Hot! Hot! & More Hot!

We have been experiencing extreme heat here in southwest Washington the last few days. High temperatures for the last three days have been 100, 103 & 105. Lows have been in the 70's so we haven't gotten our usual overnight cooling. Sleeping has been tough and Goni is getting cranky.

Today it might be only in the upper 90's but it is still way too hot! This weather is something I would expect in Arizona or Texas. Make it go away!

Return of the Exchange Students

This past week we had the pleasure of visits from former exchange students. Caroline who was our German exchange student during the 2007-8 school year and Emese from Hungary during 1998-99 school year both came for visits. Emese and her husband George are doctors going through medical training and currently live in Chicago. Also visiting was Nathalie from Finland who was not one of our students but was around our house a lot when Caroline was here.

Caroline and Nathalie arrived on Monday, July 20th. Caroline plans to be here for four weeks but Nathalie is going home after 3 weeks. Even though it has been over a year since they were here it was just like old times around our house.

We had a small gathering Saturday at Sandy Larson's house to welcome Emese and her husband George to town. George's mother and two sisters also came. All of them will be in the area for a week visiting various sites including Mt St Helens and the Oregon coast.

George is always taking pictures especially of Emese. We learned that it is genetic because his mom is always taking pictures too.

Caroline wanted to go whitewater rafting so on Sunday we went on the White Salmon River near Mt Adams. Melody and Bruce and Goni's friend Deb went along too. Temperatures were in the upper 90's so the cold river water sure felt good.

Emese, George & Grover going over Husum Falls.

Caroline and Nathalie sitting on the front of the raft over the "bull riding" section of the river. Grover, Bruce & Goni are in the back.

Deb, Emese, George and family doing the "bull ride".

Sound View Camp Expedition 2009

This past week Grover and Goni went on the Sound View Camp Expedition in the Columbia River Gorge. We have been doing this now for the past 5-6 years. Goni does the cooking and Grover sets up the camp and helps with the hiking and canoeing. It is kind of like a working vacation but lots of fun. Here is a picture of Goni's camp kitchen:

This year we returned to the Wyeth Campground in the Columbia River Gorge on Sunday and setup camp for the week long adventure. Wyeth is a fairly primitive U.S. Forest Service campground but we like it. Weather was overcast and drizzly but improved a little on Monday. By Tuesday it was getting hot. We had 10 high school students. Our son-in-law Chris Layton went along because we needed a trained medical person and a fire fighter-paramedic fits that description. He brought along our grandson Noah who had a great time too.

Each evening after the days activities we have a campfire to discuss the day and have a Bible message. Some evenings we have a skit and/or an educational presentation. This year we discussed how the Columbia River Gorge was formed and some geological information.

Monday was a day to hike so we went up to Triple Falls which is a four mile hike round trip. The falls is a beautiful place and there is plenty of room for having lunch while enjoying the falls.

Grover & Goni at Ponytail Falls which is on the way to Triple Falls.
That night we went into Hood River to go swimming at the local pool. It is an opportunity to swim and get a warm shower. They have a Tarzan rope and most of the kids gave it a try.
On Tuesday we went to LaCamas Lake to learn paddling and safety skills. We had three tipovers but it was warm enough that nobody cared. We found a Tarzan rope on one of the islands in the lake and everyone took a try at swinging into the water.Wednesday was the Eagle Creek hike up to Tunnel Falls. This is a 12 mile round trip hike to a great water falls that has a manmade tunnel behind it. We then go a short distance past the falls and have lunch. It takes most of the day and Noah made the entire trip. The tired group then went up to Hood River to the pool again but most of our group was pretty tired. We did go have ice cream at Dairy Queen and then had our camp fire.

On Thursday we canoed down the Sandy River near Troutdale. It was a hot day and everyone enjoyed the opportunities to get wet. We swam in the river and in general had a great time. The river was full of people trying to cool off and it was difficult at times to maneuver the canoes around all the people in the water.

Friday afternoon was the whitewater rafting trip down the White Salmon River. The river starts on the glaciers of Mt Adams and is very cold. Everyone wears a wet suit to keep warm because of the 40 degree water. Because the air temperature was in the mid to upper 90s nobody seemed to notice the cold water.

The tired group helped break camp and pack up on Saturday morning and they all headed home. Everyone felt good about the week and are looking forward to next year.