21st Anniversary Trip, Part 1, Getting there, Gold Lake, Scouting

 21 years ago, August 5th, 2000, these two mid 20's something young people committed to doing life together.  To love and care for each other, to raise a family together, to adventure together, to weather the storms of life and grow old together.

I feel that we have been blessed beyond marriage for our friendship.  Like everyone, we have had our share of pain, of hardships, of mistakes, of learning experiences but I am so glad to got through the seasons of life with my Love.  


The last time we went away for our anniversary, I was pregnant with Evangeline...she is now 13 years old.  We get out on dates now that the children can be left home alone for short periods of time but we don't do overnighters typically away from our family.  In fact, there has been only one other time (right before the pandemic) where we have gone somewhere overnight (to a wedding in Bend).  So, it is very strange to go somewhere without our people.  We missed them and can't wait to take them to the places that we explored.

Phil asked what I wanted to do for our anniversary and I knew just what I wanted!  Kayaking!!!  There was one lake in particular that I wanted to go to (Sparks) and so we headed out over the Cascades into the Cascade Lakes region for exploring and kayaking.  This is exactly "my" kind of vacationing.  I love long drives, changing scenery, being out and about in nature, rustic and simple, being "busy" and on the go.  I am not a "go to Disneyland" or "take a tropical vacation where you lay around on a beach all day" kind of person.  So, this was perfect!!

Oregon is amazing!  Beach, lush valleys, high deserts, mountains...I am not sure you can find such diversity in any other state...or such beauty!

The first lake that we went to was called Gold Lake.  It was supposed to be clear and golden...it wasn't LOL!  But, a nice little paddle on a small lake for our first kayak experience just the two of us.  And my oh my, parking without a trailer, unloading only two kayaks instead of 7, only having to worry about my own life jacket, paddle, water, food... so easy LOL.  We were on the water (and out) in no time!










Gold Lake was small enough that it wasn't a very long paddle so that gave us some time to explore other places on our way to our second lake.

Here is Waldo Lake.  Honestly, it looked too big to be that exciting but I think I would still like to give it a try.  I especially want to take all our backpacking gear and camp along the shoreline.



So different than out little valley!


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