Leaving Lost Lake, Arriving in Wenatchee

 We had so many wonderful people bringing us goodies on our last day at Lost Lake. These fine folks are the managers, Brian and Leslie. Hmmm! Those frosted brownies Leslie made were so good, maybe we should stay!

 Here we're hooking up, ready to leave our lovely sheltered spot. Trouble...one slide wouldn't go in. We had 2 expert electricians, Harvey and Bob, working on our rig, taking apart all the wiring they could think of, and still they didn't find the problem. Harvey ended up cranking the slide in by hand, a very difficult job. We were all ready for a nap by the time we pulled out, 3 hours later than we had planned.

 Our trip over Snoqualmie and Blewett Passes was beautiful and uneventful until at a Cle Elum pit stop we discovered our RV batteries had not been charging. We continued on, planning to get some help when we arrived in Wenatchee. Here is our favorite spot in our very favorite RV park, the Wenatchee River County Park at Monitor. Here, Keith and I decided to clean off the batteries and check them for water, which we had assured Harvey and Bob that we had already done. We were mistaken and all their extremely kind and diligent labor was proven unnecessary because we discovered one battery was dry. We filled it up, and voila´, our stubborn slide went right out without a whimper! We jumped for joy and ran around praising God for solving this problem with no expenditure on our part except for a little sweat. We know that we need to purchase new batteries, though, as these have gotten past their prime. Hopefully they will get us a little further down the road.

 By our very good fortune our daughter Jessi came up from Redding CA to visit Wenatchee at the same time we did. It had been a year since we last saw her. Here she is holding one of her 2 cats which she planned to take with her back to Redding. Daughter Betsy has been caring for them for the past year. I like Jessi's blue hair!

 The main downside of our workamping lifestyle is that we don't get to see our kids and granddaughters nearly often enough. Our gal Katy was about 6 or 7 when we first left. She is a beautiful, charming 15 year old now. (Blue hair must run in the family!) In this photo she is teaching her mom, our daughter Betsy, how to use her new cell phone. The young ones always seem to know how manage the new technology better than their elders! Thus began our whirlwind 3 night, 2 day stay in Wenatchee, visiting family and friends. So many we want to see, so little time!

A Few Parting Scenes

It will be difficult for us to leave the beautiful Lost Lake Resort now that it has entered its prettiest phase, springtime! In a week we will pull up stakes, hook up the 5th wheel and drive on out to our next adventure in Montana. Our hopes are that we might return here in a few months, in the gorgeous autumn season.

 

 I love looking down on the old cabin from the exit road above it. This ancient building is 100 plus years old and sits on the shore of Lost Lake. I wonder what stories it could tell!

 The resort is filled with trilliums this spring. They are everywhere! After a month of blooming, many of them are entering their last stage, going from white to lavender.

 When we were here five years ago I found some striped coral root orchids, a strange plant with no chlorophyll, hence no green color. These were new to me.I was excited to happen upon this year's sprouting a few days ago. They are not blooming yet but maybe they will in the next few days.

Here is a favorite of mine, if I could name a favorite, the shooting star wildflower. So pretty and so delicate!

After a windstorm I raked and hauled off piles of branches from this now peaceful and sunlit glade. It's ready for a picnic once the tables are placed. I could spend some time here!

As we end our time at the resort I am comforted that I have left a legacy, Dufur, the old man of Lost Lake. Not many know he is here, half hidden in the trees and ferns, but I will think of him often and wonder how the forest is faring under his watchful care. Good-bye, Dufer, Good-bye, Lost Lake.

Spring in the Forest

 Always a wildflower enthusiast and indentifier, my joy in this hobby is intensified in the Pacific Northwest forest country. As I ride my little golf cart around I am delighted to find more and more wildflowers showing their colorful faces. This trillium is one of my favorites and is also one of the first to come forth. It is sometimes called an Easter lily, or, by others a wake-robin, because it blooms close to the time that robins return from their winter home.

 Another favorite, the wild current bush, blooms about the same time the trillium does. These smell good! They like to bloom in the more open areas where the sun gets in between the trees.

 So delicate, so sweet, yellow violets carpet the mossy areas.

 Here's a flower that is new to me. I found it in one of my iPad wildflower apps. It is a Nuttall's Bittercress. I picked a vase-full and to my surprise they had a wonderful fragrance, like hyacinths. They seem quite common all around the resort.

 This strange looking mushroom is not a flower, but I included it because I'd never found one before. It's a False Morel. I call it a "brain" mushroom, for obvious reasons. While the true Morel is greatly desired for eating, the false Morel is a poisonous variety.

This shrub, found all over the Lost Lake complex and in all the forests of the northwest, defied my powers to identify. None of my wildflower apps or books helped, and I didn't find it on the internet, either. How can such a prolific flowering shrub be left out? Does anyone know what this is?

The Shack

 Bouncing through the underbrush in our golf cart out by the Lost Lake burn pile Mr. Keith and I came upon this old, moss covered, leaning shack. I can't see one of these relics without thinking about Wm. Paul Young's book "The Shack", which I enjoyed immensely several years ago. We couldn't resist walking through the abundant scotch broom to look inside. Too bad — there was nothing in there but junk piled up to the rafters and a few curious sounds of maybe a critter making a home there. The boards were coming loose and the floor had rotted away. 

Sometimes I feel somewhat like an old shack myself. This old house isn't as strong as it once was! I feel a little mossy, and I lean a little from Mr. Arthritis, tottering around with my cane. Like the shack, though, I'm in a beautiful setting, with tall fir trees, a meadow, and blue skies. 

Unlike the shack, I am not filled with junk — well, maybe a little, with some old memories I'd just as soon forget. I'm working on tossing all that out. I'm hoping, as in Mr. Young's book, that my house is filled with the glory of God, with contentment, with gratitude for life. My fireplace is burning warmly with the love of my family and friends. My heart is full with the wonders I've experienced in my life. My windows are clear and unbroken, allowing me to view the world with optimistic and wise eyes. This old shack will not crumble, but instead be made into an eternal dwelling place for all that is good, forever!

Lost Lake Trails

Some special folks at Lost Lake have been working hard to restore the trails in the park. Mr. Keith and I, needing to get outside in the sunshine, decided to check them out. We got our canes (old coots) and set out. Both trails are quite steep and we thought our old legs would do better going down than going up!

Over the past couple of winters there had been branches and some small trees that had fallen across the paths. Must have been a job getting those cleared out! In this scene we are looking down on the one-way road leading up from the lake.

Mossy trees and ferns in abundance, along with decaying leaves, grace the trails. Very beautiful! Careful there — the soft dirt is a little slick.

Across the road and down a ways begins the longer trail leading to the lake. In this part of the forest there are some really big trees, not quite old growth, but maybe trees that have grown since the original logging. The biggest are the Douglas Fir and the cedars.

Here is a different view of our over 100 year old cabin, now used as a library. Strangely, there are a couple of big redwood trees right behind the cabin. They must have been brought in by the original settlers here, as they are not native. At this point on the steep trail Mr. Keith is leaning on one of those huge, old Douglas Firs, where he is enjoying the lake and its reflections.

I'm stumped! Wish I'd posed Mr. Keith here to show the size of this one! It's difficult to imagine that a strong wind could topple a tree like this. The rest of the fir is lying covered with moss just to the left.

I asked the manager of the resort if he knew which tree was the largest in the park, and he said this Douglas Fir has more board feet than any other. It's at the end of the trail near where it comes out at the lake, and is the centerpiece for this little picnic area beside the cabin. I would love to show how tall it is but that would have taken a few photos spread out! In my opinion there are other trees as big around, but this one is the tallest of all, hence more board feet. I wonder how they measure that!