August 26th – Sweet Home

     When the inevitable and terrible separation comes (whereby one must get out of bed and face the day), it is a comfort to be greeted by yummy food. This morning I woke up to fresh eggs, bacon and potatoes, and some biscuits that I brought with me.

     After we finished the meal and the dishes, Marshall showed me the pig pen he made. He’d just gotten these pigs and found out right away that they are master escape artists when they dug underneath it. He decided they needed a little shock to remind them who was in charge, so he built an electric fence. They appear to have learned their lesson since they are doing a wonderful job of staying inside and looking cute.

     Our first adventure of the day was a drive into Willamette National Forest, which is about twenty miles from Sweet Home, in central Oregon. We hiked up Iron Mountain which is one of the smaller mountains in the range. At the top, our view was limited by the smoke from a nearby fire but the features of the mountain were still impressive. A squirrel came by to say hello.

     In the late afternoon, we went adventuring again, this time in the water – kayaking down McDowell Creek. We took two cars and dropped one off a couple miles downstream so that we wouldn’t have to kayak back upstream. Then we took the other car to where the kayaks were stored. The trip downstream was beautiful and fun, although I earned myself a tenderfoot badge by getting stuck for several minutes in one section of rapids. I learned that kayaks float much better on water than they do on rocks.

     We capped off our kayaking trip by dunking ourselves in the water. I still don’t understand the reasoning that went into that decision. We kayaked all the way downstream, succeeding in remaining dry and not falling into the water… then we fell into the water on purpose. Oh well, that’s how it worked out. It was refreshing – in an ice-cold, breath-stealing sort of way.

     We had a peaceful end to our day, first going to the men’s prayer meeting and visiting there,  then eating a wonderful dinner at home and preparing for Sunday.

3 thoughts on “August 26th – Sweet Home

  1. ” it is the chiefest point of happiness that a man is willing to
    Be what he is”
    Desiderius Erasmus
    1465- 1536

  2. I think the squirrel in that picture was actually a Least Chipmunk=) “small; runs with tail held straight up. Prefers montane coniferous
    forest.”

  3. Good catch Sam! Washington is infested with the little vermin. Never attempt to have a quiet picnic near chipmunks, they will Shanghai your lunch with no compunction about using deadly force to reach their nefarious end.

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