Summer, it's rolling by

Guess who gets to go to REED COLLEGE home of many candy jars and hot chocolate before school when the Bradfords are on the eastern coast?

Recent Films of Note

Salishan!

Maggie has a lot of connections! She hooked us up through some lawyerly means to have a free room at Salishan! This place is hip. But first Ella made us pick a bunch of blueberries. We ate them with some elk jerky I bought from an old woman in a tiny shack.

We spent an inordinate amount of time at the pool, and making out in the hot tub, but most of the pictures here are from an excellent afternoon at the beach.  Players in every direction:

Weird shelters for dogs:

Homegirl:

Elsie on the block:

Everyone got buried by that wily Uncle Arthur!  (just nominated for an EMMY!  And will kick Martin Scorsese's over-rated old butt!)

Theo allegedly had some bad gas, and the Bradfords outslept us by four hours, but at least Maggie and Elsie rallied enough to visit this revered site just before the masses descended at 9 AM.  Thanks Maggie!

Whoot!  Pancake power!

The End of the Trip: Crater!

Oh. After that rough night at Paulina, some wondered if we should just rally on home and not worry about Crater Lake. Not!

I mean, bro, that's a clown question. After all, it's our only national park here in Oregon.

Also, there was a bunch of snow up there, which made everything look all the more intrepid.

Furthermore, the girls were really into the "bear box," and this really heightened the drama.  When would the bear arrive?  And what would he do with our s'mores?

The next morning we got up and went to the Crater Lake Lodge, the spot where Arthur and Maggie consummated their marriage. We had a delicious breakfast. (Recently I've watched Arthur and Maggie battle in a 50-free swimming race! More later! They're still married!!)

Ella defied all expectations and had trout for breakfast!

And we went on a hike that was as long as what our children would allow.  Didn't make it down to the actual lake.

Majestic!
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Some day I'll get an actual camera again, but in the meantime, check out the art I am making!

On the way home we went to a crazy fountain old time restaurant where they have us 30 oz. milkshakes that obviated the need for our meal.

And this beautiful lady--the main complaint from my Dad is "not enough Ella!"--did a lot of driving and planning just to make this whole trip possible.  Whoa.

Day 2: Lavalands, Paulina Lake

Yes, we rented a canoe.  It's a fine lake, Paulina, with record-setting brown trout.  The next day we almost caught some rainbow trout, but did not.  Mostly for lack of patience; girls kept pulling up their lines to check on their worms.

We slept okay in the tent, mostly, though it did over-excite the girls.  I have some tantrum-footage that I cannot show you.

A sequence of the girls eating and discussing a delicious freeze-dried meal.

S'mores!  They love em, must like their mom does.

After a thirty degree night, we went to the hot Obsidian beds!  So sharp they don't even let dogs go on this trail!  Miki insisted on wearing shorts and cut her knees seven times.

It's illegal to take these stones!

We didn't.

Opal Creek/the Jawbone

So yes we weathered a serious tantrum and some scary weather upon arriving at the parking lot of Opal Creek. A three hour hike up to Jawbone, and eventually things evened out. We even came upon some abandoned mining equipment from the distant, distant past.

Fascinating, it was.

Miki had fallen asleep in the cross-country Chariot, pushed by the very strong Ella who had bypassed her run, so Ida was left to get involved with all these things on her own.

She also ran through a lot of puddles and discovered that there was a hole in her boot.

Up at Jawbone Flats, there were some broken down old vehicles that the girls had to check out.

Then we checked into our tiny little cabin, drank some hot Tang, and the girls went INSANE!

Much later they calmed down and we went down to the river where Ella built an intricate tiny shelter and everyone cheered up, some.

Miki was pretty cheerful most of the time.  Who wouldn't be?

And the next day we started at Black Butte.  It was July 4th!  We say this American, Mimi Landers!

Miki is proud of our country's Independence, and tries to buy American whenever she can!

She took this photo of Ella's much-celebrated chest!

A very rare picture of our whole little family, all together...

...ready for the Lavalands and the dread Paulina Lake!  Next up...

Time Keeps On Slipping, Slipping, Slipping...INto the FUTURE

No doubt everyone is hanging

waiting for news about our EPIC CAMPING TRIP ACROSS OREGON. It's coming, believe me. We're back. 17 loads of laundry later, we're about to debrief. But first here's a quick post about a training run we took to old Wahclelah Falls.

It's a very loud falls.

Moss on the rocks.  Sometimes Ida and I run ahead and therefore I get a whole bunch of pictures of her and fewer of Miki...

...but these guys always catch up to us.

One cool thing about Wahclelah is the caves.  Much spelunking to do.

Like the Boxcar Children, we are drawn to caves.  Ape Cave and others lie in our future.

Later, some contemplation near the stream.