Vacation... Part 1

Good Morning!

I've decided that today is the day to get started on journaling our vacation. We've been back for a couple of weeks now, so it's about time, right?

Instead of writing one VERY long entry though... I'm going to tackle our vacation bit by bit. We did a lot of traveling, and there are so many stories to share. So... as the song says... "Let's start at the very beginning... a very good place to start." (You get extra bloggy friend points if you can name that tune).

We left on a Sunday morning. We left VERY early. We made our first stop just 15 miles down the road @ Starbucks for coffee. Our first destination was Diamond Lake, Oregon. We were told (by Mapquest) that we had about an 8 hour trip ahead of us. We were prepared though. J had checked out all sorts of audio books from the library. We had all kinds of snacks in the van. There were pillows strategically placed. Road trip 2009 was going to be good... memorable!

After making very few stops, and getting stuck in a bit of a traffic jam due to a cherry truck over turning, we arrived at the lake late afternoon. It was GORGEOUS!!! Crystal blue waters... tall, snow peaked mountains... cute little cabins... our vacation was off to a perfect start. We quickly changed into our swim gear and headed down to the swimming area for a quick, cool dip. It was so peaceful to sit there, watch the boys and linger over words with my hubby. We talked about the next day and what our plans would be. The boys were determined to catch "the big one" in this lake, so we decided to rent a boat for the following day.

We had an excellent night's sleep in our cozy cabin on the lake and headed for the lodge for breakfast before heading out on the boat. We packed up some food, books (for me, of course), sunscreen and a TON of fishing gear and set sail. It was a perfect day on the lake. We caught a couple, but of course, the big one got away. I will testify to the fact that Colby had that big one on his line. I saw it, and it was HUGE!! So big, that it broke his line completely OFF!! We didn't let it spoil our fun though. We explored every corner of that lake, and I got off the boat feeling like I was still ON the boat. I think I've decided that deep sea fishing is out for me. It's something I've always wanted to do, but after having that feeling for a good few hours, I'm not sure about that anymore.

We had some of Oregon's best pizza at a little pizza shack on the lake that night. It overlooked the water. Again... beautiful! It was breezy that night, which caused the water to have those glistening little caps floating on the surface of the water. It reminded me of scenes straight from a movie. There were bald eagles soaring over the water plucking all those fish that were feeling lucky not to have been caught by a hook and a worm. The pines that lined the shores were swaying in the breezes. All of this speaks volumes to my heart about God's goodness and how He provides for every living thing. I could have stayed at that lake for the rest of our vacation and been perfectly happy...

They were two very short days and nights spent, but two of the best. It was a charming little place. Someplace we'll definitely visit again. We were on the road again... this time our destination being Whidbey Island, Washington.