Our Encounter With Nature

Yesterday we set out to go fishing. While we enjoyed our day fishing (even though we did not catch anything, except for a few leaves and some branches), the best part of our day was our walk back to the car. As we went down this tree lined path, up ahead of us we saw a small doe in the middle of the path. As we came closer she just stood there and then we noticed a young buck off to the left. He was half hidden by trees and bushes. They just stood there watching us as we came closer and closer to them. We expected them to bolt, but they never did. We came so close to the doe that we could have reached out and touched her, but we did not. As we passed them by, much to our surprise they began to follow us. Ralph had the girls get between us, as we were unsure what the deer might do. The buck had been in a fight (he had a broken antler). As we continued down the path to our car they continued to follow us for a ways. We think they might have been hungry (we were carrying the remains of our lunch with us and they probably smelled it). They finally stopped following us, but we were quite amazed at the experience. God truly created a beautiful creature in the deer. Thank you, God for the blessing of Your creation, that You made for us to enjoy.

Camping

We just returned last night from five days of camping. We had a WONDERFUL time. We went with another family so that just multiplied our enjoyment. We had wonderful times around the campfire at night. We visited a mission, a museum, spent time at the beach, (we went to Lake Roosevelt in North eastern Washington) and went fishing. We ate wonderful meals, saw lots of wild life, took a nap or two and just enjoyed each others company. Here are a few photos of our experience.

Here is our campsite

Here are some wild turkeys that were close to our campsiteA couple of fawns we caught sight of at the museum in Colville, Washington, we also saw a buck and doe close to our campsite and heard them calling to each other during the night

An eagle's nest with parents and babies, we heard them squawking, we also would see many of them flying around looking for food

Hannah, Ralph and Alicia in front of a painting of Kettle Falls (the falls no longer exist because of Grand Coulee Dam)

The mission at Kettle Falls, Washington

An old smith shop (notice the giant bellows)

Alicia beside a wagon

Ralph on the porch of a homesteaders home

Bedroom and diningroom in the homesteaders home (notice there is a parents bed, child's bed and a little cradle, this was for a family of at least four, there was also a loft with a bed)

The kitchen in the homesteaders home

Here we are standing in front of a teepee

Alicia and Hannah by Lake Roosevelt

Here we are fishing on Lake Roosevelt

Here is another "angle" of those fishing

Three lovely ladies watch the "big" people fish

Hannah, the fisher woman (she is the only one to catch a fish)

Sunset at Lake Roosevelt, Washington

Our last night around the camp fire