Around the BEND

It was time to see some of the area around Bend, Oregon so we all hopped in the truck and headed out.  Our first stop was Pilot Butte.

Pilot Butte is an extinct cinder cone volcano which rises nearly 500 feet above the surrounding plains. Bend is one of four cities in the United States to have a volcano within its boundaries. The land was given to the state in 1927 in memory of Terrence Hardington Foley, by his Bend business associates. Additional tracts were purchased in 1941. A prominent topographic feature, Pilot Butte was a landmark that guided wagon train immigrants who sought a safe crossing of the Deschutes River.
I didn't get a picture of the volcano from a distance so I borrowed this one from Wikipedia -

 There are trails up but since we aren't hiking this year we drove up and then spent time enjoying the views.  I am not sure who this young lady was but I liked her pose.

Lou, Vivian and Kirby

From Pilot Butte we headed up towards Mount Bachelor.  There is a large ski resort there but it was closed for the summer.  The drive was gorgeous and our destination was water.  We stopped at each lake we could find.  We should have planned ahead and brought a picnic but we didn't think of it.

Since we didn't think to bring a picnic we sort of stumbled upon Cascade Lakes Brewing and had a great lunch there - with a brew of course!

What a fun day it was!

Henry's Lake State Park, Idaho

This is the campground at Henry's Lake State Park and we are in love with this place. OK, there are mosquitoes at certain times and the wind can howl but when those two things are gone, this is perfect! There is hiking and limited biking. We don't fish but there sure are a lot of fisherman out there all the time. The campground has a boat ramp. Most of the camping sites are water and electric but there are eight with full hook-up and we have one of them. The new section has paved sites and are wonderful!

So, yesterday when we took our hike I remembered my camera! I was stopping constantly because it was so beautiful!

I am not certain of the purpose of this cool looking gate because one could just go around (through the brush) but it makes a nice beginning to our hike.

Jake likes to lead and he was busy sniffing when Kirby passed him up.  He had to rush to get back to his spot!

This is a badger hole.  We saw quite a few of the holes but no badgers.

It is a fabulous hike and and easy one for old ladies like me!

Gallatin National Forest, Montana

The day called for rain but we headed out anyway for a little road trip to explore Gallatin National Forest.  We left Idaho, entered Montana and then back to Idaho.  We even made a stop in West Yellowstone for lunch and a brew at the Slippery Otter Pub and a stop at the grocery and local hardware store for some light bulbs.  But the best was the views of course.  This is a gorgeous national forest.  So come along with us to explore!

We really didn't know what to expect when we started out.  The skies were cloudy and it was cool so we decided to bring Jake, our yellow dog, with us.

Kirby always reads the boards while I take pictures.  Then he has to tell me what he has read.  This is Earthquake Lake.  It was formed in 1959 when an earthquake happened and the result was a blocked canyon, much destruction and many lives lost.  It was interesting to think that something like this happened so recently.  It was like looking at the always changing earth in slow motion.

In this picture you can see how the mountain just slipped into the canyon below.

The earthquake happened so recently that the dead trees still stand along the shores of the newly formed lake.

This is an incredible view of the Madison River as it exits Earthquake Lake.

Thanks for coming along with us!

Geese - And Heron

I did finally catch the geese - with my camera.  Just before I took this picture they were all settled down and resting on the shore of the pond when a large heron flew over.  They immediately headed for the safety of the water.

Heron alert!!

Can you see the heron checking them out?

Busy at Lake Hartwell

My but this has been a busy week and so fun!  We enjoyed a lot of family time with my daughter and her family and also with my sister and her husband who visited from Georgia.

Dave and Patti visited from north Georgia

Casey and his girlfriend, Hannah

 On Friday, my grandson, Casey graduated from Clemson University.  Kirby and I chose not to attend the actual graduation but we did help everyone celebrate.  My daughter and her husband had rented a large house on Lake Hartwell just 10 minutes from our campsite – it was perfect!  So we were close and got to enjoy the whole family – eating cake and celebrating.  I really am so proud of Casey and his accomplishments.  He graduated from the Honors College also which means that he had to work extra hard to get his excellent grades while being in a fraternity and playing big time which of course is what you are supposed to do in college.

We have enjoyed being here at Lake Hartwell State Park.  It is so beautiful and peaceful.  Of course it won’t be this way much longer as summer comes and the place fills up. 

I will leave you with some of my photos to make you envious!

Early Morning at Hartwell

 Jake and I went out for our morning walk and I took my camera.  I was going to visit a couple of the tent sites as they are located on points - great for taking photos of the lake.  But to my dismay, there were people in tents on the tent sites.  I had to back away.  Along the way I took a picture of a maple leaf wet from last nights rain.  Then I thought I would take it in black and white just to see what it looked like.  I thought I had returned to my normal settings but I guess I missed something because all the rest of my pictures are in black and white.  Actually, I rather like them!  What do you think?

Lake Hartwell State Park - Day 1

This is our campsite!  All the fresh green trees are amazing.  I don't think anyone can see into our picnic area - it is so private.  I will try to keep my clothes on anyway....my body is pretty old!

I noticed yesterday when we arrived that there was a trail from our site towards the water but I didn't explore it until today.  We have our own little beach where, if we had them, we could launch canoes or kayaks.

It is cloudy out today so the pictures aren't too good.  I will keep trying to get good ones.

And speaking of good pictures, here is a favorite.  I was afraid Jake would go into a funk when we left Buck Hall but he seems to really like it here.  And, yes, there are some squirrels for him!

My grandson, Casey is graduating today from Clemson University.  That is the reason we are here.  We will be gathering with the family later today to celebrate!!

A Day at the Campground

In this picture of the lake you can see the root of the tree that I saw fall yesterday.  Obviously something has happened in the most recent years to get too much water up around where this tree was growing because you can tell that the roots just rotted out and that caused the tree to fall.

What a great day this has been!  Of course it started out with a bang - literally.  Kirby and I had almost forgotten what a southern thunderstorm could be like but were reminded beginning at about 1:00AM this morning and it went on for a few hours.  Lots and lots of loud thunder.  Like a rolling loud noise.  And almost constant lightening to light up the sky.  There were a couple of big crashes that made us jump and sent Jake to our bedside.

But all that rain washed away the heavy covering of yellow pollen that was covering everything and left the morning looking like crystal.  We took Jake on his walk around the campground and then went off on our bike ride to check out the boat launch area.  When we were there we noticed a turtle that was about 6-8 inches in size floating down the stream.  We watched until the water got too deep and muddy and then we lost him.  But we did find a nice bridge over the stream that lead to a trail.  Tomorrow we will check out the trail!

It was not a really warm day but it was sunny and nice.  We spent time outside reading and also played some Mexican Train (dominoes).  The park host stopped by a couple of times to trade jokes with Kirby.  Our wonderful day just sort of slipped away.  Retirement IS everything it is supposed to be!

Following are some photos that I took on our morning walk.

The Dogwood trees are in full bloom and strike an amazing pose in the forest.

Early morning fishermen.

I don't know what this vine is.  Probably classified as a weed but I remember seeing them in South Carolina when we lived there.

The reason for all the yellow pollen.  Well, at least the majority of it.  Pine Pollen!