July 4 Fun

Over the July 4 holiday we were able to meet with my parents and sisters at Lost Lake on the north side of Mount Hood in Oregon. What a beautiful place to go. Dad was able to pick out a perfect campsite for us. There were early spring flowers and melting snow everywhere. Summer is a little late in coming up there, but I didn't mind. I was glad to be out in the woods where the air smelled of fresh evergreen trees, and birds were heard all around.

The really good news is that Mom came and is doing excellent! Her health has improved dramatically since she stopped eating gluten 5 weeks ago. Most people would have just said she was getting old. But she is another illustration reminding us that most conditions of "old age" are caused by something, and many of those things are fixable, if people have the courage to make the changes. It isn't easy for mom to give up her favorite foods. Many gluten intolerant people have bread as their favorite food. It can actually be a sign of gluten intolerance. For some people they find it is not worth it to give up their favorite tastes, and they would rather suffer with ill health. But mom was willing to do what ever it took to have better health. I'm so proud of her courage and determination. Not every health issue is gone yet, but enough are clearly improved to show she is on the right track. With time, I think she is going to feel years younger then she did just a couple months ago. Mom was able to go on walks with us and she had the energy to spend all 4 days out camping with us. Even at the end she had strength to spare. Go mom!

My cutie pie niece and her mom had fun down at the lake. The water was melted snow water, but she still wanted to get in and play.

At the like my son got his first fishing lesson from his big cousin J. There was some serious concentration going on there.

Forest Zoo did end up catching his first fish, the only fish of the day.

The fish really swallowed the hook. Cousin J had quite a time getting the hook out. The fish was in no condition to be released. And Forest doesn't eat fish. So He gave it to a lady who was fishing beside us. She sure was pleased.

Papa brought his kayaks so there was even more fun to be had at the lake.

The kids were quickly at ease when they had their turn to paddle. The followed big cousin J clear to the other side of the lake and back.


Some of us followed the three mile trail around the lake. When we got to the far side of the lake we discovered that there was still much snow that had not melted. At times we could only guess which way the trail went.


It was a little slippery in places, but not too hard as the snow was well packed, and lots of fallen needles provided a little extra traction. We got to see little flowers push their way up through the snow on the edges. We were told that normally the snow was gone and Trilliams were blooming in April. But this year was different and we got to see early spring in summer. I will show you the flowers we found in another post.


One afternoon we decided to take a drive to a nearby lake that my sisters and I had hiked to back when we were in elementary school. The drive turned out to be a real adventure as not to far up the Whatum Lake Road, there was a road block indicating a damaged road ahead.

Disappointed, we got out of the cars and decided to walk up the road to see weather a car could get around the road damage. We saw that it could, but another car came through and told us they had been up as far as you could drive, and that there were trees crossing the road.

We took what appeared to be a short cut back to Lost Lake of the Whatum Lake Road and discovered yet another adventure. My sister, driver of the lead car was ready for adventure. She drove under a fallen tree with out a flinch. At least I couldn't see any flinches from where I sat in the car that followed her.

When she got to a tree laying in the road, she did hesitate long enough let two younsters out to assess the situation. With their encouragement she drove right over the top of those trees.

I think she would have kept going, but we reached the point where we could go on no farther. It was quite the adventure. We turned around and made our way back out the way we came. Next time though, I think someone might bring a chain saw.