We Made It!
That was the theme coined by Zach during our vacation at Lake Chelan. Whenever we’d pull into our parking spot, Zach would yell out ‘We Made It!’. Also when we pulled our boat up to the dock, Zach again exclaimed ‘We Made It!’. I believe it had something to do with my driving/steering - maybe a little to wild for him.
Now, about our vacation. It was awesome! We had hot weather, lightning, windy weather, and just plain nice days. The house was huge and very kid friendly. The best part about the house was the wrap around deck, large grassy yard, and awesome pool. Plus we had plenty of land to run around and play catch with our giant styrofoam plane.
We arrived on Wednesday afternoon (2.July). We took a grocery shopping run to stock up on food supplies. Jan and Mike showed up at around 11pm. I had to go rescue them as they got lost trying to find the place. In all fairness, we were 6 miles up from the lake off on a dirt road plus the road names had changed recently so GPS systems were out of date.
On Thursday we started drinking by 10:30am (actually, this was the theme everyday) - we had lots of alcohol to finish since we had 3 bottles of Tequila, 3 bottles of Rum, a bottle of vodka, and a bottle of gin…that isn’t counting the wine and beer. We played whiffle ball that morning then Mike and I drove down to Wenatchee to pick up Lin who flew up from San Jose.
The pool was cool on the first day since the heat pump had shut off but the pool boy showed up and got things running normally (it was 84 degrees for the rest of the trip). That night we had a chicken dinner…well most of us had a chicken dinner. Mike went down with a stomach ailment for the evening so he didn’t eat much. During the night there were several lightning storms in the area - since we were up above the lake and had a tremendous view, we could lightning to the east, south, and west.
Friday was the 4th of July and of course, Nate’s one year birthday. We opened presents, baked and ate his birthday cake, played in the pool for hours, drank heavily, and went out to dinner. We went to the Hungry Belly which was basically your typical diner - nothing special but we didn’t know. We finished off the evening watching the fireworks over Manson Bay in Lake Chelan - we watched from the comfort of our deck.
Saturday and Sunday were lounge days around the pool. Plus we spent numerous hours playing with a giant styrofoam plane - throwing it around the yard - this was by far the big hit toy for Mike and I. Saturday night was crab and steak night - yummy - except Jan went down with a stomach ailment during the night but she jumped back quickly the next morning. Lin flew home on Sunday afternoon after spending 3 days playing with the boys.
The big highlight on Monday included a trip to Banjo Creek Farms where Zach and I went through the petting zoo feeding and petting goats, ducks, rabbits, horses, cows, chickens, and turkeys. Zach was a little freaked out but I thought it was cool. That afternoon, Mike took Zach and I on an offroading adventure. We took the jeep on a 27 mile trek on the forest service roads high above Lake Chelan - we had tremendous views all around and saw some amazing wildflowers. Zach was a real trooper…a few times we thought he might be car sick since he kept making some weird noises. But he held tough, at least until just after dinner where he vomitted over the kitchen table - poor little guy. He bounced back quick.
On Tuesday, we rented a boat on Lake Chelan for 2 hours and cruised up the lake to catch views of the Cascades to the west. Nate fell asleep within minutes of the boat leaving the dock - so he doesn’t like riding in a car but he seems to like boats. Zach had a blast sitting in the bow letting the wind hit him in the face at 30 mph. Dad didn’t even crash the boat. There was a ton of debris in the lake (ie, logs and other wood debris) which kept you scanning the water - hitting one of those logs could create a slight problem.
The rest of our final day was spent relaxing in the pool…and drinking. The drive home today was quick…Auntie Jan and Uncle Mike are staying here tonight in order to break up their drive back to Eugene. And now for the photos.
Panoramic showing view from our yard.
My best lightning picture so far!
Our driveway.
Having fun on vacation.
Zach at the petting zoo.
One of many views from our 4×4 adventure.
View from backyard.
I’ve post my favorite pictures in my gallery - go here.