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We departed Seattle around 11, and headed Southeast, towards the Northeastern corner of Oregon. Jody's stepsister Linda lives there with her family in the cozy little mountain town of La Grande. This drive was also surprisingly dry and treeless after we left the vicinity of Mt. Ranier. About 7 hours after we left Seattle, we rose into the hills of the La Grande area. We arrived at the Densmore's home around 6:00 PM. Linda's husband Gregg is the team doctor for the local high school. This being Friday, tonight was football game night, so we all bundled up and went and watched the game. Much of the entertainment came from 'kid hill', a grassy knoll inside the football stadium where all the younger children wrestled and played while their parents watched the game. It was a real community event. Sadly, the home team lost, 50 to 0. The next day, Linda took us and her children to their mountain cabin up at Anthony Lake. After we unpacked, we hiked over the to lake. The walk afforded many opportunities for rock climbing; below, the mountaineers pose on one of their many conquests. That is Sara, Samantha, Jordan, and William, from left to right.
Once at the lake, everyone wanted to get into some kind of floating contraption and explore. The kids all managed to pile into a small rubber raft, while Jody and I took a spin around the lake in the canoe. It was a perfect sized lake: not too large, and yet plenty big enough. The water was quite cold though, so no one was much inclined to swim, except for the Densmore's dog, Jesse.
The rafters happily got a lift back to shore.
William, always happy to help out, uses to pump to remove the air from the raft prior to packing up.
We hiked a mile or so up to the next lake, where Jody took this picture. That is Jody's sister Linda next to me. If you were paying attention, you should be able to identify the rest of us.
A couple of "art shots", as Jody calls them. On the left is the view straight up into a dead tree. On the right, some lichen.
The view from the top of the small mountain above the lake, looking back out on the valley.
The next day (Sunday, for those of you keeping track), Sara had a soccer game. That's her in the goalie shirt, making one of many successful saves. Sadly, her team lost 7 to 0, but played hard and valiantly.
The kids enjoyed a hot tub after the game.
You may have noticed that Linda's husband Gregg is conspicuously absent from these photos. He was quite busy during our visit, as he is an orthopedic surgeon here in La Grande, and he was on call the entire time during our visit. We did see and visit with him, but usually at night, after the day's activities were over and the camera was put away. As we have not yet left La Grande yet, I hope to remedy this soon. Stay tuned for "the rest of the story", as Bill Harvey all too
frequently says.
A day or so later, I did manage to capture this picture of Gregg, with Sara on his knee.
Samantha sings with a youth choir, and Jody and Jordan tagged along one day to listen and watch.
William's favorite thing to do is to swim -- although he earnestly wishes that the pool were kept a bit warmer.
And we come now to our departure. We had a wonderful stay with the Densmore family, full of chatting and good eating and mutual warmth. We will see them again in just a few weeks, for Thanksgiving.
October 12 and 13 - Patrick's Point
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