Summer Vacation!

We're on our annual family vacation to Lake Sutherland.  It was an adventure just getting here!  We were planning to leave about 12:30 on Monday, but things got a little bogged down in the laundry room and we didn't quite make it out the door when we wanted to.  As Kylie and I were loading the kayaks onto the van at about 1:00, we heard several sirens roaring down the highway.  Then several more.  They sounded like they were stopping very near our house, which is not a good thing since we live very close to the only bridge off the Island.  When there are that many sirens, it's a sign there's been a serious accident.  We hurried and finished packing and made it about 100 yards down the highway, right in front of our property, as a matter of fact, and then the traffic was at a standstill.  Kylie and I walked down to the bridge to see what was going on.  There had been a two car, head-on collision right before the bridge.  Three or four people were badly injured, but fortunately there were no fatalities.  We decided to wait it out since we were all packed and ready to go.  The kids handled it really well, no fighting!  We actually ended up having fun playing "unlimited questions" (like 20 questions, but with no number limit on how many questions you get to ask).  After two hours, one lane of traffic opened and we were able to get on our way.  Things went smoothly from that point on.  We stopped at a seafood shack outside of Sequim and bought about 10 lbs. of crab, then stopped in Port Angeles to stock up on food for the week, then at Frugal's Burgers for dinner and finally make it up to the Lakehouse at about 7:00.  We played a rousing game of Risk, ate junk food, and watched the Olympics until after midnight. Overall, a successful first day of vacation!

Tuesday, we spent the day at Hurricane Ridge.  I think we found Paradise!  I haven't been up to Hurricane Ridge since I was a kid and had no idea how incredibly beautiful it is.  We hiked Hurricane Hill and I couldn't stop saying, "It's so beautiful!" much to the delight of my family. They teased me ceaselessly, but it's true! The summer flowers are in bloom, all shades of purple, yellow, orange, white, and pink, carpeting the hillsides.  There's still snow on the distant mountains and in a few patches in the meadows. The moutains form an almost 360 degree ring, except for to the North where you the Straight of Juan de Fuca and Canada hover in the distance.  We saw deer, which are very tame, and mountain goats resting on a snow patch.  Paradise!

These deer were grazing right in front of the vistor's center.  Overall, we saw dozens of them.  You can walk up very close and almost pet them!

In front of the visitor's center. 

"It's so beautiful!"  See, you want to say it, too, don't you?! Like somehting out of the Sound of

Music..."The hills are alive..."

Ben, Kylie and I took a little detour off the main path.  They're a little more daring than I am and wanted to get as close as they could to the edge of the cliff.  Gulp!

Kylie likes to freak me out.  I was almost closing my eyes while I took this picture.

"It's so beautiful!"  Now you see why I couldn't stop saying it!

One of the many snowy patches on the hillsides.

A glacial pond

Brad and Jillian wouldn't join us since we were kind of close to a drop off.  My camera batteries died at this point, so I didn't get any pictures of the moutain goats.  They were right around the corner in another patch of snow.

After we got back from Hurricane Ridge, we made this delicious dinner and gorged ourselves on succulent Dungeness crab! Ben has been wanting crab all summer and he finally got his wish.  After dinner, we played another game, Ticket to Ride this time, and watched the Olympics again.  Lots of swimming, gymnastics, and beach volleyball.  Go USA!

Wednesday was Devil's Punch Bowl day.  Kylie, Ben and I kayaked across Lake Crescent while Brad, Jillian, and Nate hiked in.  

Starting out

and arriving!

Kylie climbed onto the bridge from the kayak.

and then jumped off!

Ben loved floating around in the kayk.

Brotherly love!

Our attempt at a family jump didn't go so well this year.  I wanted to get another picture of all of us on the bridge, but it didn't happen.

Brad and Jillian's attempt at synchronized diving. 

It was very warm and relaxing sitting on the black rocks in the sun.

Then Brad swam over to the other side of the pool and climbing out, he lost his wedding ring!  It slipped off his finger into the depths below.  The water was so clear, that we thought we could see it sparkling on the bottom, but we didn't have goggles so it was hard to tell.  Fortunately, a family boated in and after we explained our predicament, offered to go get goggles from their cabin on the other side of the lake.

Kylie looking for the ring.

They came back 1/2 an hour later with several pairs of goggles and the search began in earnest.  

About 10 minutes later, one of the girls said, "Is this it?" and held up Brad's ring!  We were so happy and thankful that she'd found it!

Heading back after a crazy day at the Punch Bowl

Brad was waiting for us with the van.  Kylie and Ben got there ahead of me.  It was really choppy and windy and hard to paddle on the way back.

Jill decided she hadn't had enough swimming time and jumped in again.

Ben was a good sport riding in the front of the kayak and getting splashed all the way there and back. 

Thursday we ventured over to Salt Creek.  The tides didn't match our timing very well, and when we finally got out there, the tide was coming back in.  We had just enough time to make it around the cliffs before the water got too high.

And we made it out to "tooth rock" for a photo, but then headed back.  The tide pools weren't as interesting as last time, probably because we missed the prime low tide.

We ate our lunch up on the bluff, and then headed out on a little hike. 

There were signs posted that a cougar had been spotted in the area recently, so we told Ben it was a good thing he was wearing camoflauge and could hide in the bushes if he saw one.  Can you spot him?

The trail led through some cool bunkers before winding down the hill back to the parking area.

Kylie's singing would scare away a cougar,

and Ben blends in well, doesn't he?

More attempts at camoflauge...

When we got back to the house, the kids played in the lake

Ben and Jillian had a great time throwing Ben's crocs out into the water and rescuing them.

Jillian saved both!

And they convinced me to go down the water slide head first!  They thought it was pretty funny!

So did this guy.  I thought he was pretty funny...plastic coyote with no legs on a stake!  There were several around the area, to keep the geese away, I guess.  It kind of worked in the grassy area, but that just meant the geese congregated on the dock, which was covered in goose poop.

Friday was our last day, just enough time for a quick swim in the lake, then packing up and heading home.  On our way back we stopped at Graysmarsh Farm in Sequim to pick berries. The six of us picked 20 lbs. of raspberries and 20 lbs. of blueberries in an hour and a half! 

Can you tell they're sick of me telling them to get together for a picture? 

Our haul!  Now it's time to head home and do something with all these berries!

We had another great week at the Lakehouse.  I'm so glad we've been able to do this every year for the past few years.  As much as I love exploring new places, I equally love traditions and the sense of familiarity you get with a place when you visit it often.