Saturday like that. The house always suffers for our love of outdoor adventures. That's definitely an opportunity that we've decided is worth the cost (a little shout out to my mom, the economist, who taught me about opportunity cost when I was just a youngster!)

After sleeping in a bit, we packed up the car and drove to the Barlow Pass Sno-Park on Highway 35 before White River Canyon.

The sky was brilliant blue, the wind was calm and the temp was warm - hot, even, in the sun.

We'd never been to this cross-country ski area, so it was time for a little exploring.

We started on the Buzzard Point Trail and planned to do the Beaver Marsh Loop before returning on Buzzard Point. It was all downhill to Beaver Marsh, making us a little nervous for the all-uphill return trip. But it was gradual, and the snow was ideal for XC skiing - soft but not sticky, with a little fresh on top from the night before.

We turned onto the loop and found some small hills to play on. Lots of laughs as we cruised up and down :)

Then we found a sunny spot for some lunch:

Tried some of the new vegan jerky I bought this week at Food Fight, a vegan grocery store in Portland. It was excellent! I will be buying more.

We continued on the loop, but the tracks took a left when we should have stayed straight. We went with it, and with the help of our GPS and map, we eventually left the tracks and did our own trail blazing straight up the hill.

It added some good climbing to our trip, and we ended up bypassing the entire Buzzard Point Trail and coming out right next to the car! More laughs :)

After driving home and cleaning up, we jumped on our bikes and rode to Native Foods Cafe at Bridgeport Village for some dinner on the patio: