Camping at Hebo Lake

Took a quick camping trip to Hebo Lake with our friends, Jen and Paul.  It was absolutely beautiful!
We took a walk around the lake and went to pay our camping fee.  There are only 12 campsites at this lake so it was very secluded and "quiet" (minus annoying country music and children screaming).

the top of the post near the fee station.  I thought it looked like hair

Fucie got to ride in the sling carrier

the trees were covered in moss

"Ginge" (Paul) was in charge of the evening fire

Jen takes over

FIRE!

ahhhhh, there we go!

the rum is kicking in

the life of a pug

Oh look, a picture where my eyes are still open :)

Im grateful we have a small lap dog

Bella and Jen

Bella posing as a French Bulldog, with help from Paul

We attempted to play games but Bella kept moving our darts

Fucie supervised the game playing

Paul losing "man points" in the canopy chair

Unfortunately, our phones died that night, so no morning after photos.  Good thing :)

Good times

Summer Beaches

Overall, the summer has been a cool one.  Temps hover in the 60's-70's.  Don't get me wrong, I'm NOT complaining AT ALL.  I love it!  We try and take advantage of any and all sunny days to take a walk on the beach.

Low tide coincided with one of our days off a few weeks ago.  We got up "early", prepared our mugs of coffee, and headed out.

The sun was just starting to break through the mist

exposed rock beds

I love the light shining on the seaweed

looking south towards the bay

patterns left in the sand by the departing tide

Another day, on our exercise walk, we saw this neat log that had been tumbled to an upright position:

you can barely see it through the mist

It was on the beach for almost a week, and then one day it was gone.

We had to run to Newport so we took time to do some beachcombing:

silly

along a trail we were exploring through the woods

beach flowers

south of Newport

this once was a piece of wood.  I thought it was fascinating how it disintegrated

this was a huge fossil

more flowering

 My hibiscus is going nuts again.  Here's the latest bloom (yes, I'm very proud haha):

Skott has an artistic vision for out our back door.  This is his start.  I could probably dig up some really hideous "before" pictures.... but take my word for it, this is a HUGE improvement.  He's going to continue the pattern and blend it to a paver patio on the right.  One of the squares has sea shells, agates, slag beach glass, and other treasures.  The other square is full of agates.  Then a shrub in one and native flowers in another.

Fucie's idea of helping me exercise

Josie visits

 My sister, Josie, came to visit.  She decided to drive so she could bring her new puppy, Dozer.  She also decided to rent a car so she wouldn't have to worry about any auto issues. (*jinx*)

She left after work on a Friday and we figured she would be arriving just as we finished up work at 2am.
Around 11:45 I was dealing and got tapped off by another dealer telling me something was wrong with my sister and I needed to go find our boss.
*Panic*
Everyone seemed to know what was going on, but me.  Other dealers were telling me "Skott is waiting for you at the top of the stairs"  "I hope your sister is ok" "OMG, is everything ok?!"  Meanwhile, I still have NO clue what is going on and my mind is thinking the worst.  I find a boss who says "Go, get out of here, Skott is waiting for you".
Come to find out, Josie's rental car caught on fire near The Dalles, OR.  Luckily, her check engine light came on and she immediately pulled over and was able to get herself and Dozer out before the flames engulfed the car.

Come to find out, she had tried contacting us at the casino, but the security guard who took the phone call refused to get us or transfer the call to our boss because we were "busy working".  Seriously?!  (We had a few choice words for his boss when this was all over).  We left work and headed home to change and grab some things for Josie, then we headed to The Dalles (3 1/2 hours away).  In the meantime, the cops took her to a "hotel" to wait.  Scariest hotel I've ever seen in my life, not to mention you could get a contact high just being in the room....  It was a long night but we finally made it back to Lincoln City around 8:30am.  We immediately crashed and slept until noon.

It was a great visit, despite the rocky start.  Granted, all weekend we were dealing with incompetent car rental people, insurance stuff, police reports, etc.

We went to the beach every day.  It was great exercise for Dozer, even if he was afraid of the waves

Of course, we had to make a trip to Nana's in Newport!  Luckily, the weather was nice enough we could sit outside on patio:

Note the awesome St Bernard in background

On the way to Newport, Josie and I sat in the backseat and entertained ourselves with funny faces:

Chins:

Scary faces:

Tongues:

Creepy smiles:

But I would have to say this was the creepiest of all:  (I made sure the Walmart logo was in the background)

Love my little sister!!!!