And... We're Back!

After spending 6 very relaxing days camping and fishing in Eastern Washington, we are back at home and hitting the daily grind.

The trip started off with a 6 hour impromptu car ride a day early. Troy had a baseball tourny that got rained out so we decided to jump in the car and take off. I was a little concerned about the long car ride and Jubilee getting impatient. Turns out I didnt have to worry at all. She did great. In fact the last couple hours she just stared at the scenery impressed with the big mountains, "BIIIIG Mountains! Dont fall!!!" We didnt tell Mom and Dad we left early and just showed up on their door step at 9pm and said, "SURPRISE!" They were totally surprised even tho mom did call while we were in Tacoma and asked me to bring my big cooking pot. I had to lie and say, "okay!" After yelling, "Surprise!" Jubilee broke out in her rendition of Happy Birthday to You. It was quite cute!

We spent one night in Lake Chelan, (well, not IN the Lake...the Town), and after saying goodbyes to the extended family there, we left for Blue Lake. Blue Lake is just one of the tons of lakes in the surrounding area. They are all incredibly beautiful and serene. After arriving and stripping down to summer clothes, (it was in the mid-80s all week), we set up camp and had some hot dogs with Aunt Jan and Uncle Hugh who stopped to picnic with us on their way back to Spokane from Lake Chelan. Jubilee discovered the water shortly after that. She spent lots of time throughout the week wading into the lake, splashing in the water, filling and emptying her bucket and watering can, and throwing rocks into the water. She even got to go on some rides in Papa's boat and helped him drive it! She had a blast. Every morning we would wake up and practically the second thing she said was, "Swimmin'??". I loved seeing her experience something new. We have lots of water here in PA, but always too cold to play in it.

We did lots of fishing and Troy out-fished everyone. I think I convinced him its because he stinks like a fish and so they feel kindred. Troy also made another friend while we were there. As he was making his hourly trek to the bathroom, he came upon a turtle just hanging out in the grass. Troy brought him back to the campsite and set him by the water. For the rest of the week that turtle swam around right in front of our trailer and once in a while would pop his head up as if to wave to Troy fondly.

As relaxing and uneventful as this trip was, we did have some excitement. We were about to leave to get some dinner in nearby Electric City and to get a gander at the Grand Coulee Dam before noticing a lady approaching the van. She said a sailboater was overturned and didnt seem to be able to right himself. She handed us her binoculars and we looked out to see a poor guy hanging onto the side of his sailboat for dear life. The wind was blowing, but not too hard...besides, the wind should help him get back over. We recognized the man as our neighbor in the next campsite. Mom Botts walked over to tell his wife and ask if he would be ok. The wife started to panic and yelled, "he cant swim! he cant swim!" Sure enough, he was wearing no life jacket! So Dad jumped out of the van and into his boat. He zoomed out and rescued the sailboater who had way too much water in his boat to turn over. Dad Botts the Hero!

I'll have more trip details and pictures soon!