San Juan Islands Trip

We took the ferry from Anacortes to Friday Harbor on San Juan Island. We stayed at a darling bed and breakfast called the Hillside House for the two nights we were on the island.

Dennis visited Roche Harbor on his sailing trip to the San Juans. Something he did not see on that trip was the 85 acre sculpture garden outside of town.

This was in memory of the madrone trees Aaron enjoyed when the boys went on their pirate adventure with Dennis a few years ago on the tall ship Zodiac. We saw this tree on the trail leading down to the whale watching overlook where we watched two pods of orcas at play.

Oldma waded in Fourth of July beach and collected more pretty rocks for her front porch.

summer adventures and old memories of childhood

Two weeks ago we decided to revisit the Oregon coast. Over 3 days we saw some old favorite spots (Astoria, Cannon Beach, and Tillamook) and discovered some new places (Cape Meares, Netarts Bay, and Cape Kiwanda).



Karen standing by Astoria Tower. Though it doesn't look that way the tower is much taller than Karen. In previous years Dennis and the boys climbed the 169 steps to the top of the tower. You can get a badge commemorating the feat.

This is the remains of a tanker that was shipwrecked at Warrenton Beach. When the boys first saw it there was much more of thhe ship. Perhaps by timee our grandchidren visit it may be completely washed away. A few miles inland was the Fort Steven's State Park by a lake which had places for RV's, tents, and Yurt camping. It would be a great family reunion site.

Dennis explored the tidepools at Ecola Beach just before Cannon Beach. It was too steep for Karen to get to. See the mass of starfish. The boys enjoyed enjoyed exploring the tidepools when we visited many years ago.

The boys may recognize this view of the Cannon Beach haystacks.

We went mountain camping at Lake Kachess in the Cascades. It was a lovely lake in the middle of an evergreen forest. We spent the time sitting on the beach, dipping our toes in the water, taking short hikes, and observing the wild life. We saw the usual wildlife (squirrels, birds, and deer that browsed in our campsite). But the high point was one evening when Karen saw this large bear, just behind our campsite.

When we woke up the next morning he was still there, so Dennis took another picture:

Lava Hot Springs

Oldpa, Aaron, Callan, and Connor played in the pools at Lava Hot Springs.

Oldma slept while they played.

After they dried off they played at the playground with other children.

They really enjoyed riding the car tire broncos.

Then the boys rode in the motor home with oldpa and oldma back to Logan.

We stopped at Wok Stop to bring home dinner.

Callan and Connor spent the night with us in the Crystal Inn. We were going to swim some more but the boys were too tired out so we rented out a movie, Planet 51, which tuckered out Connor really fast. Usually they get up in the morning but we had to get them them up at 8:30 to get them ready for Kaden's Baptism.

Kaden's Baptism

Kaden was baptized 26 June 2010. I was so excited to be able to be there!

There were so many cousins to support him.

Kaden's family and Oldma took a picture together.

After the baptism I got to see Aaron's family at Aaron's home.



We went to Church with Donna Kunzler and her father.

We enjoyed a Sabbath meal with them. Donna is very weak from lack of iron but she is looking good

Heading home from Utah

Going home we decided to take the usual trip across Idaho, Oregon, Washington since my exhausted body slept at least 16 hours at a time. When we got to Baker we dedided to sto; and visit the Oregon Trail Interpretative Trail State Park. Dennis wanted to wrestle with a buffalo. I wanted to lead the wagon. It was a nice respite from the 80-90 degree weather outside.

Once we got to Washington, I wanted to go down the Gorge and then spend another night at a campground, but Dennis was so tired and I would have slept most of the way so I slept across Washington, instead. It was nice to be in our own bed.