Well, summer camp happened last week. We spent 3 days campings at Crane Prairie Resevoir in Central Oregon followed by 7 nights in a wonderful home in Zig Zag, OR just west of Mt Hood.
We left at 4:40am on Friday (30.July) for camping at Crane Prairie. Our 370 mile journey went smoothly and the boys were very good in the car. We arrived at the campground just past noon and quickly got things setup.
Our home for 3 nights. We set up the smaller tent for the boys to play in and hung some tarps to keep the rain off of our food.
The lake provided hours of entertainment. Zach loved paddling the canoe – he was a pro.
What a natural.
Nate chugging down some water.
The lake was the perfect temperature for hanging out in all day. The days were warm (low 90s) with afternoon thunderstorms (my favorite). The only real negatives for me was the hornets nest on the beach and the blue-green algae bloom (worried about the boys getting sick). Steph, on the other hand, had some other gripes including, but not limited to, camping, sleeping in a tent, pooping on a pit toilet, showering in a concrete stall, dust, kid’s poop, dirt, etc…you get the picture. She really doesn’t care for camping.
Afternoon thunderclouds growing over Mt Bachelor.
Some more thunderheads.
We had thunderstorms all 3 afternoons/evenings we were camping. I loved it. So did Zach. He’s as nuts about lightning as his dad.
Sunsets were amazing as well on each evening.
After camping we drove up to Mt Hood for more Steph-appropriate lodging. Along the way we had to drive along the high desert where these incredibly deep gorges form.
Gorge.
Our place in Zig Zag was perfect. Set within the woods with a large grassy backyard which backed into a creek. The creek was 5 to 10 feet wide with 6 inches to 3 feet of water…perfect size for the boys. And big enough for fish. I caught one 6 inch brook trout (I threw him back so he could get larger). I saw many baby trout (less than a inch long) swimming in the creek as well. The creek provided hours of entertainment including dam building, rock throwing, and our favorite…pirates! Yep, we played pirates. Zach would release a stick in the “waterfall” and as the stick flowed downstream, everyone else would bomb it with rocks. This provided hours of fun until our arms wanted to fall off.
On our first full day we took a road trip to Lost Lake. This took us over single lane paved roads and gravel roads around Mt Hood.
Mt Hood overlooking Lost Lake
Nate eating at Lost Lake.
Zach finishing his PB&J
One more shot of Mt Hood
Following Jeep Uncle Mike.
A shot of Mt Hood on our way back to the house.
Lin showed up on Thursday…unfortunately the weather turned on that day as well. We ended up with 2 days of dreary, moist, northwest weather. But it didn’t slow us down. We took a trip to the trout farm where they had 6 ponds for fishing…Zach caught his first fish ever (he actually caught 3 fish).
Our stream.
View from the stream to the house.
On Saturday we took a drive to Timberline Lodge (outside of lodge was setting of lodge in the Shining). It was beautiful up there…just above the cloud line that kept our house in the gloom. We hung out on the patio having drinks and taking small hikes. Zach and I hiked about 3/4 of a mile up the mountain to check out the skiers. Yep, this is only place in the US where you can still ski.
The ski slopes and glaciers on Mt Hood.
Poor uncle mike…no rest for him.
A happy boy on vacation.
On Sunday morning we had a late breakfast, early lunch at the Whistle Stop. Mike got the ultimate whistle burger – a half pound handmade burger patty, with fixins, sauces, ham, egg, and onion rings (mike added the onion rings) all combined between two deep fried buns. I had the mini version of this (minus the egg, ham, and onion rings). I felt very ill for a few hours – all that oil was pretty disgusting. But it was also good in a strange way.
My future home. I think I can get a good price.
I like the natural setting.
Then we headed up to the Mt Hood Adventure park so the boys could play in a kid size habit-trail and jump around on a bunch of balls. Zach and I road inter-tubes down a big slide and the boys road little canoes.
Jumping in balls.
Kiddie canoes.
We had a wonderful time. It was great fun hanging with Auntie Jan and Uncle Mike for 10 days. Camping was a blast (no matter what Steph says). Thanks to Lin for joining us at the house.