After what seems like a long time, I've been quilting and sewing again. At work some of the women wanted to learn to sew, so we made a jelly roll quilt (the red and green one). I enjoyed that so much that I bought some charm packs and made the pink/blue/green Schnibbles quilt. It turned out well. After watching a quilt tutorial from the Missouri Star Quilt Shop, I made a self-binding baby quilt. It was so quick and easy. 

Friday night Dan and I arrived at the cabin about 9:30 p.m. It was dark, quiet, and very comfortable outside. Saturday was a beautiful day. It was about 75 degrees outside and the leaves were beautiful. Robert came up the canyon and had dinner with us and then we played pinnochle. Robert came back up Sunday morning for breakfast. We enjoyed spending time with him and we were able to listen to all sessions of conference on the radio. It was a peaceful, relaxing weekend. Here are some pictures of the fall leaves. Wish you all could have been there with us.

Friday - Left home at 7 a.m., drove to Pendleton, Oregon, where we spent the night. We traveled about 600 miles today.

Saturday - Frist thing, we visited the Pendleton Woolen Mills where we learned about the Charm Trail. We spent the next two hours acquiring as many charms as possible for our new charm bracelet. Then we left Pendleton and headed for the Columbia River Gorge. We drove about 200 miles stopping at Hood River to watch the wind surfers, hike to water falls, take a tour of the Bonnevilla dam, and enjoy the beauty of the river. We spent the night in Troutdale, Oregon.

Sunday - Left Troutdale in the morning and traveled to Crown Point, which overlooks the Columbia River. Then we drove to Astoria by way of Washington State (a shortcut bypassing Portland). We spent the afternoon in Astoria and took a trolley tour along the waterfront. Later we drove south to Seaside where we had dinner, walked the beach, and stayed the night. It was cool!

Monday - We left Seaside and traveled to Lincoln, Oregon, only traveling 180 miles, but there was so much to see on the way. We went to Ecola State Park, which has a magnificient view of the ocean from the cliffs above it. We walked the beach at Cannon and viewed Haystack Rock. We stopped at the Tillamock Cheese Factory, where we ate a huge bowl of ice cream and tasted cheese. We drove the scenic route to Cape Meares State Scenic Viewpoint, where we saw a lighthouse and an octapus Spruce. I'll post some pictures soon.

Tuesday - Our first stop was Yaquina Head Lighthouse, which is a state park in Oregon. Most of us were able to climb to the top of the lighthouse, which is the highest on the Oregon coast. We also went down to Cobble Beach, which is located in the park. The beach is covered with black pebbles, which are the result of a volcano. Next we went to the Oregon Coast Aquarium in Newport, which was quite interesting. A second lighthouse in Newport, the Yaquina Bay Lighthouse was our next stop before heading south. Just beyond Yachats we drove to Cape Perpetua, which had a scarry, spectacular view of the ocean. We drove a little further to Florence and stayed in a cute Landmark Inn, a small hotel with only 12 rooms and located at the top of a steep drive. We had dinner at The Bridgewater, yummy food.

Wednesday - We left Florence and traveled south. We didn't find a lot to look at on the southern Oregon coast except for the Cape Blanco lighthouse. Cape Blanco is possibly the most western point in the 48 contiguous states. It was cold, windy, and foggy there. We kept driving south into California and went into the Jedediah Smith Redwood State Park. We stopped at the Simpson Reed Grove and walked through the forest. The redwoods are amazing. After driving through the park, we headed back into Oregon to spend the night at Grants Pass.

Thursday - We toured the Fire Mountain Gem and Bead Company at Grants Pass before heading for Crater Lake. The lake was amazing! We walked around a bit and visited the Crater Lake Lodge before heading to Klamath Falls, where we spent the night.

Friday - We headed for home. Left Klamath Falls about 7:30 a.m. and arrived home about 8 p.m. It was a long day, but we had great company. I'm so glad we went. I saw things that I've wanted to see for a long time.

So far this summer has been very busy. It started with a trip to Phoenix to visit Dustin, Sara, and Charlotte, then we attended girls' camp June23-26 at Lake Powell. Dad died on the 26th, so his funeral was the next week. Jim and Cyndi, Scott, Amanda, and Sara were able to be here for the funeral. The following week and a half was spent preparing for Youth Conference at Martin's Cove. We went on the trek with our ward July 15-17. Next we had a family reunion at the cabin at Fairview Lakes for the week of July 24. Notice the picture of Dustin and Charlotte. This was the baby who was not going to be allowed to go four-wheeling. She loved it! Then we took a trip to Oregon with Kent and Sherrie Allred, traveling along the Columbia River Gorge and the Oregon Coast. Now it's time to get ready for school.