There's nothing like a getaway to the great outdoors to instill that sense of awe at the wonders of nature. Even if that getaway includes sleeping in the comfort of my beloved '71 Silver Streak "Sabre" trailer at a crowded
Detroit Lake State Park last Sat-Tues. We did have all the requisite elements in place: great hikes, campfires, water view, and of course loads of refreshing adult beverages and some killer camp grub.
Lakeside living in the Streak!Our first dinner at DLSP was a much anticipated, perfectly red/pink piece of wild chinook salmon w bought and I was dying to cook over an open fire. Nothing better. Simply drizzled with olive oil, a sprinkling of salt and pepper, a side of salad and rice, washed down with a perfect bottle of
2002 Westrey Wine Co. "Willamette Valley" Pinot Noir. I did say roughing it, right?
Salmon-ey goodness, hot off the fire!Day two brought on some outdoor activity involving a 3-mile hike up to
Dome Rock for some awesome views of the surrounding central Cascades.
w soaking in the view at the top of Dome Rock while Chops rests for the trek back down.That of course was a prelude to an oh-so-refreshing Negroni back at camp, which was itself a prelude to a fantastic dinner to follow. While we were prepping our palates with some cheese and a couple of glasses of Provençal rosé, I prepped a couple of grass finished New York strips we'd picked up from a vendor at our local farmer's market. w meanwhile got busy with what I thought was the highlight of our meal, and is my new camp fave food, a foil pack filled with chopped potatoes, garlic, carrots, a couple of sprigs of fresh thyme, a quick drizz of olive oil, s&p, thrown into the coals of the campfire to steam together for about 25 minutes. Wow! I know it's kind of standard camp fare that you cab adapt almost any root veggie to, but it was new to me and it's got me thinking of all kinds of possibilities for a simple steamed dinner or side. The steaks were perfect, and washed down with my new favorite wine in the world, a
2000 Mastroberardino "Radici-Taurasi", which is a 100% aglianico from Italy's Campania region. This is some seriously stunning juice. I would love to throw this bad boy into a tasting of top flight Bordeaux and watch people be amazed.
Dinner is served!I've heard that great effort gives great reward. Well, you can bet after day three's 11-fucking-mile hike, I was ready to be rewarded back at camp. Although I have to say that at the top of this in-and-out hike was the almost out-of-this-world scenic beauty that is
Jefferson Park. The hike starts at about 4000' feet and climbs to almost 6000' elevation in about 5.2 miles. Not a difficult hike, but long and dusty. Once at the top though, with 10,500 foot Mount Jefferson looming right above you, beautiful flower filled meadows stretching for acres all around, and hidden lakes peeking though the trees, it is absolutely breathtaking.
Meadows and lakes at Jefferson Park....crazy beautiful!Of course, then there's the walk back down, which we were so done with after about two miles. Unfortunately, we still had three more to go. We kept the complaining to a minimum...sort of...and I kept the motivating vision of ice cold beers back at the trailer foremost in my head. Plus, I had Marcella's perfect spaghetti alla carbonara all prepped and ready for cooking. After getting my equilibrium back with a couple of coldies, we wolfed down some quick, grilled roasted peppers, devoured the carbonara, and absolutely tumbled into bed.
Peppers coming out and carbonara coming up!A great trip was had by all, Chopper admirably, if futilely, let the squirrels in camp know he was on patrol, and the trailer was, as always, the perfect cozy cabin!
I'd like to be the big outdoors guy, spending several days on the trail, camping out, eating unidentifiable freeze dried "things". I love the gear... the mini camp stoves that heat a pot of water in about 3 seconds, the cute little tent lantern, my space efficient backpack. But it's time to give up any pretense that I am "that guy". It was driven home to me once again yesterday and today, as w and I took a one day backpacking trip to the Little North Santiam river trail. Very pretty river views, and a river of sweat inducing 3 mile hike in Sunday with plenty of elevation gain. How I ever thought I could do 15 or 20 mile hikes I have no idea. Three miles in, my shirt soaked, and I'm already looking forward to leaving the next day. And berating myself for not throwing some cans of beer in my pack. Working up a sweat with no possible hope of cold alcoholic reward is a sorry existence and disturbingly masochistic behavior. So we had a nice night, Chopper (the cute boy in the top pic, lounging riverside) was very happy, although at 12-1/2 years old he's probably thinking we're trying to kill him with that hike, we brought along some of w's fabulous cashew chili for dinner that was sublime....and how much better it would have been with a cold beer...sigh.....
Then it was up early the next morning to our true reward. A faster hike out, where sliding into 
the comfort of the Subaru's seats felt like a true luxury. Off down the highway, where we had been talking about breakfast at the Swiss Village restaurant off Highway 22 in Lyons (about 25 minutes west of Salem) for the past 24 hours. All that outdoor beauty, and we can't wait for a home style breakfast cooked for us. See what I mean about not being "that guy"? Anyway, should any of you find yourselves going to Detroit Lake, Opal Creek (to digress: for those who haven't heard of it, Opal Creek is a big, old-growth wilderness area here in Oregon. But what kind of wilderness is it if it has its own website? Just sayin'!), or Bend, make time for b-fast at Swiss Village. A mother-daughter team just re-opened it a month ago, and it was one of the best morning meals I've had in a long time. The coffee was outstanding, not the usual "office roast" you find in most country diners. We were told mom is really into coffee and wouldn't serve the usual commercial shit. God bless mom, because that tasted so good this morning. Our cooked to order breakfasts were awesome as well. My biscuits with homemade gravy (above left) 
was delicious. Not heavy or greasy, the gravy just right. Eggs cooked perfectly and an excellent sausage patty alongside. Just what a fat and cholesterol starved body needed! w's breakfast (right) of eggs, hashbrowns, bacon, and a muffin was sublime, mostly made that way by the BEST HASHBROWNS I HAVE EVER HAD!! Made there, thickly grated, buttery crisp outside, perfectly potatoey inside. It's almost worth it to make the 70 drive from Portland just to have them, and if you're cruising through for a hike or camping trip, make time! For the money, this is what the diner that inhabits all of our dreams should be!
