A wonderful weekend!

I finished a scarf using up two half-balls of yarn.  Worked nicely, don't you think?

Then we loaded the cats up, flea-bombed the house and set out for adventures.  The Mossyback Volksport Club of Eugene sponsored a hike around Clear Lake up in the Santiam Wilderness area.  the people hosting it were so well organized and so friendly.  The weather was perfect and the scenery was stunning.  The only problem was the fact that we had to park an extra kilometer up the hill.  At the end of the hike, my fitbit said we had climbed the equivalent of 40 flights of stairs.  But oh, oh my GOD it was lovely down there. The lake is between 34 and 46 degrees (or freaking damn glacial melt cold) so algae doesn't grow in it.  No motors are permitted, so there was no roar of jet skis, chatter of trolling engines or thrum of ski boats.  People used rowboats and kayaks and canoes.  And you can see clear down to the bottom of the whole lake!!

Look at the color.

And look at those magnificent reflections.

The path was well maintained, though rather crowded with all us hikers going one way, and flocks of mountain bikers going the other way.  At one wide spot where we stepped aside to let traffic pass, I spotted sever big clumps of ghost pipes growing in the duff.  Tell us again, Pat, what is it with these weird little white things?

And here is my darling husband providing scale and human interest in an otherwise ho-hum photo.  He improves every photo I put him in.

After the hike, we drove to Redmond and visited with my oldest brother Chuck for a while, then we all went to my middle brother Denny's house for dinner.  This is the first time since Mom's funeral that the three of us have gotten together.  It was so nice!















We spent the night in our RV parked in front of Chuck's place, then joined Chuck, his son and his grandson for the Buckaroo Breakfast at the Deschutes County Fair.  I remember going to the Buckaroo Breakfast 60 years ago!  And the biscuits were just as good as I remember them.  Oh yum a licious!  We even ran into a few old cowboys who remember us from the old days.

So, to make it a clean sweep, we went home through Madras and dropped in on my niece and her family  Come to find my other niece was there as well with her hubby and kids.  I am so proud and delighted to be related to these girls.  They made us feel so welcome and at ease with about fifteen minutes warning.

All in all, it was a happy, happy, family,family weekend.  My husband is a prince, and I'm glad I didn't take that AK47 up on top of the nearest tall building to relieve my angst.

(I wouldn't really.  My first husband came home from a gun show with an AK47 and said, "See what I got you for your birthday!" thinking I would laugh along with the joke.  I took it out of his hands and cooed, "For me?  My brothers will be SO jealous.  How much ammo did you get?"  His little face fell.  But I left the gun with him when we parted ways.)