Waldo Lake 2016

We're back home!  We spent 2 weeks off the grid in a high alpine Oregon lake camping with some of our family.  This is a photo laden post, you might want to grab a beverage and put your feet up.  :-)  I'm leading off with a favorite photo of Dayle and Buddy in our kayak.  

I took a floating chair to the lake and spent a lot of time enjoying the cool clean water with my waterproof Lumix around my neck.  This is from the bay near our campsite looking across the lake, the little island we like to visit in the mouth of the lagoon.

The first night there I hiked by myself out to "the point" where we like to go see the sunsets.. and we've also been able to get cell service if we stand just right.  But this year not one of us could get service and we were all flummoxed as to why it failed us after so many years.  See the heart made of rocks in the water?  I love that.  I would have stayed to catch the sunset but was soon surrounded by mosquitoes.. bzzzz bzzz... time to head back to the trailer!

The next day it got good and hot in the trailer and I headed off to float in the beautiful waters.

My darling younger sister Denise offered to bring our grandsons down to camp on Sunday.. they couldn't wait to get in the water and snorkel around!

We added 2 more kayaks to the family boat collection - now more of us can go out on the water together.  Hayden and Caleb were so happy to not have to borrow boats.  We invited our grandsons in California to join us at camp next year so they can use them too.  It would be wonderful if our granddaughters from Ohio could join us someday and have fun in the water with us.  

Dayle and the boys were able to all get to the island now!  Dayle actually towed me in my floating chair to the island!  LOL!  I snapped lots of photos with my waterproof camera.. love that thing!  It's a Panasonic LUMIX DMC-TS5 in case you need one.  

Soon my 3 siblings kayaked around the corner and I was able to snap a shot of the 3 of them together.. from left, Robert, Denise and Roberta.  

My sister Roberta snapped this great sunset shot after we returned from a trip to town to attend a fun little small-town event - the Oakridge Keg and Cask Festival.  Our camp neighbor Steve was the chairman and invited us to come have some fun.  After that we went to a Mexican restaurant for dinner.  

Roberta also snapped this photo - this was the year of the crossword puzzle.  Our daughter Amy had given Dayle this great book for Christmas one year so I got the same one - we would do the puzzles together which was fun.  Those are my feet across from him in my comfy recliner.  I must say - how many people have a recliner when they go camping?  :-)

Every year our Stargazer Lilies bloom right before we head to camp so we usually take a bouquet - this year we had 3 massively large stems of flowers on the table -- it was actually too big.. :-)  I forgot to take photos of the interior of the trailer this year but you can see them in past camp blog posts.  Past Camp Posts

There were a LOT of these cute little Azure Damselflies on the lake, they would land on me while I was floating in the water.  They seem to mate in an unusual fashion.  Ahem.  

I spotted this dog waiting patiently on a paddle board, isn't he cute?  Soon his human boarded and they went out for a float on the lake.

My sweet little sister Denise in her kayak visiting with me off the island.

The boys took their snorkels to the island and had a wonderful time looking down through the crystal clear waters.

I stuck my waterproof camera down in the water and took some snaps.

There is a really cool rock fort on the island that people have added on to over the years.  

Buddy must be part duck.. he loves swimming.  In the swimming cove where we camp we have to keep him on leash.. it really cramps his style.  But when we take him to the island we let him off leash and he has the MOST wonderful time hunting for frogs and swimming.

The island.. it has no name but I'm going to name it now.  I dub it "Fort Island".

I simply adore the clear clean water here.  It's the 2nd largest natural lake in Oregon, 9.8 sq. miles, one of the purest on planet Earth, purer than distilled water.  :-)

Another shot of the Azure Damselfly.

Love.  I have a thing for the sun sparkling on water -- in England they call this "sun pennies" which I adore.

Floating.. ::sigh::  

My brother's daughter Johanna and her husband Andrew brought their two adorable children to camp.. this is sweet Rosemary in her cute little float.

There was a chunk of a big log floating in the lagoon - this cute little girl climbed on top and was balancing on it.. so cute.

Sister Roberta sailing in after a day on the lake.. ::snap::  Dayle insisted that we leave our sailboats home this year as his boat has a leak after he ran aground while going fast 2 years ago.  I missed sailing my boat very much.  He also feels that he can't get in his boat easily since his knee replacement surgery.  I hope to sail again next year.

Buddy off leash on the island swimming to momma.

The Huckleberries were ripe.. Dayle and Hayden picked enough to make pancakes with... sorry for the fuzzy photo.. the camera focused on the leaf instead of the berries.  

Snorkeling boys.

Boys racing the kayaks.

Steve on the right.. he's from New Zealand but lives in Oakridge.. he had the camping space we liked.. and bless his heart, he insisted we take it as it's more level for Dayle and even helped us move our trailer into the spot!  Dayle was so impressed that he did that - that he gave him some Crown Royal whiskey as a gift.  :-)

Grandpa and our grandsons relaxing on the sofa, Buddy enjoying a spot of sunshine.

The boys diving into some huckleberry pancakes.

As per our custom we brought a beef tenderloin to camp and Dayle sliced it into thick steaks and BBQed them on the grill outside - while I scrubbed big Russet potatoes, dried them, rubbed them with Kerrygold Irish Butter then ground sea salt over them, wrapped them in foil to roast in the oven for 1.5 hours.  I then boiled/steamed fresh asparagus to serve with them.  We treated my brother and his wife and my sister for steak dinner on our third night at camp before anyone else arrived.  Num.  We also treated my sister Denise and the boys to the same meal on their last night with us.  :-)

Sister Roberta snapped this shot of us and the boys in front of our campsite before we drove them down to deliver them to my sister for the trip home on Wednesday morning.  While in town we all went to a new hamburger joint to have lunch together before we hugged them all goodbye.

Niece Johanna and her family arrived that afternoon - she had Rosemary in the hat that I crocheted for her when she was born.  Awww.. so adorable. 

On Friday we noticed that a wedding was taking place on the island!  Dayle got some shots of it for me.  :-)  You can see me enjoying the cool waters with niece Johanna and her son Simon and my nephew Jon's wife Holly while enjoying the live music on the island and the wedding evolve.

The father of the bride rowed the entire wedding party to and from the island.

Brother Rob took one of his grandsons out for a sail.. behind them you can see me, Johanna, Holly and her daughter photo-bombing.  To see the fun better, you can click on this photo for an enlarged version, then hit the back button to get back to the blog post.  :-)

The family out in the middle of the lagoon, chilling on a hot day and talking politics.  LOL!  Sister-in-law D'Ann had just returned from visiting her daughter and her new baby and joined us in the lake.

Dayle built us a nice fire in the fire-pit by our shade canopy that I decorated with my own crocheted bunting each hung with a jingle bell gifted to me by my blog friend Kathy from Running With Rocket blog.  Note the new oil cloth tablecloth I got this year that is long enough for our extra long camp table.  Oh, and Dayle back by the fire.  :-)

Steve had cracked open his Crown Royal and brought two glasses over on ice to share with Dayle.

On one of our last mornings, Dayle grabbed my camera when he took Buddy on his early morning walk and snapped some quiet water photos of the lake as the sun rose up over the mountains.

I couldn't let the trip go by without a photo of Buddy enjoying the sunshine on the back of the sofa atop my crocheted blanket using a design by my blog friend Lucy at Attic24 blog.

My nephew Andrew posted this great sunset photo he took while at the lake and I asked if I could borrow it for this post and he (well, his wife) said sure! :-)

And so.. yesterday we packed up and stowed everything safely in the trailer, hooked up the boats to my car and the trailer to Dayle's truck and headed down the mountain.  See the tall peak in the distance?  That is Diamond Peak, it's a gorgeous drive down the mountain.

And so.. another wonderful year at camp.  We had a rough drive home.. 5 hours instead of 3 and a half due to heavy traffic and accidents.. but we finally made it home and got a nice hot shower.  Today we're unloading the trailer and my car.  Back to reality!!  I hope I haven't bored you to tears with all the photos!  I will get around to visiting all my friend's blogs soon and back to leaving comments.  ((hugs)), Teresa :-)