i was born in late feb. and by july i was up camping on this pass.. it is where i fell in love with the smell of trees, i learned the respect of campfires, i became intrigued with chipmunks, i learned i don't like being out on the boat for more than 15min, i could use up 3 rolls of film on a hike around the lake (thank goodness for digital!), i spent my late teen years learning my independence, i shared my love of these mountains with the man who became my husband right up on that mountain and then again with my children.
somewhere in there it became harder to pack up 3 kids and head up the mountain. we started spending a week up on brians mountain in washington. time and $ prevailed. last week i had a force pulling me to that mountain pass i can't describe. we made plans. we cancelled them. and repeated this. 11am in the shower i decided we were going. gave everyone 20min to get ready, picked up poppy and we were on the road. no stopping till we got up there for lunch at one of my favorite places.
we stopped at sahalie falls. it was just as magical as it used to be. the kids used to need to be helped up and down the stairs there. this year they ran 50ft ahead of us along the river. it was minie birds first trip. i think we have another nature girl...
and then we made it to clear lake. it is a dear place to my dad. his wife, the love of his life, left this world too soon. he had a table made for her almost 20yrs ago. it still sits in the same place. the plaque could use some love but the table was strong. it was good for him to share it with the kids. he and i used to go up there sometimes monthly after she passed. just sit. we did this time too. brian took the kids out on a boat to show them the lake truly is clear and well.... he took the keys along with them! so there we sat... until we went into the restaurant and had some pie ;)
not everything went smoothly. does it ever? all 3 kids had to ride in the back of the van together for the first time. that took me back to the 80's before we had to wear seat belts and all 4 of us were shoved into a cutlass... we fought like they did. then laughed as they smashed each other around each corner. while we were locked out of the van it became cold, minie was in only a onsie, she had a cold and snot, wouldn't you know it her pediatrician was sitting on the bench out front.. we looked so white trash... i had to laugh. thank goodness he knows us. another poppy moment; i said "dad i ran into my pediatrician" and he replied back (loudly of course) " i don't need to know about that!" i then realized he didn't know what a pediatrician was... why would he? i'm his only child, they were divorced by the time i was 4 and he would have never taken me to one. he thought i was talking about my gynecologist! ha! then we followed some lady from idaho with a huge cowboy hat down the pass @ 30mph... don't even get me started!
so my heart is happy... yet longing to go back. plan to take the kids to the mouth of metolious soon.
I was just talking about clear lake last week and wondered if the restaurant was still there. I need to check it out!
Posted by: Jenny Mangelsdorf | July 23, 2011 at 10:25 AM