Ochoco's

I guess I'll start by saying that my favorite part of this camping trip was our last night sleeping there. I loved the campfires every night, the food was delicious, the company was delightful and the weather was perfect. However, the last night was awesome. I was warm, snuggled, and I slept long and hard.
Now don't get me wrong, I like camping. I enjoy being one with nature. I appreciate and respect the out of doors when I am outdoors, but I also really, really, really love the modern conveniences that have come about in the last century or so. Say, the flush toilet for example. With every flush, I feel truly blessed to not be a homesteader. My cushy bed and hot shower are nice, as well. I think we must have come home with half of Eastern Oregon in slash on our truck. And the yellow jackets! Hello! They were everywhere. I kid you not. In fact, there was a lake nearby named Yellowjacket Reservoir.

But for all my complaining and whining, we did have a marvelous time. We (mainly the children and I since Michael already knows them) got to make some new friends. We didn't have to worry about the house being messy. No beds to be made, no phones/computers/video games to distract us. Just the great wide open and us. It was a much needed break from the every day.

I mentioned there were yellow jackets, right? Michael and our friend Josh, took it upon themselves to try and exterminate the pesky flying buggers. After all, they are Wildlife Biologists. Plus there was that summer Michael sold pest control in Arizona, so I'd say we had full blown professionals on our hands. They would bait the stinging insects with left over food, and using a large piece of plastic, they would lay in wait for just the right time to trap them under the plastic and smoosh them underneath. 

Their success was minimal, but it was success nevertheless.

There was also dam building involved.

You must know that wherever there is water, a Burrell, and anything with blocking power, a dam will be built.

All the kids worked together and had a great time.

Laynee practically lives in her swimsuit pretty much year round, so you can imagine her excitement to actually put it to good use. I think she managed to get wet up to her ankles. See? A success story.

Hunter made friends with our friend's little man. I think it's so cute how Hunter loves little kids and babies, and that they all love him right back.

Miss Mess.

The extermination in progress.

The sleeping arrangements. Why yes, those are towels over the top of the children's sleeping bags. It's because I didn't want them to get too cold at night.

Sleeping Bug.

Posing Bug.

 Notice her face and pants.

I do believe she had dirtied every single item of clothing she brought, to the point of making them unrecognizable in their unwashed state.

Camp

Our new friends.

Josh and Lisa.

 Sadly, I didn't get a picture of their whole fam together.

You've already seen a pic of their little man, but you'll just have to take me at my word when I say that their two girls are just as beautiful as their mama.

I know this shot isn't amazing, but the story behind it begs to be told.

Sometime during our stay, the boys had located the mothership/nesting grounds/hole where the predatory, pesky, annoying yellow jackets were residing. And as I stated above, these men are trappers. The main purpose of this trip was to go elk hunting and hopefully bring back some meat for the freezer, but sadly this did not happen. I believe their frustration and desire to be the hunter/gatherer took over and they were no longer thinking rationally, as a result of their empty ice chests. So after the last bit of camp had been packed up, these boys decided to get their revenge. They lit up that hillside like the 4th of July and never mind that it was in the midst of the fire season. They didn't care. You should have seen them emerging from the inferno with a smile on their lips and a spring in their step. They were successful. They had filled their tags. They were the hunters.

OK. Not really. They didn't light the hillside on fire and they didn't exterminate every last yellow jacket. But they did manage to at least send a very threatening letter to their leader that said if "your soldiers so much as buzz into our territory again, well then, you just don't even want to know what will happen because...well...it will be real bad, mister. REAL bad."