On the Second Day of Vacation, We FROZE!! It was so cold that morning, that it SNOWED on us! We didn't have hats or mittens, and even with 3 layers and coats we were freezing. It was about 35 degrees outside.
This was the day we would spend at Newberry Volcanic National Park. We thought we'd hike around the Lava Butte, but it was too cold, so we played at the Visitor's center and watched their films. When we drove to the top, all of us were told cold to even get out of the car!
Courtney shows off her Owl puppet.
Scott scowls at the BAAAAD weather.
We decided to have fun despite feeling like frozen popsicles.
The no nap schedule of camping was beginning to catch up to Julianna. She was SOOOO tired.
We hiked in lava tubes at Mt. St. Helens, but here it was a much better experience. I'm sure part of it was that we knew what to expect. (Cold and pitch black...bring several sources of light including a PROPANE lantern if you want to have fun there.) But the other part was that this lava tube was much easier hiking than St. Helens...the floors were less rocky and treacherous. I snuck some gummy bear "power pellets" in my pocket to help the kids out when they began to get tired and grumpy of hiking in the dark. Scott carried Julianna on his back. This made it incredibly difficult for him when the ceiling dropped to the level of his belly. Try walking on your knees, hunched over for a hundred yards in cold wet sand with an extra 30 lbs on your back...NOT FUN! Angel was sometimes afraid of the dark, even with the propane lantern, and some of the kids had some bad falls over the rough rock. But overall, all the kids were troopers and we were proud of them for making it through so cheerfully. Best of all, the kids were really proud of themselves for hiking the whole way through. They really felt like they accomplished something. It was a unique experience.
Christopher is all ready to brave the dark with a lantern! I thought we were so much MORE prepared this time because we packed plenty of flashlights. Unfortunately...most of them were dim and close to dead. I had assigned Christopher to check them before we packed them, but his definition of bright must be different from mine!
Here's our photo after we made it out! Hip Hip Hooray! We survived! We even went to the end when you had to crawl on your belly for a long while.
After the two mile trek through the lava tube, we should have gone straight back to camp to rest and cook. I couldn't resist doing one more thing, though! We went on a little hike along the Deschutes river to a waterfall. On the way in, the kids were so happy because the weather was finally pleasant! On the way back, however, everyone was tired and cranky. Scott had to carry a screaming Julianna back most of the way.
5 ants on a log....
Here Julianna is beginning to get ornery. She wouldn't stop hitting Angel. Look at Angel's face! Poor thing.
This bridge was my favorite part of the hike. We are over a beautiful wetland. We saw at least 10 different kinds of birds in just a few minutes. It looked like bird paradise. I would have liked to have set up a lawn chair on this bridge and sat there for a few hours just soaking up the beauty of it all.
When we got home, everyone was too tired and cranky. So we threw together some spaghetti and put everyone to bed. One thing about the nights being so cold and clear, the stars were amazing. We could see the Milky Way. We saw several sattelites passing overhead, and that was neat. I'd never seen that before.
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