Guess the Mystery Destination

In hopes of making this blog a little more interesting, I thought I'd try a guessing game as to where Clay and I went this past Saturday. Here are some picture clues (no scrolling ahead or you'll spoil the surprise!)

This wouldn't help me at all, but if you're good with a GPS, you could figure it out from this picture. Clay was excited by how many satellites he could access at our high altitude.






I'd take these signs seriously if I were you!





I promise this really is a clue.





Yes, it's a very long way down from all of the viewpoints we stopped at.






If you haven't guessed it by now, this picture will probably give it away. (Clay is comparing the reading on his GPS to an altitude marker set in the ground).





If you guessed Crater Lake, you're correct! (Sorry, no prizes for guessing correctly -- just the satisfaction that you know your geography will have to do).

The windblown hair look is really working for me, don't you think?

We're on the west side of the lake here.

We really enjoyed our trip, although it was a lot of driving time for a daytrip (3 hours each way). We probably should have made an overnighter out of it. Clay was tired today because he did all the driving and also had to watch very carefully on the way home in case a deer alongside the road decided to run out in front of us.

This is Wizard Island. (The tiny white speck in the water on the right side nearly level with the top of the island is one of the boats that takes people on a tour around the lake, if that helps you realize how big this lake really is!)

We saw quite a few deer, along with some well-fed chipmunks, lots of birds, a frog, and thousands of butterflies. We must have been in the middle of a butterfly migration of some kind -- unfortunately quite a few of them were ending up on the windshields of the cars driving through, which was not a pretty sight.

Here is a deer posing for a picture for us.

One of the hikes we went on was through a spring-fed meadow with tons of wildflowers. It was really beautiful (and an easy hike). I think we came at a really good time of year to see this. Clay was feeding the mosquitos quite a bit though!

Here is one of the springs coming down the hillside. The flowers and mosses were very pretty.

Sweet Creek & Heceta Head

Last Saturday's episode in the continuing adventures of "Clay and Cindy Explore Oregon" was a trip to Sweet Creek (near Mapleton) and then Heceta Head Lighthouse. We have been to both places before so this was not a new adventure, but we had a terrific time nevertheless. The weather was perfect and the scenery was beautiful.

Sweet Creek is a pleasant little hike along a nice creek with a larger waterfall at the top and then multiple smaller falls as you head down the creek.

Here is Clay standing in the middle of the creek, "playing" with his GPS (I'm not sure why, because I'm pretty sure we weren't "lost" in the middle of the creek!)

We were not tempted to imitate this tricky stunt:

This pool of water (below) didn't look big enough to me, but he kept jumping over and over, so I guess he knew what he was doing?

After hiking Sweet Creek, we headed towards Heceta Head Lighthouse, arriving just after 5:00 p.m. (We were only at Sweet Creek for a couple of hours at the most, as we got a really late start from home due to Danica having a "sleepover" and we all stayed up too late Friday night).

It was a beautiful day at the coast -- not too hot, not too windy, not too cloudy -- just perfect. We walked up to the lighthouse first. Clay was saying "Go into the light, Cindy" as he was taking this picture. I told him I wasn't ready for the hereafter yet.

I asked Clay not to just "stand there" when I was taking his picture, so he waved. Looks a little fake to me.
Some pictures of the beautiful Oregon coast:

We parked so the back of the truck faced the ocean -- then got comfortable, watched the sunset, and listened to the sound of the ocean waves. It was very relaxing!

Then and Now

Danica turned 4 last Friday. She has brought a lot of joy into our lives. We love being grandparents -- it's much more fun than being a parent. We have had the opportunity to take time to enjoy every stage of her life, each new accomplishment and development, and kind of see through her eyes as she discovers the world we live in. We did not have the luxury of that extra time when our own children were young -- there was always too much that needed to be done.

It's fun to go back and look at the (many, many!) pictures we have of her. Here is a picture of her as a newborn:

Wasn't she sweet! And here are a few pictures from her birthday dinner, which was a BBQ at our house, as her favorite meal is steak (she has kind of expensive tastes for a 4-year-old!). Notice the A1 steak sauce on her face.

She had already opened most of her presents earlier in the day at home, but was happy to see some more. She doesn't understand the different denominations of cash yet, and calls all of it "a dollar" -- but she certainly understands the concept of shopping, thanks to her mother!

Waterfalls

Koosah Falls

Sahalie Falls.

Beautiful McKenzie River

The water was incredibly blue.

Sahalie Falls again.

We're excited about having a truck to go camping in.

Now this is what I call roughing it.

Looking up at the mountain from near Proxy Falls.

Clay's had lots of experience setting up tents.

Clay's GPS is his favorite "toy".

Clay was really enjoying himself, even though he had to "hold back" on my account.

Lovely wildflowers!