Last friday I took the kids to Paulina Lake inside Newberry Crater. This week after Hunters swim meet we went up to East Lake, which is the sister lake inside of Newberry Crater. (see this picture - the lake on the right side is east lake)
Here is a panorama of the lake from our spot on the beach
We hung out on the beach and also rented a boat for a ride around the lake. Great fun.
A cool old sign by the boathouse
Some pictures from today's final swim meet of the summer for Hunter. He got first in the breaststroke, and second in the freestyle for his age group. The ribbon ceremony is Monday. He loves to swim!
Small dirt ramps in the field beside the elementary school.
Kelly is gone on a girls weekend in Boise, so I took Friday off and we went up to Newberry Crater for the day. We rented a small motor boat at Paulina Lake Resort for 2 hours. A good deal at only $30. We traveled across the lake to the north side where the Paulina hot springs are located on the shore. We had the area to ourselves. The hot springs bubble out of the beach.
After the lake I wanted to take the kids from the water level to the top of Paulina Peak at just under 8000 ft which is accessible by road. The kids enjoyed seeing where we had just boated across. Notice the 'big obsidian flow' a massive lava flow in the greater crater area.
We ended the day off with a bbq in the back yard.
With the thunderstorms this week we have been treated to some great sunsets. Crux has one of the best views in town coupled with great beer.
Kelly wasn't feeling well, so I wanted to get the kids out of the house this afternoon. I decided to try Tumalo State Park. We have never been there before, and I was pleasantly surprised. Its a nice shallow river and its only about a 15 min drive from our house. We hung out for a while in the late afternoon and then headed over for some dinner at Taco Del Mar.
This weekend the weather was warm so we decided to head up to the Cascade lakes to cool off for a swim with our neighbors - the Rice family. Our destination was the beach at the south end of Elk lake about 38 miles from town. To get there you pass elk lake resort, pass the campground and look for the sign not far past the campground indicating the day use area on the left.
We stopped and picked up sandwiches at Subway and then we were off! We arrived around noon and we were not the only ones looking to enjoy the nice weather. The beach was full but due to limited parking (we got one of the last spots) it keeps it from getting too crowded.
Elk lake like many of the cascade lakes has the mountains as a backdrop. At this beach South Sister dominates the backdrop. The water was actually pretty warm as well considering it is still only mid-July.
Here is a short movie Kelly shot from the beach:
