Summer Vacation Part 2 - LaGrande, Joseph, Wallowa Lake

On Monday morning we packed up again and headed out for part 2 of our vacation. On the way to Wallowa Lake we stopped to visit some friends who live in LaGrande, Steve and Beth Koza and their 3 children. We had a great time visiting with their family and playing on their farm. They were kind enough to feed us dinner and entertain us for the afternoon, although they'd had a very busy weekend.
Sarah, Grace, Weston, Elsie, Timothy (Baby Becca not in photo)

Here's Grace showing off the mini-kitchen in our little apartment/cabin in Joseph, OR.

Elsie taking a much-needed afternoon nap.

Exploring Joseph, OR on Tuesday morning. Joseph is famous for it's bronze sculptures like the cougar pictured here.

Tuesday afternoon we took off for Wallowa Lake and went up Mt. Howard on the tram. We traveled in a little gondola/tram over 8,000 ft. up the mountain. I don't consider myself afraid of heights, but I have to admit it made me a bit nervous to have my family suspended so high in the air supported by little cables. The view was amazing! We took some time to walk around on the summit enjoying the scenery. I kept thinking of the verse from Psalms, "the mountains declare the glory of God". We saw plenty of mountains declaring God's glory in Eastern Oregon!

More view from the top of the mountain.
There were groundhogs, squirrels, chipmunks and birds on the mountain that were quite used to being fed people-food. They were pretty aggressive and it would not have surprised me if they had jumped in our lap. We tried to keep some distance between them and the kids. :)

We enjoyed breakfast and lunch in our mini-kitchen at the cabin and then dinner at a wonderful local restaurant (the food was so good we went there both nights!). I had the BLT + avocado sandwich twice as it was so yummy! They also had a nice outdoor seating area shaded by large trees.

Elsie being goofy at the restaurant!

The deer at Wallowa lake are so tame they will eat from your hand. The ranger told us every year tourists are injured by deer who are angry they aren't being given food. We took this photo from the safety of our van :)

Weston having fun at the lake on Wednesday afternoon. We were a little disappointed in the condition of the beach. There were large rocks, stagnant little pools of water, and goose poo-poo's everywhere. The kids didn't seem to notice, but Mike and I were a bit grossed out.

There was also a pair of young bald eagles perched in a nearby tree. The rangers set up a telescope for viewing. Weston and Mike spent some time checking out the birds.

Elsie having fun!

Grace having fun!

Mike, Elsie and their new friend.

After time at the lake we came across a place where the kids could ride horses. This was the first time on a horse for both Weston and Grace. As you can see Grace was thrilled and had a great time!

You can also see Weston was not very thrilled and wanted to get off after being led around only once (Grace went for as long as she could). At this point Weston tends to be a bit more cautious than Grace. :)

We traveled through the little town of Anatone on the way up to Spokane Thursday. We thought this sign was funny. I guess they have to update the sign every time some one's pet dies :)