A Trip to See Grandpa Griswald

A couple of weeks ago Mike, Cora, & I had four days off where we didn't already have something planned. We brainstormed for a couple of days and decided it was time to visit Grandpa Griswald, or Riley, & his lovely wife Charlotte in Prineville. Prineville is a short 6 hours away from Boise. We had a beautiful and curvy drive from Boise to Prineville thanks to highway 26 (We didn't take that road home & I don't think I will drive that road again). We arrived at Riley & Char's around dinner time, and of course they were more than gracious hosts and had beverages & dinner ready. Cora loved hamming it up for Riley & Char. Here she is cracking smiles at the dinner table.
The next morning, Riley had plans to brew beer with his neighbor & Charlotte had to work so Mike, Cora, & I decided to drive into Bend for the day. After visiting a local bike shop to get some advice on where we could bike while pulling the Chariot, we headed for Shevlin Park. Here I am pulling Cora behind me. She is such a great little traveler, of course she has been traveling since she was 3 weeks old :)
The ride was pretty good. We found a great trail, but unfortunately it started to get really narrow and the mosquitos started feasting on me so we turned around and opted to run the same trail for a bit of extra exercise. While we were running back up the trail we ran into two of Mike's coworkers/friends from the department. We knew they were going to be in the Bend area, but it was still pretty odd to run into them on a random trail in a different city. Josh & Ben waited for us to finish up our run & we all met up at the parking lot.

Before we could head back into town we helped out the guys by driving them back to Tumalo Falls, where they started their ride.

Next stop, one of my personal Mecca's, The Deschutes Brewery. This photo show just how happy I was to have a delicious Black Butte Porter direct from the tap where it was brewed. See the creamy top, it was pulled from the Nitro Tap. YUMMY!
After the brewery I had to stop at Trader Joe's. Just one thing, I am not allowed to go into Trader Joe's unattended from now on. I had way too much fun in that store. Mike would have been there to help me control myself but poor Cora was so tired she just zonked out in the car. Another quick stop at Dutch Brothers, only one of the best places to get coffee, and we were on our way back to Prineville.
While I prepared our Carne Asada dinner Cora got some quality time with Charlotte. Here she is taking Cora around their property & visiting the neighbor horses. I don't know who had more fun, Cora or Charlotte?

Mike & Cora playing with wind chimes

D & Cora hanging outside the Bunkhouse

Riley & Char's dog Echo. Cora will not stop talking about him :)

The next morning after bumming around the house Mike, Riley, Cora & I all headed out to the Prineville Reservoir. Cora had a great time on the boat. She loved driving and running all over the boat. Here is a cute shot of Riley & Cora.

Here she is looking over the front of the boat. She kept walking from front to back checking out the waves the boat made & saying, "waa waa".

We been on a couple of pontoon boats since Cora was born & Mike has it for them in a bad way, I don't think driving Riley's made it any better. I see a pontoon boat in my future, but I guess we have to get a house where we can park it since we are already pretty ghetto with our camper parked in our driveway, lol.

We had such an amazing time with Riley & Charlotte we can't wait to go back!