Sunday, July 15, 2007

Belated Metolius Pictures

It's amazing how busy I have been the past week in spite of having so much extra time with this whole month off work. Nick was gone to New Orleans all week and I don't recall being home for dinner even one night. I was so disappointed when I tried to get Tom and Jewel over here for a meal and Tom said they were all booked up. Then I was delighted when brother Galen called to invite us to join the family for dinner at their house Monday night. Tom's little family headed back to Indiana on Wednesday and I got to have dinner with them at Pings on their way to the airport. The exciting fortune in my cookie was the best one I've had yet. "You will advance socially without any effort on your part." I'm waiting!!!

Cousin Cindi is here from Arizona so I got to have dinner at Uncle Cloy's on Thursday. I sort of invited myself - you know how it is when someone drops by and won't leave so you have to invite them. Then I got to have Cindi, Gwen and Aunt Norma Jean here for lunch on Saturday with a last minute invitation. Will and I had dinner at the Olive Garden in Portland one day when we went there to finalize the Durango sale. I had lunch with friends, spent time playing in my flowerbeds, took walks, shopped and thoroughly enjoyed every single hot sunny day.

It wasn't quite as relaxing as being at the Metolius last week. I tried to walk a different section of the river every day, and I decided the Forest Service must only be able to make signs that say "1 mile" and "2.5 miles", because it was always that far from one place to another. With many photo op stops, the 2.5 miles from the Gorge Campground to Wizard Falls took nearly two hours and the 2.5 miles from Canyon Creek to Wizard Falls took 40 minutes. The distance covered wasn't the least bit similar.

The pictures don't do justice to the varied scenes of this river.
I love all the wildflowers growing on the bank and on the fallen logs.
Lupine, columbine, and what are the yellow flowers?
The Canyon Creek hike is one of my favorites.
Will hiked this with me the first time. I had to go again.
And here is a section of the trail after switchbacking down after the Gorge.
It's great to have Nick back home. He had a wonderful week, experiencing the joy of hard work that makes a difference and is appreciated by the recipients.
What will this week bring?

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

I love the pictures of this river and all the beautiful flowers! Didn't God do an awesome job? Thanks for sharing the beauty.
Carol

SAHM said...

You'll have to share some of your camping secrets, like where to go, with us. We need to get the 2 big brutes out and about. :) I don't think we'll need to lock anything with them around. They eat rocks for snacks. Great pictures!