Double Nickel

Somebody in the Rhodes household hit the double nickel (55) birthday recently. As has become almost an annual ritual we headed over to Sisters, OR to celebrate with a combination of camping and rental house for a week. Mia and I took Friday off from work so we could beat the holiday weekend traffic. We…

Deschutes State Park Weekend 2025

Surprisingly, the weather has been fairly decent back in the Portland metro area this spring. That is not always the case and when planning out trips a couple months in advance, you need to go with the probable not the possible. It was with that mentality that I booked a late April weekend at Deschutes…

Will Travel for Pastries (or snacks in general)

There is little doubt that Mia and I are always looking for those little gems on our road trips/vacations. While I definitely have a penchant for mom-and-pop donut shops we also are on the lookout for bakeries, sandwich shops or just something “different”. We have our favorites like Sisters Bakery, Sisters Coffee, Joe’s Donuts, The…

Something a Little Bit Different

I may or may not be “retired” from bike racing but that is a totally different story. With that being said Mia and I were looking for a 2025 spring challenge, something to keep us occupied and focused on for the winter months. I don’t remember which of the two of us stumbled upon the…

Planning

This is the time of year I start to get antsy for outdoor adventures. The crappy weather has been with us for a bit now, but some warmer weather is quite possibly only a few weeks away. I have spent the past few months thinking about spring and summer adventures. Hikes, bike rides, camping trips,…

Champoeg State Park

I had a couple reasons to book a campsite at Champoeg State Park for December. I wanted another night to test out the Eberspacher Espar B2L heater and I am working my way towards twelve consecutive months of camping in Clifford. First off, let’s discuss the name of the park. Champoeg (Sham-poo-ee). The G is…