Page thinks its cool that all of America celebrates Grandma Anne’s B-day. She was wondering if Grandma could see all the fireworks all the way from Australia… Happy B-day Anne and Martin!!

Road trip! Time to take a trip to the Trinity Mts. I spent a long weekend there 10 years ago in Mount Shasta for my friends Jen and Matt’s wedding. I wanted to show Brendan the beautiful granite peaks so we made a plan to visit Jen and Matt and their family at their cabin up Coffee Creek.

After a long and windy 20 mile drive up, we thankfully made it to the cabin. The land was settled by Matt’s ancestors who were the first to carve out a space in this rugged wilderness. Over the years they have sold off portions of the land, yet still have a square mile that includes the beautiful Josephine Lake, some very jagged peaks, meadows and a big granite cirque around the lake.

Grandpa Craig wanted a picture of the car with the rocket box on top. Here it is in front of the cabin and one of the granite peaks. Brendan tried to climb that granite peak.

Sienna loved running across the meadow from the cabin to our tents. Under the watchful eyes of Momma Bear and Momma Bears.

Gillian and Miles were playing with a bow and arrow set. Page had a go and was able to hit the target, which was more than could be said for the curly-haired man next to her.

Miles and Gillian. We first met Gillian four years ago at Alpine Lake when we were impressed that she was able to climb a mountain by herself. With Carter and Tescher genes, that shouldn’t be surprising.

After a swim in a waterhole at the head of the Salmon River, and a bit of dinner, we hiked up the box canyon to Cave Rock wher grumpyoldtroll lives. Page wasn’t feeling well and needed to be carried. So did her little sister, yet she insisted on hiking when she could. Especially when there were some rocks to climb over.

Jan, Jen, Matt, Miles, and Gillian under cave rock.

Cheese.

After 40+ degrees on the first day, we were fortunate to have a little bit of rain, which is why those flies are hastily thrown on. The tent on the left looks a bit misshapen because the Sasquatch chewed on, and splintered one of the poles during the night.

On the way to Josephine Lake for a bit of fishing. Miles caught four brook trout, and they were delicious.

Bindi in her natural habitat. Brendan tried to climb one of the granite peaks one morning, and Bindi, ever loyal, followed him and wouldn’t go back to the camp. While dogs have a few advantages in the wild, climbing up granite slabs with a lot of exposure is not one of them.

Josephine Lake. Alex and Bindi did a couple of laps.

On the way back from the lake, Matt’s Mom Jan slipped and broke her ankle after sliding down some granite that had become slippery in the drizzle.  Matt ran back to the cabin where Brendan had been with Page and Sienna, and Alex and Bindi had just arrived after their swim in the lake.

Matt and Brendan put together a makeshift stretcher with an old piece of canvas and some 4×2, and threw it in the back of the truck to drive as close to the trail as they could. Luckily on the way up, they ran into Char and other Alex who were arriving to visit for the night. Char is a doctor. The four of them carried the makeshift stretcher up and over boulders to the trail where Jan was sitting in pain by a river crossing.

After a cursory check by Char, the seven people with her, slid Jan onto the stretcher on a piece of wood that functioned as a bridge between two boulders over the river.

Although there is a trail from the lake to the cabin, it is very rough and involves a lot of clambering over boulders and edging down steep rooty slopes. It is across this terrain that Jan was carried, in pain, though she was very stoic. She was never dropped and the team did a great job of keeping her spirits up and getting her down to the road, into the truck, and back to the cabin.

Matt drove his Mom down to the hospital in Redding, a couple of hours away.

Page wasn’t feeling very well, so we too drove down the mountains. We went to Weaverville for Grandma’s birthday celebrations and Apple Pie, just like she used to make.

Page was a trooper. She had a fever, but got out and kept a smile on her face.

We took a quick tour of the Botanical Garden Domes in Milwaukee. The girls were able to experience the rainforest and the jungle in different domes. We spent a lot of time touching the different plants, discovering where the garden fairy lives, looking for butterflies, and we even got to get up close and personal with Aussie plants. G’Day!

We are home at Grandpa’s for a little while. Today was the most beautiful day so I took the girls down to the lake to look for sea glass. Page and Sienna LOVE Megan and Sarah, our American “cousins”. We visited the bench that is dedicated to Megan and Sarah’s Grandma and Page & Sienna’s Great-Grandma (Lori’s parents). It was a big beautiful day after a big day of traveling… Sienna was a bit tired, asked to go to sleep very early… Missing Brendan who is stuck back home…

We had a super fun weekend up in Tahoe. Jumping in puddles, riding bikes, skipping rocks, playing w/ friends and getting nudie rudie!

 

Day 1 in Lessons for Page

 

Getting ready for Day 2 of lessons for Page and Sienna and I went out for a skate ski

Beer (for Mom) and snickers break while we wait for Page to finish her lesson.

Such a silly goose in the snow!

So much faster and more confident on Day 2! Can’t wait to get out there with her.