Oh So Beautiful

 We recently had another camping trip...to Paulina Lake, about a 40 minute drive from us. We did quite a bit of hiking while there, and the photo above shows the very top of the peak you can drive/climb to. (By the way, all photos are much better enlarged by clicking on them.)

Paulina Lake, along with East Lake, is in the caldera of an old volcano. The whole area is designated the 'Newberry Volcanic National Monument'. We felt like we were right up on the top of the Cascade Mountain range, at the top of the world. So beautiful.

There are a lot of interesting volcanic features to explore there. It was fairly clear, but there was a lot of smoke on the horizon due to wildfires burning in Washington and Oregon. At dusk the smoke would settle in our campground causing a misty sort of mysteriousness. There is a statewide ban on campfires, so we missed that part of our normal camping and no s'mores : (

 

There are several large obsidian flows in the monument, and we climbed up through one. The volcanic glass that was created is fascinating.

Back down on lake level, looking up to where we had been. This lake is a deep one, and used mainly for fishing. My parents brought me here when I was a baby, and our family has been enjoying it ever since. To hike around the lake is about 7.5 miles, and we opted for a hike of 4.5 miles instead. We had heard of some hot springs part of the way around the lake, so decided to go on an adventure and find them.

There are bubbling hot springs at the edge of the lake on this pumice beach. So weird, right on the edge of a cold snow melt mountain lake. People have dug small pools, and they are at varying temps from luke-warm to steaming hot. The insurance man changed into swim trunks and enjoyed the warmth and lake views for about an hour. I laid out on the edge of the pumice in the sun and dozed. If you click on this photo you can see another couple with swim suits on, but eventually other people arrived and some thought it OK to just go natural with no clothes. WE decided it was time to leave! A fun adventure and camping trip!

August Visitors

My dear friend from high school and college days came to visit Bend with her hubby and camper. What a treat to see them.

We snuck in an anniversary dinner together which was wonderful. We got married three weeks apart in 1971. She was in mine in July, and then three weeks later I was in hers in August. And now it's been 44 years ago....

And then daughter Joy, son-in-law Kirk and granddaughter Macy came to visit. The guys took off on a desert adventure, leaving us girls to have fun around Bend. And fun we did have.

We also met up that week-end with granddaughter Kory and several of her friends from Camp Tadmor for a fun lunch at Red Robin on the Deschutes River. August is turning out pretty good. 

It Is In The Valley...

                  VALLEY OF VISION

"Lord, High and Holy, Meek and Lowly,

Thou hast brought me to the valley of vision,
where I live in the depths but see Thee
in the heights; hemmed in by mountains of sin,
I behold Thy glory.

Let me learn by paradox:
that the way down is the way up,
that to be low is to be high,
that the broken heart is the healed heart,
that the contrite spirit is the rejoicing spirit,
that the repenting soul is the victorious soul,
that to have nothing is to possess all,
                                                        that to bear the cross is to wear the crown,
                                                       that to give is to receive,
                                                       that the valley is the place of vision.

Lord, in the daytime stars can be seen from deepest wells, and the deeper the wells the brighter Thy stars shine. Let me find Thy light in my darkness, Thy life in my death, Thy joy in my sorrow, Thy grace in my sin, Thy riches in my poverty, Thy glory in my valley."

Taken from 'The Valley of Vision' a collection of Puritan prayers and devotions.