Family visit in Oregon

Karen and I stopped for a visit in Bend, Oregon. Youngest brother Jerry (holding a freshly caught bass from his own pond in the background) and his family put up with us for a few days. Kathy (wife) made us feel so welcome, even though we used their lawn for our sewer field. Riley (son) plays on the freshman summer basketball team. We were able to attend some of his games...he is the tallest on his team. Mikayla (daughter) is becoming such a pretty, young lady and is sure looking forward to summer. Both Riley and Mikayla are raising pigs for show at the local fair and for market. What a great time we all had together!

Brother Jeff came over for a relaxing visit and some fishing. The next day, Karen and I drove over to his new home and Jeff showed us all of his prized possessions...elk, moose, deer, mountain lion and antelope game mounts, some of which are full-body. They were fantastic! It sure makes me miss hunting.

As you can see with Jerry and Jeff, fishing expertise and good looks run in the family.

We were also able to see my Dad and Mom, enjoying the time to catch up on what's been going on with them and everyone else. One morning I met Dad down at the cafe for coffee, a daily ritual he shared for years with his great friend, Gene Miller. Gene passed away last fall. It was a special time for Dad and me. Mom sure liked the conch shell we brought back for her...this is the shell from the one we made into conch salad last year. Our visit with them and everyone else was sure too short, but we will be back to attend Jerry's 50th Birthday party on July 3rd. Maybe then, we'll remember to more pics of everyone.

Karen and I were anxious to get on the road and do some "camping" time, so we headed south along the east side of the Cascade Mountains of Oregon. We stopped at a really nice (and vacant) campground in Chemult, OR.

Whooppeee! This is what we're talking about. We hiked on some of the trails, built a nice campfire, dumped out our sewer tanks for free. Does it get any better? And then......

We spent the day at Crater Lake. Just look at the pictures...is it possible to even describe how great the view was? For those of you not in the know, Crater Lake is one of the deepest lakes in the world. It was formed after the original volcano, Mt. Mazama, collapsed onto itself after an huge eruption a few years ago (about 5,000). The crater "hole" was formed and then filled with rainwater and snow melt. If you are ever in the area, this has to be a "must see" for anyone.

I can't remember if this picture was taken before or after I hit Karen with the snowball.

Can you believe how deep the snow was, even going half way up roof on some of the buildings?

As you can see below, Karen is planning on getting even for the snowball incident

 

We made one more stop before heading back to the camper in Chemult...Diamond Lake is just north of Crater Lake. Just about anything you can do on a lake is available there...camping, hiking, fishing, boat rentals and even a small marina. There's a small resort and even cabin rentals. The waters were so clear that we compared them to the Caribbean, except for the temperature...icewater!