Cow Camp 2009

For those of you who know me or my mom's family well, then you most likely already know what Cow Camp is. For those of you who are new friends, or have yet to hear about Cow Camp - you only need to know a few things: There are no cows involved whatsoever (anymore), and this is a yearly camping trip that is very special to my mother's father and the Montgomery side of the family, as well as a camping trip that has become very special to many people.

All loaded up and on the road.

Headed down the Cascade Lakes Scenic Byway towards Crane Prairie Reservoir and into the Deschutes National Forest to Cow Meadows.

Good luck finding it!

(About 20-30 min out of SunRiver.)

The view as you head into camp, makes me smile EVERY year!

Getting camp all set up.

It was pretty snug with all three of us in this little tent, but we DID fit (barely)! If you ask Brian, I'm sure he'll mumble something under his breathe about spooning the dog. . . A view of camp from the "back/creek side". That's Brian in the lower right-hand corner practicing his fly-fishing skills.

Most of our days are spent at Cultus Lake.

The weather is always nice (except that one year that it hailed golf ball sized hail stones) and the lake, which is filled with snow run-off from the surrounding mountains, is always refreshing!

Playing with the underwater feature on the camera.

This is Bella the Bulldog. She was one of the many dogs that joined us camping this year, and she was hilarious! Can't you just picture her waddling around and trying to stay cool in the water?! She entertained us all for hours!

Wickey, on the other hand, isn't so much of a water dog.

She let Brian carry her into the water, but then she'd just stand there, like "Now what"?!

Family Picture at the lake!

4-5 p.m. = time for pre-dinner appetizers!!

Auntie Kim gave a Pinot Noir presentation and we had our very own Cow Camp wine tasting 101 lesson. It was a lot of fun, and she shared many different wines from many different regions with us. Kim and her husband Jim are "way into" wine. Thanks for sharing!

One of the most important things we do during our stay at Cow Camp is volunteer for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. We clean up the site around the cabin, mend the fences, clear dead trees that have come down in the wind and so on. . .

We also maintain wood duck boxes that have been placed around many of the lakes. These boxes help supplement a safe environment for the ducks and we're hoping it's boosting their numbers in this area. The picture above is the "North Twin Lake Crew".
You'll often see Papa, Uncle Jeff or Uncle Jim fishing off the dock. Cow Camp is right on Snow Creek which feeds into the Deschutes River.

Uncle Jeff and Jim were reeling in the Brook Trout!

Brian and I had packed the canoe and Brian was anxious to paddle around the reservoir and try his luck at catching some Bass. . .

It was beautiful! We saw some huge cranes, a few bald eagles . . .

but no bass. We had fun anyway!

The view was amazing!

Everyone helps out around camp. There's wood to be chopped . . .Meals to be made. . . .

Dishes to be washed. . .

Papa (my mom's dad) started bringing my mom and her siblings out here when they were in high school, and I have been going every year since I was born. It is a wonderful legacy Grammy and Papa share with us.

This year, they celebrated 60 years of marriage!A toast around the camp fire.

Here are all the "kids"!!

Just the Grand Kids

And now there are even two GREAT grand children!!

Baby Malia and Baby Landon

Brad and AJ

Cousins / Twins

During all the excitement of picture taking, Wickey sprained her leg. Her buddy Mac was pretty worried about her.

She felt pretty sorry for herself, and it was sad seeing her limp around camp. But don't worry, she has fully recovered, and we know she still had a great time on what we are fairly certain was her first camping trip.

There is a lot of bonding and hanging out around the camp fire.

Aunt Teresa couldn't stand the bugs, I don't think her Citronella bracelet even helped! The mosquitos were ferocious this year!

Siblings I wasn't quite ready for this picture, but oh well.

More fun at the lake.

As always, we had a wonderful time at Cow Camp and as always, we can't wait for next year!

Thanks to Bethany and Kim for contributing pictures for this Blog entry!