Wednesday, July 8, 2009

What We Have Been Up Too....

We are back! I know I didn't warn you guys ahead of time that we were leaving-we were way too busy!-but we took off on the 5th to go camping with our friends. We got home yesterday, and plan to head back over on Friday to stay for the weekend.

Anywho, before I go on and on about round one of camping, I wanted to say that I hope everyone had a happy and safe 4th of July. We always have a big celebration on the 4th, because it is my father-in-law's birthday, and the day was filled with lots of family, food, and fireworks.
On Sunday, we woke up early and headed over to an area in Eastern WA known as Little Naches. It is an area that we used to camp at all the time when we had our travel trailer, but we have not gone over there at all over the last couple of years.

Our friends go over there with their large extended family-and friends-and they bring their jeeps, because this area has lots of jeeping/ATV trails that run though and surround it. Have any of you ever been jeeping??? Well prior to Monday, I had never been, but now that I have, I want one!!!! LOL!!!
Jeeping is kind of like horseback riding, in that you get to go up in the hills on beautiful trails, except you don't feel guilty about riding a poor horse for miles on tough terrain. (Yes, the trails around here can be that brutal!)
The other nice thing about jeeping is that it is relatively quiet-I am comparing it to motorbikes and quads-and you are surrounded by your friends and family. All of whom you can converse with while out there.
We headed up to an area that has over a 6000 foot elevation-an area called Moon Rocks, and an area called Funny Rocks-and spring was just beginning. Their were large meadows filled with wild flowers and the scenery was absolutely breathtaking.

To give you an idea of just how steep some of the hillsides we drove up were, look at the angle of the treeline in the above picture. Nice, huh??? Kind of like being on a ride at the county fair.....
Above is a picture of some of the jeeps climbing up Funny Rocks, and below is another shot from the top of Funny Rocks looking down at another jeep maneuvering the rocks.
Below are Eric and his pals taking a break from climbing the rocks. Little hoodlums......
After messing around on Funny Rocks, we loaded up and headed up even higher to Moon Rocks. The view was absolutely amazing from up there, and you could see Ellensburg, Yakima, and the surrounding areas with no problem.
While up there, we had lunch, and the kidlets all ran around and looked for dropped elk antlers, as their sign were all over the meadows and forests up there.
Katie couldn't help herself and she picked some the the lovely flowers before I could stop her-you are not supposed to pick them-oops!!!She also struck a pose for me in front of an old tree....
Did I mention it was cold up there? The sun was warm, but the wind almost took your breath away. (Only up jeeping, not down at camp...) We had a great time and did not want to come back home, but Kevin had to be back at work today. Eric is still over there with his pals, and I can't wait to head back over and play in the water, as the camp is right next to the Naches River.
I wanted to get more picks from the trip, but my batteries died, and I forgot to bring other ones. I promise to bring lots of them this weekend though, so stay tuned!

8 comments:

The Old Gray Egg said...

Sounds like you had a great time with the kids. There isn't much that's more important than that. Personally, I am more into silent sports and am glad that there are still places that jeeps, quads, and dirt bikes cannot go. I would hazard to guess that there is more ground rendered flowerless by all of those jeeps than Katie could even begin to denude. Enough soap boxing. It really is nice to know that good family time can still be had.

Paint Girl said...

We used to go 4-wheeling all the time. We have a '79 GMC Jimmy, all jacked-up up that we use to 4-wheel. We haven't been in years. My OH wants to get a jeep, he has wanted one for years!
The area you are at is absolutely beautiful! I love the picture of the jeeps climbing the Funny Rocks! That is something I would have to do!
Sounds like you had a wonderful time!!

C-ingspots said...

My husband loves to do off-roading stuff, but not me. Uh-huh, no way, no how...don't like it. Big boobs and 4-wheeling do not go hand in hand. Plus, I am afraid of heights! But, the countryside does look beautiful and I can appreciate the hill climbing from the bottom of the hill - thank you very much!! So glad to hear that you all had fun and have plans to go again. Yippee!! Have a great time and do be careful. Looking forward to more pics.

Pony Girl said...

Looks like you had fun! I am not the type to off-road, I get too nervous about the vehicles tipping over, LOL! :) My dad used to have an old jeep, it was a climber, but he mostly took it on the beach before he sold it. I would have been off with the kids looking for elk sheds, I LOVE using them to add decorative touches to my place, LOL!

Gail said...

What fun! I love the scenery and the adventure. I do not think I would ride a horse up that slope!

It's about time you had some fun, enjoy the next trip too and charge that battery, we will be waiting.

BrownEyed Cowgirl said...

Oh fun, fun, fun! I wanna come with you. I have actually never been "jeeping", but have been 4-wheelin'. There is a hill outside town that we used to have bonfire parties at and everyone with pickups would take turn trying to climb it. Few made it up. Surprisingly no one ever wrecked/rolled or ran over anyone partying at the bottom.

Have fun swimming this weekend! Looking forward to more pics.

Laughing Orca Ranch said...

Wow! Your photos are really impressive and amazing with those jeeps. Looks scary, but fun. I'm glad you're finding time to enjoy yourself. You deserve it after this crazy busy last year with school and everything :)

Katie is just the cutest little muffin. Her bouquet of wildflowers reminds me of the time I cut off all the beautiful roses off our neighbor's rose bush on the way home walking from school. I presented them to my stepmom as a surprise....but was severely punished after the nieghbor called to complain about her naked rose bush. hehe!

~Lisa

Unknown said...

Looks like you guys had fun! Rock crawling can be so fun - with us we just watch - lacking a jeep. But it's still fun to watch.