Let me tell you 'bout the birds, and the bees, and the flowers...

Heyburn State Park, Idaho

We've been trying to fill every weekend with a trip, to see as much of the area as possible before our move back to Ohio. Based on friends' recommendations, and the desire to use our camping gear more than once while we're out here, we spent an overnight at Heyburn State Park in Idaho. The park has been around for more than 100 years - it's the oldest park in the Pacific Northwest!

It's where the trail of the Coeur d'Alenes picks up, a 72-mile bike trail around the lakes of Idaho and up into the Couer d'Alene region.  Being mid-May and still a bit on the chilly side, we practically had the park and campground to ourselves. It was a fun and relaxing time exploring trails, skipping stones into the lake, and spotting wildlife.

Birds! Birds!
We spotted lots of birds, the usual ducks and geese and ravens, but also red-winged blackbird, violet-green swallows, and you can even make out an osprey flying overhead in the top right corner of the photo below. (Its nest was on the top of the pedestrian bridge). Maggie also spotted an eagle on the drive over.

Our new friends made their presence well-known, crashing campsites for nibbles and chittering and squawking away well past midnight.  Guess there was quite a party going on in the marsh. *yawn*

But as it turns out, we don't have to go further than our driveway to see some of the most interesting birds this summer. Our newest neighbor is Abraham, the resident pheasant. He's a bit too boisterous and opinionated, though we do like having him around. 

There's often quail scuttling around in our mulch, and magpies dominate the neighborhood.

Then one day as Joe went to leave for work, he saw a golden eagle ( we think?) on the neighbors rooftop. He didn't stick around long enough for us to nickname him. Any raptor-aficionados that can confirm what this is?

 

Bloomin'

Springtime in Pullman is bursting out all over. I've enjoyed walking around the neighborhoods and gawking at the amazing gardens and flowerbeds coming up everywhere. First, there were the tulips along the route to school, then the poppies and wildflowers downtown, and then the lilacs everywhere!  Across campus, bordering houses and driveways, spilling out into the streets, in shades of purple and pink and white. Can't believe I didn't get any photos of it, but I did snap off a few blooms to bring into the house. 

Andrew's "Harry Potter" plant with some lilac.

We just returned from a long weekend in Seattle, so more blogging adventures to come! 

-Alison

Baby, if you ever wondered...

We can officially announce that we are moving back to Cincinnati in June!

Yes, we're "kinda tired of packin' and unpackin'" - living in our 3rd house in a year - but Joe & I decided a couple months ago to work our way back to the Queen City. While we've enjoyed exploring a new part of the country, we miss our old neighborhood and city, our family and friends. That, compounded with a few other reasons, and we can no longer resist the magnetic pull drawing us back home.

But don't despair, you (few) faithful blog-readers: there will be more of  Newtothenorthwest to come. In the next two months, we plan to find out what spring in the NW has to offer, traversing Washington, Idaho, and Oregon, and then ultimately chronicling our trip back, as we add even more states to our travelogue (we saw 15 states in 2012!) We should be back and settled in Madeira by late June.

 See you soon, Cincinnatians! 

 p.s. I've got some great spring photos of Cub Scouts, school events, and Maggie's birthday, that I will post, uh, once I find my camera.