A Daily Walk: I Love Vacation

WARNING: Pictures galore ahead!

So we're back from our vacation. I was super sad to be back at first. It is so nice to be somewhere relaxing, turn your phone off and just be alone for a while. But today I am feeling refreshed, rejuvenated and re-energized to be back at work. It is a busy time of year when all the teachers come back and everything is being finalized for the new school year. I am so thankful that I got a vacation when I did. I am sure that I will be feeling like I need another one by about mid-September.

Anyway, we had a great time! We were able to leave on Wednesday and didn't come home until Monday. It was fantastic. It was pretty stinkin' hot this weekend though, so our hiking trip got canceled. I think Devin just wanted to avoid cranky hot Tami!

We only ate out one time while we were gone and it was so nice! We ate so well while we were there. I even took some pictures of our breakfasts. We had apple cinnamon pancakes, Belgium waffles, French toast, fresh fruit and scrambled eggs for breakfast. For dinner we had steak and potatoes, spaghetti, salmon burgers, shrimp and garlic roasted potatoes, etc. Anyway, we ate like kings!

If you look closely, you can see DEV in the pancake, it is kind of backwards though.
Fun trick I learned in one of my nanny books. It usually turns out better than this though

I think my favorite part of the trip was floating in our newly purchased raft in Devil's Lake. That was so peaceful and relaxing. I read to Devin as he paddled us around.

Devin inflating our raft for our Devil's Lake adventure

Someone needs a tan as much as I do....lol

Look at that water!!! It was beautiful.

Funny Story: So we were paddling around the lake when I saw a cute mom and her little boy, probably about Megan's age playing by the edge of the water. Then I saw her husband. He was sitting on a nearby rock. Devin's back was toward the family, but I said to him,
"Devin I think that man is naked."
"no." says Devin
"Really, I think he is Devin!"
"I don't think so, look again."
Well as soon as he said that, I looked over that direction to get a better look, just in time to see the man stand up. "Oh my gosh! Yes, he is definitely naked alright!"

Nothing like a nice family day at the lake, until your dad decides to get naked in public!! It was like a car wreck you couldn't look away from, I just could not believe that he was in deed hanging out at the lake naked, literally. My poor eyes.

anyway, the next day we drove out to the Oregon Outback. We visited Fort Rock and ran into this tiny little museum and decided to stop in. It only cost us $4 for both of us to get in. It was a little community of original homes from the settlers of Fort Rock. It was soooo neat. There was also a school house and church. I loved it.

In the Post Office and Land Sales Office.
May I help you?

Me outside one of the settler's homes. They give you a piece of paper to go on the tour that tells you a little bit about each famiy and the time frame they lived in Fort Rock. I had to laugh because all of the families were there in the early 1900's and then we got to the blacksmith shop and it said, "built in the summer of 2006." Lol. Apparently they had a bunch of original black smith tools and such so they built the shop to display them in.

Here is a picture of Fort Rock. There are Indian artifacts all over up there.
They say at one time, after the last ice age that this used to be a huge lake and at the base of Fort Rock the lake was 183 feet deep! It was hard to imagine now, since we were in the middle of the desert!

From Fort Rock we drove out to the Summer Lake area. Devin duck hunts here every year with his Dad. We drove up on top of the mountain and ate our picnic lunch there. The view was beautiful. Unfortunately, A few years ago, the area was hit by a wild fire, but it was still a remarkably beautiful view. You can see the Summer Lake lake bed in the pictures, but during the summer there is no lake because the farmers and ranchers use it for irrigation. We drove about 40 miles on gravel/dirt road! And there was no one else to be seen. It was so peaceful. I think you would like this drive Dad.

On Sunday we visited our favorite church, besides Horizon and then headed to Drake Park. We played games in the park, watched the ducks and geese and then ate lunch. It is a beautiful park and so fun to walk the edge of the Deschutes River. Here's my new picnic backpack in action! After the park we headed to Old Mill mall to walk around and we even caught a movie! It was a great day.