Life After Our First Mission: From Black Butte to Hillsboro

Mother and Son

The Cabin at Black Butte

This has been a fun-packed week. We were to pick up Kitta, Peter and Case at ten o’clock Monday morning and start our trip to Black Butte Ranch. At nine-thirty Kitta called to tell us that their exchange student from Japan had been in a bad bicycle accident on Sunday night and was in the hospital. They didn’t know when she would be released nor if she would be able to come to Black Butte with us. Things were really up-in-the-air. She was also scheduled to take some exams that day. We should wait an hour and see what the doctor would say.

It was four-thirty in the afternoon when we finally departed with Kitta and Case and all the food. Peter needed to stay in Portland in order to get their exchange student settled. He would drive up later in the evening or the next day.

Grandpa and Case Ride Bikes

We drove to Salem and then up the mountains through the Santiam Pass, past Detroit Lake and then to Black Butte Ranch. The scenery was spectacular. It was a hot sunny day and the mountains and lakes were at their best. Black Butte Ranch is a vacation community built in a pine forest surrounding a grassy meadow and lake, with open views of the Three Sisters mountain peaks and Black Butte itself. There are about seven community swimming pools scattered through the forest, and bicycle and running trails throughout.

We stayed in a three bedroom, two bathroom lofted cabin. There were bicycles, tricycles and toys throughout. We had a great time with Case. We went swimming, hiked the trails, and bicycled. On Tuesday, we took a break and drove into Sisters for some lunch and ice cream. We walked the touristy streets in ninety-degree temperatures.

Grandma and Case go Shopping

We came back to the cabin and changed into swimwear and hiked down to the closest swimming pool. Peter arrived at the pool at about four o’clock.

After dinner we drove over to the golf course to eat popcorn and watch the stars. That was ok until the automatic sprinklers surprised us. We changed our plans and went to the meadow to see the stars. The sky was ablaze with stars like I remember when I was growing up in the country. There is nothing like getting away from the city lights and really seeing the night sky in all its glory.

See the Deer

Wednesday morning we had our breakfast out in the trees on the deck. We were visited by two deer that came within ten feet of where we were eating.

In the afternoon, before leaving for the trip back, we had a little picnic on the Lodge lawn, across the lake and the meadow, with a full view of the meadow, the forest and the mountains. What a beautiful place to relax and, what a wonderful vacation.

Father and Son

After arriving back in Portland and attending a Ward Missionary Correlation meeting, we drove out to start our third mini-vacation in Hillsboro with Lis, Nathan, Toby and Ali.

Scripture Time

On Thursday we started the day off with scripture study. The Cook household, being techy as they are, turned on the super large wall mounted flat screen monitor to the hymn of the day. We sang along to the piano accompaniment and the four-foot high hymnbook page. Then the Book of Mormon with four-foot high pages appeared and we each read five verses in a row until we were finished with the chapter. After prayer, we ate breakfast, packed a lunch and drove to McMinnville where we spent the day at the Evergreen Water Park adjacent to the museum housing the Spruce Goose. On top of the building housing the water park was a 747 plane housing the entry ports for the four water slides. When we entered the building, to our right was a large Wave Pool, and to the left was a forest replica with a real helicopter and fire-fighting water bucket dousing what might have been a forest fire. Water was continually pouring into the large bucket. When the bucket was full it would tip over onto a platform and then fall down onto the waiting guests standing in the pool below. The temperature in the building was about seventy-five degrees, but outside the temperature was close to one-hundred degrees.

Toby on The Waterslide

We spent the whole day in the water park with one lunch break at about two o’clock and dinner at Jack-in-The-Box on the way home. We had a great day.

On Friday we had breakfast and took our time getting in gear. We planned to spend most of the day at Bullwinkle’s Family Fun Park in Wilsonville. On the way we stopped by Nathan’s workplace at the Aurora Airport. They were serving a BBQ to all the employees and their families. We looked around and saw the new plane, then topped it off with cake and ice cream.

At the Family Fun Park the kids walked the ropes, climbed the climbing wall, rode the water bumper cars with mounted water guns (everyone got wet) and rode the motorized cars on the tracks.

The Family Gets Wet

The temperature was close to one-hundred degrees, so it was time to go to the Wilsonville fountain and play in the water. After that we ate at Red Robin and drove home.

On Saturday we planned the day around the activities at OMSI. We started with the exhibits, and then we ate lunch. We checked in at the Jet Boat to see if we could ride it. They were sold-out but we could check-in fifteen minutes before two o’clock and see if there would be room for us. We went back to OMSI to see the Omnimax film. There were some cancellations so we got on the Jet Boat for an hour’s thrill-ride. Then back to OMSI for the planetarium show. After that we went through the exhibit spaces and played with the brainteasers until they closed at seven o’clock. We ate at Panda Express.

It was a very successful day.

The Jet Boat Ride

Today we attended Hillsboro Stake Conference where Elder Nielsen was the visiting authority. We had a BBQ for lunch and then, while I got caught-up on the blog, everyone else fell asleep on the sofa, in the chairs, and on the floor. A nice quiet afternoon.

We will go home this evening and clean up a few loose ends before getting ready for our third mini-vacation next week with Tova, Jeff, Kyton and Simon.

These are great experiences for us. Thanks to all of you!