Trip to Oregon

About a month ago we were able to take a little trip up to Oregon to visit Dan's family. We had a great time. Here are a few highlights from our trip!

Dan has been telling me about the Blue Pool ever since we were dating and I have always wanted to hike there. It has just happened that every time we are in Oregon it is the wrong time of year to hike to the pool. So, this time when we went it was pretty nice weather so we had the grand idea to hike to the blue pool. As we drove up the pass and towards the blue pool it started to get colder ... and colder ... and colder. Then it started to rain, then we saw some snow. It was ok Dan said because the pool was on the other side of the pass where it should start to warm up a little again. Well, we drove to the other side of the pass and it did stop snowing, it stopped raining, and the snow on the ground was gone. It was a little damp but seemed like it was going to be ok. So our hike began . . .

Kaylee looking very stylish in the car on the way to the hike.

Kaylee had a blast with Aunt Jamie and her friend Brandon. She wanted to spend all the time she could with Jamie- sleep in her room, get ready with her in the mornings, help her feed the fish, play the dog, etc, etc. She still talks about how much she had with Aunt Jamie!

Back to our hike. Here are some pictures of the beginning of the hike. Everyone is so happy, having a great time, and enjoying the beautiful scenery. Like I said it is a little damp outside, but not bad.

Kenna lucked out. She was carried the whole way in by her daddy and all the way out by her Papa Kemp!

As you can see a little bit of snow starts to appear on the ground. No big deal- we are still having a great time,

Now we are about half way into the pool. As you can see, Kaylee has decided that she is done hiking and Papa Kemp has taken to carrying her. The more we hiked the grumpier and colder Kaylee got. Poor Papa had to carry her all the way into the pool through what quickly turned into about 2-3 feet of packed snow!

Nana and Papa Kemp at a beautiful bridge we found on our way in. Apart from the dramatics of having to walk through the snow and carry grumpy Kaylee the whole way the scenery was absolutely beautiful. I was very much enjoying looking around at all the trees and moss and greenery. I felt like I was in the Twilight movie!

By the time we reached the top Kaylee was very grumpy and exhausted (although I don't know why because Papa had to carry her most of the way!) At least Papa is still smiling:-)

The pool was beautiful! The sun wasn't really shining so it was not as clear as it usually is, but it was still really pretty.

Here is Dan showing off where he jumped off this cliff into the icy cold blue pool below. This of course was back in his wild days- he assured me he wouldn't do it now. Yeah right!!! Dan is always in for a good dare!

A look down from the cliffs. The reflection is exquisite!

The happy crew at the top- if you take out Kaylee and Kenna!

Nana and Papa Kemp on the cliffs of the blue pool!

Finally- a happy bunch! After some time at the pool we headed back down to the car. This time Papa Kemp took Makenna and Dan took Kaylee all the way back to the car! We trecked back down through the snow and everyone was VERY glad to see the car and the HEATER!!! Kaylee's little feet were frozen. Dan said as they were hiking back down the mountain she kept saying, "Daddy, I don't want to go hiking anymore. I want to go home to Utah!" Because it was the first day of our trip she thought this was all we were going to do here in Oregon and she was very concerned!

After our adventure of a hike we stopped for some yummy lunch and then headed to the Bellnap Hot Springs for a swim. This was so much fun! Kaylee had a blast swimming in the warm, warm water and soon forgot her pains of the hike all together. She even asked the next day if we could go hiking again!


A few days after we got there Dan's brother David and his wife Kelli and their son Tyson joined us. It was so fun to be able to see them and spend some time with them. We decided to take an outing and go bowling. Everyone had a blast- especially Kaylee. I am sad to admit that Kaylee with her little bowling slide beat me in both games!!!




On our last day in Oregon we decided to take some of David and Bruce's guns out and do some shooting practice. The boys did some pigeon shooting with the rifles first. Dan was proud as he won the competition for hitting the most! I tried a couple shots with the rifle, but did not do so well as it about pushed me on my behind and after just a couple shots started to leave a bruise on my shoulder. I know- I am a wimp!

Then we took some shots with David's 22. I had never shot this type of gun and I liked it so much better than the rifle! It was much easier to shoot with and I actually was able to hit some targets! Everyone was a much better shot with the 22 and had a great time trying to shoot down some shotgun shells across the field!
Kelli was definitely much less of a wimp than me! If you were in trouble you would definitely want to choose her to be by your side over me:-)

David, Bruce, and Dan were all very good shots. It was nice to have the three of them there that actually knew what they were doing!
David

Bruce

Dan

Finally we took some shots with the hand gun. It was more difficult than I thought it would be to aim with this gun. I go better as I practiced, though, and as you can see below actually hit some of the targets! (Although some I admit I think just blew over in the wind!)

Dan was having some fun acting as photographer at this point. Don't I look tough :-) Yeah- that will be the day!




The final result. See- a few are knocked down!!!

Kenna and mommy. I love my little girl! We had a wonderful trip and look forward to many more great times up in Oregon!