Donaldson Crew Adventures

Saturday, we visited Lake Minnewanka in Banff. The largest body of water in Banff National Park. The kids loved the stony shoreline.

Kevin and I had a date night with Ralph and Fran at a foodie favorite called The Bison. We had a wonderful evening together enjoying good food and drink.

The smoke has lifted and blue skies are headed our way. Friday, we visited the Banff Springs Hotel. It is called Canada's "Castle in the Rockies". It is picturesque as it sits in the mountains of the alpine town of Banff.

We flew into Calgary and spent the night and made our way up to Banff today. The fires from Washington have followed us here making it hard to see the mountains. Even with all the smoke you can still see the beauty of this place.

I just liked the way the sun was coming through the window and hitting the cup and the table/

#bestmadeco #campishome

Today we went to another small swimming-only local lake called Scout Lake near the town of Sisters.  Its a very small lake but lots of space to spread out and have your own space and the water was crystal clear.  We got lucky with some 'natural entertainment'.  There was a huge log floating out in the lake that you could walk on and jump off.  Great fun.  

Today, Abbie turned 6. It's seems like just yesterday she was born. How quickly time flies. Abbie is always so happy and everyone just loves being around this sweet girl. We love her so very much! 

Abbie got some barbies from her brothers and her first American Girl doll from LuLu and Papa. Rebecca, her new doll went everywhere with us today and even got to come to Red Robin for dinner. Great day for Abbie-Kate. 

One of the most popular hiking trails in the central Cascades near Bend is the Green Lakes trail.  You follow a creek with lots of waterfalls up to beautiful alpine scenery with lakes surrounded by mountains, all with minimal uphill grade.  The hike is 8 miles total but you only gain a modest 1100 ft over the 4 miles to the lake.  Plus the trail-head is only about 25 minutes from Bend signed just past Sparks lake on the right.  

I had never hiked it before and Hunter was game to go and see if he could do the 8 mile trek, so we arrived at the trailhead a little before 1 pm.  It was crowded as one might expect for a nice summer weekend but even with all the cars it still felt very peaceful.  

Here are a few pictures of the hike in:

A few pics of the main lake:

These lakes are beautiful but are fed by surrounding snow melt so are known to be frigid most of the year even on the hottest days but maybe because this past winter was low snow, the water today was cold but still bearable!  I tried it first and then Hunter made the plunge as well! 

End of summer calls for a day at the skate park with the boys. The boys brought their scooters and rode up and down ramps today for 4 hours. What a fun day!