Way to Hike!!......Post Views.....25,921

The only way to hike in the heat......sit for 30 minutes in the shade along the river....

Then move along after hearing a rattling sound that Gram G imagines a rattle snake would sound like..........

Monday morning waiting to say goodbye to Redmond/Bend. OR and head out for a hike at Smith Rock before driving back to Vancouver.  Unfortunately the temperature quickly hit the 90's.  Most of us shortened our hike.    

I would like to return to this area in cooler weather....Oh, yeah...

The Schmidt/Miller hiking group...

Extended family with the Jamie family....


Gram G taking hiking to the next level.....

 Driving through forest fire smoke while returning home.

 Mt. Hood or not Mt. Hood?  That is the discussed question.  Gerry looked up mountains on his handy-dandy electronic device.  Seems we are observing Mt. Jefferson in mid-Oregon.  At 9 thousand something feet, it isn't much shorter than Mt. Hood at 10 thousand something ft.


There it is.....approaching Mt. Hood...

Ted did well through the mountain passes.  He only bulked a few times.  And bucked us only once....

Maybe caught a glimpse of Sasquatch ....

Eddy, sleepy, and devouring 
2 and 1/2 loaves of pumpernickel bread at Outback Steakhouse at dinner.
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Tuesday Gram G took a reprieve at home to clean up the kitchen and do laundry while the menfolk found their way to  

Bullwinkles Family Fun center for the day.  

Al and Eddy

Gerry and Jude..









Gram stayed home because.......

Come 5:45AM on Wednesday she will be woke up with a rain storm directed only to the back outside wall of her bedroom..???? 
I woke up to the sound of rain.  But there was no rain in the forecast.  I looked out my window.  Things were damp but there was no rain coming down.  But I hear RAIN.  Did something break on my heat pump?  And I am scheduled to leave town in an hour?

So....I go outside and check the back of my house.  There is water running down the side of the house.  The heat pump is all wet.  I keep looking inside of it to see if there is something to see.  Nope.  Finally I notice a spray of water coming from the neighbor behind me.  (Not the neighbor, but something from his yard.)  He recently installed a sprinkling system and a hose broke and was spraying into the back of my house...
Sure glad it was his problem and not mine.  I felt a bit sorry for calling him at 6 AM.  I,m sure he was relieved the call was simply about a broken water hose.

     It was alright that this odd incident woke me up because I needed to get up anyway.  At 6:45 I left my house to walk to my friend, Nancy's, house. (The park was going to be sealing the streets that day so couldn't park at my house, but besides, I was going to drive Nancy's car so the guys could have Ted  for the day since I would be gone.)
     Nancy and I were going on a senior day trip!!!!  
To Mt. Rainier National Park...a 3 hour drive/ride on one of 3 Vancouver vans. 



First stop (after a Micky D's stop and restroom stop) was Narada Falls.  'Tis a gorgeous, delicate falls flowing over a rainbow, which made the gruesome 45 degree slope walk down and up worth the effort.    




















Nancy and Gram G with 
Mt. Rainier in background

When I walked to a different area to get a better view of the mountain I heard a ceremony going on.  I didn't go too close, but I could discern that it was for individuals becoming United States citizens!  I felt privileged to witness this, even from a distance.

There were clusters of delicate light blue butterflies 

Before we left the visitors center we were informed that one of our companions, named Jane, had become sick and needed to be airlifted to the nearest hospital several miles away.  None of us on our van knew the lady.  We watched the "flight for life" helicopter arrive as we left for another viewpoint at Reflection Lake.  Some days the entire mount is seen in the water.  

      We left about 4:30 and stopped for refreshments at the edge of the park.  Once we were on the Interstate our van wavered sideways a lot.  We weren't sure what was the cause....the road, the van or the driver.  It was quite unnerving a couple instances.  When we arrived back at the senior center out driver commented that the van needs a lot of attention.  Glad we were back safely about 8PM. 

     Thursday we ladies enjoyed lunch at Olive Garden before Gerry, Gemma and Jude had to leave for the airport at 4 for flight back to San Diego.   (Al, Eddy and Autumn had boarded a "red eye" flight at 1:45 AM on Wed. into Minneapolis,3 hours later to Milwaukee, WI, find their car and drive 3 hours north  to a doctor appointment following Al's elbow surgery, then drive another 2 hours home to Park Falls through heavy storms. Thanks, Al, Autumn and Eddy for such heroic efforts to come visit me.)


WHAT is THAT you ask????

Seems wasps were busy constructing a new home under the hatch back of Ted while Gram G was gone for 6 weeks....Ted must not seal tight. Glad the wasps got the message to "take a hike"...one way.

    So ended Gram G's 3 months of family interaction from Vancouver, to WI, to Indiana, to WI, to San Diego, to WI and back to Vancouver for more family fun....
    'Twas a great time with lots of memories to recount and pictures to look at.
     On this Sunday evening, the last day of July, and after a 2 mile walk (hike?) I am watching the first story of Lord of the Rings while catching up on blogging.
    Now it is time to clean the house, rest a bit, list upcoming local activities, refocus on daily life, schedule doctor/dentist/eye appointments and continue with walks....AKA hiking conditioning.

This has been a good 7 "way to hike" days in the life of Grandma G.

"If the Lord delights in a man's way, he makes his steps firm; though he stumble, he will not fall, for the Lord upholds him with his hand."  (Psalms 37: 23 & 24)

A Plethora of Family Fun...Post Views.25,764

Gram G has had a week of family fun and activities....

Enjoy a photo  quick view

Gemma and Jude from San Diego, CA

Autumn and Eddy from Park Falls, WI

Taco night with the Vancouver Millers

Welcoming Micaela and Debbie home safely from France after escaping the terror attack in Nice by 5 minutes and 4 blocks. Thanking Jesus for protection. 

Driving and riding in the Millers' BMW convertable!!        Woot!   Woot!

Hiking Multnomah Falls with Al.  The kids were far ahead of us!                                  

View of Mt. Hood as we drove to Bend. OR

Nearing the high desert...

Juniper trees....




hot tub swimming pool.....

                                                                         Main purpose for the trip.....Jake playing goalie for Rhino Lacrosse in tournament..  Jake did a great job!  Team won the loser(?) bracket.   

The tourney gang....

The THREE SISTERS  mountains

Son Gerry starting a 14 miles "workout" on the North Sister.

He is in training for a "Spartan  Beast" race in Hawaii  August 10.








Al, Eddy and Autumn en-route to pick up Gerry 6 hours later

North Sister....8 mile bumpy gravel road to reach the trail head

Gerry  reaching the pick up point exact same time we arrive there....
(quote from Gerry)
Quite the excursion. Was hoping for 7-8 miles and some elevation gain. Thought maybe I could get close to the summit the North Sister of the Three Sisters Mountains. Got "lost" as in left trail to go toward the summit and didn't find the trail until several hard miles later! Still this was stunning and exhilarating. And turns out it was brutal prep for the Spartan Hawaii Beast in three weeks. 14 tough miles and nearly 4000 ft elevation gain and seriously sore body.

WHAT is it and WHERE?

Check back in 5-6 days to find out......

      Gram G has been a bit sick the past 4 days.....has been devouring vitamin C tablets and LOTS of liquids.  I am feeling better this Sunday night.  
      Presently my "office" is a small bathroom in our rented  3 bedroom condo which is housing 7 adults, 3 teen age boys, 3 girls --9, 14, 17....and 6 and 9 year old boys.  This is the only place where no one is disturbed.....unless someone decides to use my office for other things.
      This week holds 4-6 more days of family fun.   
You all come back in a week or so to find out what!!

This has been 6 "plethora of family fun" days in the life of Grandma G.

"Worthy are you, our Lord and God, to receive glory and honor and power, for you created all things, and by your will they were created and have their being."  (Revelation 4:11)