Soooo much fun! Camp Dakota was everything we were hoping for. Father's Day itself was very rainy so when we got there and saw how damp the tee pee was, we went for the upgrade and switched to a yurt instead. As I was asking about it, a lady was turning in her key and it was the last yurt they had available, so we were lucky. The yurts there are great! 20 feet wide with woodstoves, electricity and a dining table so technically not roughing it, but the camp only had outhouses so we had to rough it a little :) After unpacking and getting a fire started to chase away the chill we all just hung out a little. As always, by the time you organized your gear, grocery shop, pack everything then drive there and unload it all, I was exhausted so I enjoyed the time resting and reading a book for a bit then it was hot dogs over the fire for dinner! Once we got Zane and Ainsley settled down after s'mores, Tom, Trevin and I played cards for a couple of hours. We had a great time!
Monday dawned with a much better prospect with sun. After a filling breakfast of pancakes, eggs and juice, Tom and Trevin got all suited up to go play paintball. When we arrived at the field, there were already three boys there around Trevin's age waiting to play, but the field ref said there was another group of six coming, so they waited around for them to show up because it is so much more fun to play with more people on the field. they field was great. It probably covered an acre of land and had lots of bunkers, vehicles and all sorts of places to hide. Trevin said it was the best field he has ever played on! While the boys were having fun on the field, I took Zane and Ainsely for a small hike through the camp and then over to go gold panning. What an experiene that was! They were so cute, and we actually found a flake of gold, plus a large piece of Jasper, amethyst, tiger's eye and several different types of agates. So much fun! By 2pm they were all starving so we had lunch and Trevin went off to play some more paintball. Tom was a little too tuckered for another round, so he took the kids to the RC Track where they got to rent cars and race around a track. They absolutely loved it! By the end of the day, everyone was pretty tired so the kids went to bed and Tom and Trevin played some more cards. I finished my book and we all called it an early night.
Tuesday was beautiful. Everyone worked together and we were able to pack up and head out by 10:30 to go hiking. After dropping the keys off at the office and getting directions to our remote destinations, we were off. About a 1/4 of a mile pass the driveway to the campground, the road ends and it's all gravel from there on out. We turned off onto a logging road about 2 miles away and traveled an additional 3 miles down into a canyon on a rough logging road. When you reach the bottom, there is a barely discernable traila that takes you the rest of the way down to the river. This is not your nice state-maintained trail. This was a rugged, STEEP trail with plenty of rocks, trees and roots to traverse. I was a little worried about Zane and Ainsley at first, but my fears were unfounded. They were absolute troopers. After about 3/4 of a mile, we made it to the bottom then had to work our way upstream for another 1/4 of a mile. Really rough going it was, but the payoff was worth it. As you round your last corner you're confronted with the full roar of Abiqua Falls. It drops straight down 80 foot into a private cove that is just stunning. I was awed by the beauty of nature. It made it that more special knowing that few people have there to see its breath-taking beauty. I got busy snapping pictures and the kids enjoyed the rest skipping rocks with dad.
After climbing our way back uphill with my quads burning and completely winded, it was off to Butte Falls. We drove up and out of the canyon then further down Crooked Finger Road to hike to the falls. There are actually two falls locatated on the hike which by the way was much easier, but still a lot of hills. The upper falls is shorter but you can actually go behind them which is always fun and the lower falls is much taller that you view from this narrow outcropping of land that is 100+ feet in the air with no handrails. It was a little nerve-racking because Zane and Ainsley kept saying, "I have no fear." That's what was worrying me! But, there were no accidents and the day was full of so much beauty and I thoroughly enjoyed every minute of it. I still can't believe how well Zane and Ainsley did. Of course they zonked out on the way home, but they deserved the nap. All-in-all, it was a great Father's Day celebration and one that I hope everyone will remember forever!
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