Last week I got back from vacation at Odell Lake with several extended family members, on my dads side. Never heard of Odell Lake before? Well, it's gorgeous. And just what I needed. Funny how God orchestrates that kind of thing . . . Before the trip I was seriously considering not going - not that I didn't want to see my family, but the weeks surrounding were busy & stressful, and being home with the house all to myself for 3 days just sounded wonderful. But as much as I wanted to at the time, I didn't feel like I should stay home (and I'm glad that I didn't!). Those mere 3 days were full of fear facing, adventures, laughter, family, heart to hearts, lie silencing, and more fun than I was expecting - starting with the first night. Let me give you a little sneak peek into my family: The first night there we hung out in the main meeting area and developed a "Pooping Satisfaction Chart", discussing (in detail and from personal experiences) the many variables for what makes pooping satisfactory or not. We did so in all seriousness, and it went on for at least an hour. Meet my family ^.^
In fact, the next morning I woke up at 7:00am (actually I woke up at 3:00am, 5:00am, and 6:00am, because I'm me, and because my dog fell off of the bed and made a rather large THUD, waking my cousin and I up) and went down to the dock with Lacey and spent some time with Jesus. I was a little frustrated though, because it was such a great opportunity, my mind went into "get something significant out of this" mode, instead of "just rest in His presence and soak it up" mode. Eventually, however, I was able to let go of that for the most part and ended up watching a bald eagle fishing on the lake. So neat! Later that first morning the majority of us went to Salt Creek Falls - a beautiful place! That's where I got my significant moment with God. Yet another beautiful reminder that I'm not in control over such things. It was wonderful, though. I travelled off of the hiking trail to a little pool I spotted higher up. The rest of the family kept going and I just stayed there for a brief moment. iPhones come in handy. I started playing Your Love Is Extravagant (one of my favorite, most special songs with Jesus) and walked along to another little pool and then back onto the main trail where I leisurely walked down closer to the falls. I got to just sit for a little bit and soak up the words of the song, as well as the sight of the waterfall (which is apparently the 2nd largest waterfall in Oregon at about 286 feet). I then caught up with my mum and aunt, who were staying behind because they couldn't/didn't want to join in the the expedition that the others (my dad, sister, and 2 cousins) embarked on. They decided to vacate the trail and climb down to the base of the falls - which was a decent way down. I decided to join them. Only instead of going the way they went, I went a different route - an apparently more difficult route that wasn't exactly the safest. I went down a rather steep embankment type thing of dirt and rocks on my hands and bum (my pants will never be the same), causing all sorts of dirt and rock slides. 10-15 minutes later, I reached the base of the falls and joined the others! And dang, what an experience. Not only did I feel super accomplished for getting down there, but it was absolutely beautiful. From above you could see a rainbow, and it reminded me of Homeward Bound (which has nothing to do with the rainbow). From below I felt as if I was in Lord of the Rings, when Faramir captured Gollum from the Forbidden Pool in The Two Towers. So great. The mist from the waterfall felt so good after climbing down there, and just being in the sun. I wanted to swim in it, buuut by the time I got down there they were about ready to head back up. Totally worth the short time I got to spend down there though. After climbing back up (a different, better way) we all headed back to the cabins and got ready for adventure #2 : swimming in the lake. And oh, how much fun it was! We ended up going to a different lake than the one we were staying at; one that was about 7 minutes away, called Crescent Lake. I was a little hesitant because of my love-hate relationship with water, but the water was clear as can be! No weird "what's underneath me?" feelings were felt (for the most part). It still got deep though, but I walked out until I my feet could barely touch the sand beneath me. It was so much fun though. I love my family. It was my aunt & uncles labradoodle's first time swimming, and she and their other dog joined us the whole time, tossing the frisbee around. My dad and I played catch for a while towards the end, which made my heart happy. He and I used to play catch all the time growing up. I still got some swing in my arm ^.^ Also, my dad was throwing the ball to my mum, who was standing in the shallow end, hitting it with her can. It was by far one of the cutest things ever. Just picture my mum standing there in a sun hat and sunglasses, holding her cane in the air like a baseball bat in the water. My mum was a hardcore tomboy, and she was all in when it came to baseball and four-wheeling and the like, so it's always fun to see her get to do some of that again. After we all got back from the lake I got a little bit of time to myself. I watched Star Trek: Into Darkness, cleaned/organized a wee bit, and wrote. It was nice to be able to retreat for a bit and have some quiet. After I had finished writing, I headed over to my aunt & uncles cabin, where everyone was congregated around a fire, talking and laughing. We told told stories mostly. We tried to tell ghost stories, but the majority of them were more comical than anything, haha. Which I was all for. After most of us dispersed, my cousin & I went out on the dock and star gazed. It was one of the highlights of the trip for me, as I love star gazing and I haven't seen my cousin in 2 years and haven't spent much time with him for years before that. So it was wonderful. A beautiful starry sky, the sound of the water underneath the dock, and lovely conversation with one of my favorite cousins. Also found out that he just learned some WCS at one of my favorite places to dance, from one of my favorite leads. What?! Dancing will definitely be in the near future haha. When I got back to the cabin that night all the lights were off and everyone had gone to sleep. This turned into mission: impossible. I was so hungry, and those floors creaked more than any I've ever heard. I managed to stealthily make it to the fridge, but I looked over and (as best as can be done in the pitch black dark) saw that the room to my cousins door was open, and opening the fridge would have flooded their room with light, no doubtely in my mind waking them up. So I went to bed hungry. The next morning I came into the kitchen and saw that their door was closed. Fail. I was also excruciatingly sore. Not doing much physical activity and then hiking, climbing, and swimming all day . . . We were all sore haha. After breakfast my dad, uncle, 2 cousins, and I went to the railroad tracks nearby and laid coins on the track. After waiting for the train for a little bit I had to head back so that I could upload my video for the Anthem Lights contest. There's only wifi in the lodge, so I camped out there with my mum's laptop and finished watching Star Trek: Into Darkness. It took forever to upload because of the connection, so I ended up having to head back when it was only 34% done upoading (my cousin is awesome though, as he was there studying anyways so he watched the laptop while it uploaded more. It got to 53% before he had to leave). At 1:00pm the majority of us journeyed to Crater Lake. So freaking beautiful. And hot. We went to 2 of the viewpoints and then split off into 2 groups: one to drive around the rim and one to head back to the cabins. I headed back to the cabins with the greater part of the group . It took much longer to get back than it should've because there was a rockslide. When we got back to the cabins I went back down to the lodge to finish uploading my video (which y'all should watch again so that my chances of winning increase https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OqVEZRIrwhM ^.^). I sat and watched the first part of The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey as I waited. It was most delightful ^.^ After that I went back to the cabins and a handful of us went down to the lake to watch the sunset for the last time this trip. I'm really gonna miss being on the lake . . . The sights, the sounds, the star gazing . . . I enjoyed it greatly ^.^ ![]() That night everyone gathered in the main meeting area again and we all played Apples To Apples. I haven't laughed that hard in a LONG time! Laughing to the point of a headache, sweat, and tears. And it had nothing to do with the game hahaha. There's no way to write out what happened, but let's just say that my family is just great. I wasn't ready to go the next morning. Two of the families left earlier so they could stop and visit the grandparents before making the long drive back home, while the rest of us left at about 11:00. Since everyone that was in my cabin had left earlier, I had the whole cabin to myself for a little while ^.^ So I gathered all of my stuff into the living room, sat back in the armchair, and watched more of The Hobbit while eating meatballs and chocolate ice cream. It was definitely a good way to end the trip :) After that we loaded up the van and headed home. I'm gonna miss having something active that I can do every day - like in Georgia. But Summer isn't over yet! I've already had a constantly-going-for-21-hours day for my big bro's wedding that I was in last Saturday, with one more wedding to go in a week! Life is crazy, but it's good :) Let the adventures continue!
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