Sparks Lake

Sorry I've been so bad about posting. You know...there has just been too much going on. But here are some of our photos from Sparks Lake. It was a wonderful getaway, and we are so glad we took the time away for our mini vacation.

Julia and me heading out for a little paddle. Look at the cool rainbow in the middle of the picture!

Amazing wildlife. We saw this eagle, plus an osprey, a couple of herons, and of course, too many chipmunks to count.

Headed across the lake. Mark liked my new hat--said it was very feminine.

Me getting ready for a swim. See the guy jumping off the log on the other side of the lagoon? Check out the next picture...

Will I get up enough nerve? What do you think? (Julia down below, watching.) That's not Mark helping me, it was a dad named "John" who was there helping his kids jump off the log.

Here I go! (Dorothy in the red canoe, taking pictures.)

And here goes Julia off the log (black shorts, yellow top).

Later that afternoon, here I go on my goal to swim across Sparks Lake. I did it! Swimming across the lake only took about 12 minutes, and it was easier than I had thought it would be, so I decided to turn around and swim  back again!

That looks like an otter out in the water, but it's actually Ken Jenson. He decided to swim with me.

Meanwhile, Mark and Dorothy were in the canoe, nearby in case we needed any help. Not that we did. It wasn't a difficult swim, and if we did get too tired, all we would have had to do was stand up. There was only a short distance that was over my head. However, just for the record, I did not stand up--I swam the whole way--with the doubled distance, plus swimming up the cove to our campsite, it turned out to be just under 1/2 mile, total.

Julia was our resident pyromaniac. She was cold a lot of the time, so she was happy to tend the campfire.

Beautiful dawn - Mount Bachelor in the background.

I love this photo - looking across the lake on Sunday morning.

Still tending the campfire...

Another beautiful photo of the lake. Mark took this on a morning hike that we took to the parking lot - heading into town to go to church Sunday morning.

Almost to the parking lot. Dorothy and Ken, Mark and me. We changed into church clothes on the restroom at the parking lot. The mountain in the background is South Sister.

Julia and Mark out for a little paddle.

Mark and me out on the lake.

Mark and Ken back at the dock. What a couple of wonderful guys. Our gear is loaded into the canoe - time to head back to our lives here in Oregon City.

Dorothy and me - goodbye to dear friends. The weekend went all too quickly. We got home about 7:00 pm Sunday evening, and had time to get things put away before climbing into our very comfortable bed.