4th of July Weekend

The fourth of July was a long weekend for all of us.  Warren had Friday and the following Monday off so we got to go camping and do fireworks!

We went camping up in our old stomping grounds above Paulina.  Beaver Creek Road was a mess since they have been working on it all summer but we eventually made it to the "other side" of the construction.  Everything got bounced around in the trailer but no major damage.

Of course we had an extremely wet spring and i kept telling Hunter that I bet the snow doesn't completely melt of the the Cascade Mountains this summer.  but...it had started to warmed up prior to the fourth so I prepared for the same icky brown grass.  As we drove past the fire caution level sign we saw that it was only a 1 - that was strange for this time of year.  That meant we could have a campfire...hummmm.

As we were driving up to camp I was extremely shocked at what I saw in both the forest and the desert areas - fields upon fields of blooming wild flowers. 

In this picture below you can even see the burnt forest in the background from several years ago during the Boeing Field Fire on Black Canyon.

  I had not brought my wild  flower press because I have never had a use for it at this time of the year!  I would rally to find supplies in the trailer to do a make shift press - I did not want to miss out on all the little pretties for future cards...

Obviously we got camp set up and unloaded the quads.  We took the 4-wheelers so we had a chance to see the countryside and it was so pretty up there.

There is still snow up in them there hills!  This was taken up on Spanish Peak and that snow was hard and a little slimy to pass over so we went around.  What is all that stuff they are talking about with global warming?  This is July people - we don't have snow on Spanish Peak in July usually!

As a matter of fact, it was so damp up in the woods that we didn't even raise must dust on the roads - totally weird!

We had a fire and we did some shooting...

The dogs enjoyed themselves...

  We found this really strange mushroom that looked like a soccer ball - Can anyone identify this for me?

And then the time came to load and go back to town for fireworks.

Isn't it nice that Peaches helps us when we are taking the pads off of the quad...    And, please take notice that Warren loads the quads (he also unloads them) since this is not for the faint of heart - like me!

And, we are off...

Along the way we stop so I can take pictures of the Miller Ranch.  Their fields are in different states of haying and I just love all the green!

The cattle guards are always like hitting turbulence in a little prop plane but a very common thing for us Oregonians...

This sign looks like some of out redneck friends have been using it for can target practice...

And then there is the loan Juniper tree on the way home that shades many animals over the summer months...  One last look at the scenery before it turns to the nasty crackly brown color that we all dread during bow season.

And off to home and fireworks...

Here is Matt Smith of the "Smith6" (Heidi is hiding behind him) sitting out front of the fire station watching the kids do fireworks.  Usually Matt and Warren light all the fireworks for the boys but this year they decided that Justin & Hunter were big enough to run their own show.  The kids had a blast!

  And the adults got to visit and eat wonderful cookies that Cathy Huntley brought down.  Yum!

Same time, same Bat channel next year...