June 18, 2014 Family & Friends

Looking up the south slope

Monday 6/16. In preparing for Aunt Nene's visit tomorrow, I was thinking about how fortunate I am at my age to have women in my life to whom I can send Mother's Day cards.  And I am so very pleased that Nene can visit us Up Here again.

It was a much quieter day.  I cleaned house and baked.  Read my book.  And looked forward to tomorrow.  It was cool and cloudy with a high of 57.  A soft rain began falling about 6:00 pm.

When JB returned from Down There, he did some more mowing near the house.  I am afraid our old John Deere hand mower has bit the dust.

Tuesday 6/17.  Nene and her friends, Vivienne and Larry, planned to leave at 5:00 am, with a short stop in Leavenworth.  Vivienne called at 10:30 am to say they were just leaving Leavenworth, so we hopped in our cars to meet them at their motel.  We had to take both cars as, thanks to Dinga, there is only one seat belt in the back seat of my Jeep.

I was laughing as I drove down our road.  Mother Nature had put on a stunning performance for the day with wild roses, lupine, still a few arnica, and another purple stalk flower that I will have to find the name of.  Nene and Vivienne rode with me and Larry with JB.  It was so much fun to bring them up, pointing out all the flowers and views.

RJ came up to have lunch with us and afterwards Vivienne and I walked out to the north ridge, visited the girls and Vivienne found their egg for the day.  Then I drove Nene up to the south ridge while the others hiked up.  It turned out to be quite a nice day with a few clouds floating over and a high of 65.

We drove down the short cut to RJ's cabin a little after 5:00 pm for the tour and story of his building.  And then it was on to Larry and Elsie's so Nene could finally meet them.  It was 8:00 pm before we got everyone back to the motel.  A long but fabulous day.

Just as we were driving into town my phone rang.  It was Larry calling to say that their blonde bear was meandering down the mountain and were we close enough to come back to see it!  We really weren't and figured it would be gone by the time we got there.  Oh well, at least Vivienne was able to catch sight of a deer on our way down from RJ's.

That's the story of what we did, but the their visit was so warm and comfortable.  When you are with people like Vivienne and Larry, it seems as though you have known each other for years.  And, of course, the highlight was their bringing Nene Up Here.  We are so fortunate for such friends and family.

When we arrived back to Rose Camp, we had a snack and just basked in the glow of the day.

Wednesday 6/18.  It is partly cloudy and 52 this morning.  I think we will just take the day off.

Thought for the day:  Thank you, God, for this good life, and forgive us if we do not love it enough.  Garrison Keillor