I Am a Child of God

July 4th

I decided to keep the 4th of July as a pretty low-key holiday this year.  I wasn't tempted to run the 10K "Butte to Butte" like Mandi (but I admired her energy).  And hearing about the horrendous traffic jams deterred my desire to experience the small-town "old fashioned" 4th of July parade so popular in Creswell, which Neil and Mandi were brave enough to persevere and attend.  So I settled for grocery shopping on my own, then doing a little running around shopping with Melissa while Clay watched the girls.

Mandi has been waiting for months to make red, white and blue "pink stuff."  This is the closest she could get with the limited supplies I had on hand (no red or blue jello).  Neil had to add more blueberries after this picture was taken, but the salad/dessert was too small to get the proper number of stripes and stars on it.

Melissa wanted to make sure Mandi could eat the fruit pizza, so the crust is gluten free.  It was delicious!

Clay barbecued chicken.  It was very good.  (Nathan couldn't be persuaded to join us at dinner, but his birthday balloon did a good job as his stunt double.)

Neil and Mandi and I walked down the road about a mile to a parking lot where we could see the fireworks.  Melissa and her family were already there.  We didn't have a perfect view -- it wasn't the same as being right underneath where they're going off -- but it was enough to be enjoyable.

My camera has a "fireworks" automatic setting. I didn't bother with a tripod so I didn't have very high expectations, but a couple of the photos were interesting.

Danica was practicing her new skill of bubble blowing.

I guess Mira thought the fireworks were too bright, because she insisted on having her sunglasses.

On the way home we walked past a retirement center that was built not too long ago.  I've walked past it numerous times in the daytime, but had never noticed this "scary dude" statue in the window before.  I'm puzzled by its presence there. 

Another photo opportunity presented itself on the walk home.  Here's Neil and Mandi stalking the evil R.O.U.S.'s (really it was just a family of nutria, but we don't like them any more since they tried to kill Clay a few years back*).

*I'm referring to the early-morning bike ride when one scurried in front of him and caused him to crash.

Hiking to Tamolitch Pool

Neil & Mandi and Melissa's family planned a hike to Tamolitch Pool, and invited the "old folks" along.  None of us had ever seen this particular spot.  Tamolitch Pool is along the McKenzie Trail, not too far from Koosah and Sahalie Falls, which is a favorite hiking spot of ours.


Since we were going to be so close to Koosah Falls, Neil and Mandi wanted to stop there first to try out their new camera.  Koosah Falls is right near the highway with just a brief walk to get down to the viewpoints.


I borrowed a few of these photos from Neil and Mandi, but I don't know which of them took the photo, so they are just marked "(N/M)".  They are enjoying their new camera!

Danica in front of Koosah Falls.  She was very impressed with the waterfall.  She said she had never seen such a big waterfall.

Mira in front of Koosah Falls.  She didn't say whether she was impressed by the waterfall, but she liked the hike.

Koosah Falls.

It was long past lunchtime, so we ate our picnic near Koosah Falls before heading for the trailhead for the hike to Tamolitch Pool.  Melissa organized the picnic, which was much enjoyed by everyone (including the leftovers for a quick meal after our hike before heading home).

The trail ran close to the beautiful McKenzie River for much of the way.

Neil HAD to walk out on this very long log to the middle of the river to take some photos!

Danica borrowed Clay's walking stick for a ways on the trail, but soon got tired of using it since it was about as tall as she was.  When we were nearing the end of the hike, she told me (about 5 times) how much fun she had today and how much she loved the hike.  (N/M)

Along the trail.  (N/M)

After hiking a little over 2 miles, we reached Tamolitch Pool.  This is looking down on it from above.  The McKenzie river flows a little downstream from Sahalie and Koosah falls area and then sinks underground where lava had pooled over the McKenzie river around 1600 years ago. The river flows underground for a couple miles and then bubbles back out from the ground into Tamolitch pool. The water then flows out of the pool and the McKenzie river starts back up again.

A slightly closer view of Tamolitch Pool. We didn't get there until about 5:00 p.m. It was a beautiful turquoise color, but I'm curious about what it looks like a little earlier in the day?

Zooming in even closer.  I liked the reflection of the trees and sky.

Zoomed in so close it looked like an abstract painting to me.

Rob and Danica decided to hike over to the other side of the pool, even though there is no trail over there!  They are on the cliff above the pool -- I've circled them in red to show where they are.

This is a close-up of them.  (N/M)

They went even further around the pool so they could climb down to it.  It's supposed to be icy cold, but I forgot to ask them if it was.

A close-up of them at the shore.  (N/M)

Mira and Grandpa Clay found plenty of ways to amuse each other.  (They were pretending to fall asleep on each other's shoulder -- Mira found this very amusing).

A group shot after we'd finished the hike, after Neil and Mandi figured out how to use the self-timer on their camera. (N/M)


If you want a more "dramatized" account of this hiking trail, check out this guy's blog entry I ran across:
http://journeywithstevenmichael.blogspot.com/2009/10/tamolitch-pool-mckenzie-river.html

 

Strawberry Jam

We picked up our 30 pounds of sliced strawberries from the Kiwanis yesterday, so we had to make the jam today.  It took us a little over an hour to make 11 batches of freezer jam.  It's a great recipe, and so easy!

I insisted that Clay smile while I was taking this photo.  He was concentrating so hard on filling the containers that he looked pretty grumpy!

How many kitchen utensils does it take to make jam?  Lots!

That should be plenty for French Toast "with red stuff and white stuff*" -- as Danica would say.

*("white stuff" is whipped cream in a can in the Vance household.)