5 days, 893 Miles....

We were off and running Thursday 7/10 on the first leg of our Journey. We made it to Woodland, where we stayed the night with our wonderful friend Don, who was and is more like a grandpa to me than a friend. He was our neighbor growing up in Woodland and we had many great adventures together. I'm hopeful that he will share in some adventures with Cassidy too, and they are off to a great start! Don even stated as we were leaving Friday morning that "I think this is the most I've had to do with a baby!". He did a great job entertaining her while Mom and I made breakfast.

Friday morning we were off to the Tindall's Grandparents Ride in Sisters OR (near Bend). We got there Friday afternoon, met up with Dad, and were greated warmly with many offers to sit with Cassidy while we got camp set up. It was a great gathering with the Tindall family, with lots of little ones, wonderful food, many long ears, and great friends. Cassidy did great on her first camping trip, although with Mom and Dad's trailer it's not exactly "roughing it". She did get in another wagon ride and of course another ride on a mule, but this time with me. She was the youngest grandbaby there and I know Mom and Dad were thrilled to finally be official members after 4 years of being "surrogates".

All of the people in this picture are part of the gathering! This was at dinnertime, and I don't think every one was here. All the grandparents bring thier "steady, kid-friendly" animals to give rides, and wagon rides too, making sure that the family traditions of camping continues.

Benell is a great friend of Mom and Dad's and one of the ringleaders of the clan

I even got to break away and go for a nice evening ride while Mom babysat (with lots of helpers!). But of course I had to share with Cassidy our first ride together.

Sunday morning we were up early and again off and running on the next leg of the adventure...to Forest Grove for the annual Krueger family reunion! Cassidy was a great hit, getting lots of attention. My favorite time though was when her Great Great Aunt Mary (89 years old, last member of her generation to be with us) was able to hold her.

Mom, Dad, and us parted ways after the reunion...with some tears, but knowing we will see eachother soon (ok, they will see Cass soon) Sunday night found us in Battleground (a little N of Vancouver) staying with Karen, Allen, and Abby. Karen is a great friend from high school. Her little girl Abby was born on Cass's day, 2 years earlier, and if that isn't enough they share their middle name. We had a wonderful time visiting and catching up while Abby entertained and helped with Cass. After the girls were in bed, I got my first taste of the Wii, and I have to admit it was pretty cool. We did tennis, bowling, and boxing and I felt like I was back in college doing Tae-Bo! We may have to get one of those....

They are planning on baby #2 soon, so this is like looking into the future! Pretty cute family.....

Monday morning, we were headed home, with of course two more stops! The first involved some backtracking and antelope horns (don't ask, but it had to do with Bryce). Then we stopped to see Jerry and Nancy. I grew up riding in the backcountry with Jerry. We were talking about those times and we think I was around 4 when he first started riding with our family. We joked that he only has 3 more years to get back into back-country-pack-trip shape for Cassidy. He and Nancy are great friends and I'm sure we'll be riding together, but maybe out of a nice horse camp with a living quarters trailer parked....

Monday afternoon we arrived home, finally. It was a great trip with lots of wonderful friends and family, but it is always so nice to be home. Chad had already gone to work, but headed straight in to see his girl when he got home that night. Tuesday morning he went in to get Cassidy up and he said that she stared at him for a few seconds frowning and then got a huge smile on her face as if to say "DADDY!!". Oh the good stuff......