Mt Hood 2012

Winter river water rushed through the camp this past year and changed the layout of all our camping sites.  We couldn't get into our normal sunny/sandy camp site but my cousins saved us an area that fit us well.

This spot had many holes from the water damage and we only had to walk a few feet to cut down or gather fire wood.  The real down side is that the wind blew right off the river through our site so kept is quite cool day or night.

Geocaching Barlow Rd South

We loaded up in Gma Marie's truck and headed south for some four wheel driving and geocaching.  The kids love it because they ride in the back of the pick up the whole time.

We love it because, well it's just fun to do.  Every part of it.

Old stumps and fallen logs were easy spots for the cashes.

Derian spotted this one and ...

What are you doing Derian?

Nope, not a drop of wine to drink in this bottle.

When I said the wind blew through our camp I mean it was COLD!

(I barrowed Cousin Betsy/Johns tent trailer thinking it would be much warmer and more comfy to sleep in) THANK YOU! Loved being off the ground.

Jo, Hanna and Doug joined me in the tent and it was still quite chilly as you can see.  Sleeping bags, wool blankets, two layer of cloths and snow hats.  Yes, that is Jo in the ski mask.

Cole and Derian built a hidden fort / teepee across the river.

Can you see it?

Here it is.  They started working on the evening before we had to come home so not much playing time.  Maybe next year they will do this the first day as it was quite cool.

Jo and Hannah built a TeePee Garden next to the river.

Flowers, rocks and sticks along with some plastic bottles and twine they found.

The girls had a good time and did a very nice job.

Planking

This is how we crossed the river.

Even Doug had a good time getting to the other side.

Geocaching North on the Barlow

Cousin Annie & Aunt Nancy joined us as we headed out again for a 4x4 drive and some caching.

We came upon this bridge and sign..."due to failing bridge"

Did this mean, "Caution" - "Closed" - "Drive at your own risk"?

What does it mean????

I told everyone to sit down, hold on and I hit the gas and drove like Mario Cart over the bridge thinking that if it failed it would fall out after we were over it.  Isn't that what everyone would do?

See, stopped for a geocach and everyone is still alive.

This drive was much too long and slow.  I really enjoyed it but now I know that it's not for a quick trip as we drove for hours before returning to camp.  We didn't get to take the kids shooting as a result.  Lessons learned.

At the end of the road we came upon another sign.

OH...Road Closed due to failing bridge.

OK, we will take another road to go back to camp.  See, we can follow directions and signs.

We ended this drive at the Pioneer Woman's grave to pay respect .

We thank her and all the travelers that came to Oregon.  What an incredible journey they had, sacrificing more than we truly understand.

Camp Ground BB gun contest.

Didn't make it to the quarry to shoot the .22 so we set up a couple stumps in camp and had the kids shoot the BB gun.

They had a good time and the new targets were quite fun to see the colors pop out when they were hit.

Not bad marksmen we'd say!

Gma & Gpa Lovely

Our visit to say hello to Bud & Elizabeth Lovely at their spot on the mountain.

Sunny, over looking the river.  What a beautiful view.

And the Rock photo of the kids.

Could be the last photo of the four of them on this rock.

As we dove out of camp we stopped at a wide spot in the road to check we had everything tied down.  We looked over and spotted this construction lift moving around.

Don't be mistaken here!  These guys were not the construction workers.  They were two guys that stopped and thought they would see if the keys were in the lift.  And yes they were!  Lucky Dudes!  Bet the view up there was amazing!