Sunset on Summer

 With summer coming to an end, it was a pretty amazing evening.

While we'll miss the beautiful skies and cooler evening weather, we'll especially miss family and friends.

PF Chang's

What a fabulous server we had!  Wonderful for Gabi to get to serve us and enjoy a delicious meal at PF Chang's. 

She did a fabulous job - even with all the challenges from such a group.

We got a group picture after the meal.
 

Arm Wrestling and More

 

Such a beautiful spot by their pond.

Another family gathering, this time at Grandpa Barrie's.  Grandpa, of course, helped brush up our technique when it comes to arm wrestling!

Traditional Photo Spot

 We didn't have the full crew, with people heading back in time for work - and we caught a couple of photos from the tranditional photo spot upon our departure from a wonderful day. 

Aunt Marcia's

 A day at Aunt Marcia's is always an incredible treat.  The water was great for the Quinn kids - and lots of fun with swimming, throwing (and often catching) balls, running routes and getting some fun pictures were all part of a great day. 

Of course, good picnic food is also a highlight of our visits.

Toledo Art Museum

 The Toledo Art Museum is a true treasure.  Great to get to go and visit and see such incredible works of art from the masters.  The cloisters, with its medieval architecture, is one of many wonderful spaces.  We also got to enjoy a glass blowing exhibition. 

Tracy

 A thumbs-up from Tracy.

PDX

 There are many wonderful things about the Portland Airport - the same-prices as in stores for the food stalls, the natural light, the presence of Mo's, often the live music - and the spectacular views of the Cascades as we head East.  

Famed Last Supper

 We had our so-called (Father Ron declared, at least) Last Supper before some departures.  Mark stayed in his room to try to avoid passing covid to anyone else (successful, as it ended up - Marta would later get covid, but not until they were returning from Alaska). 

Way Home

 After a fabulous few days in the Wallowas, Eagle Cap Wilderness and doing the Bear Creek circuit, we took some time to get cleaned up before the drive home. 

Our first stop in town had a free covid test - and sure enough, Mark tested positive.  Ridiculously impressive how he managed to do the whole trip while not feeling well. 

Hiking Out

 It was a long, though gradually descending trip out.  We were certainly making great time by this point in the trip. 

There were a fair number of downed logs farther up the trail - which meant we didn't run into an pack animals or horses until much later in the day.

Mark had a fairly nasty fall; thankfully, he was okay.  Marta was the only one who saw it.

We stopped at our old campsite for a final snack/late lunch before the final push.

We made it!

Tribute to the House Plant

 A final tribute to a final house plant - as we planned to make it out the roughly 14 miles to the car. 

Middle Bear Camp

 We made the long, long downhill to Middle Bear Camp, coming off the ridge and into the valley.  It was an amazing day. 

Will say that Middle Bear Camp was a fair bit off the trail and could be easy to miss.  Mark did a great job of finding it - looking for the stream crossing was our best help.

At Bear Lake before our departure.