Another Hike...and Snow in July?!

After arriving in the Government Camp/Mt. Hood area from Nate's parents house, we attended a BBQ "rehearsal dinner" held by Kelly and Matt on Friday. It was at a local park and temps were around 60 degrees and mild. Nate and I tried our hands at horseshoes and we had a nice dinner of brats and hamburgers. We even got a goodie bag!

We stayed in some nice digs while there--a 3-story condo in Government Camp with another couple and single guy. We had some time on Saturday to go out and explore before the wedding, so we grabbed breakfast at a local place (I had huckleberry jelly on my toast!) and then tooled around the area.

We went to Trillium Lake to check out some local scenery and we took another hike! Only this time it was 2 miles. As it was overcast that day, we didn't get the gorgeous views of Mt. Hood from the lake, but it was pretty all the same.

The trail had a nice wooden walking path through most of it. We encountered these interesting plants, which to us kinda looked like big leaves of lettuce. Oh, and there were plenty of mosquitoes as there was standing water in several areas. It's the worst to hear that buuuzzz sound next to your ear!

And a crooked tree for good measure. Perfect for sitting!


After our hike around the lake, we drove up to Timberline Lodge. I am told that the front exterior of the lodge was used in the movie The Shining. The inside of the lodge was beautiful and rustic. There was wood everywhere, as well as gorgeous views of the mountain. Check out the website I linked to above for some great pictures. We didn't get too many while there as it was raining pretty hard up there--a cold rain, too! We did snap this shot while looking out the window of the lodge.

They still had a ton of snow! There were lots of kids and parents out there enjoying it.

After checking out all the floors and a quick trip through the gift shop, we were on our way back to get all fancied up. Next post, the wedding...