cub lake or, even bodies of water have pseudonyms

I cannot reveal to you the real name of this place.

If you're ever in Oregon, I would be happy to take you there. But I cannot tell you where this magical place is.

I can however tell you that this lake is somewhere on the crawl up to Mt. Hood, is filled with liquid turquoise, rests comfortably between what I'm guessing is 65-75 degrees, and is nowhere near as beautiful in these photos as it is in person. 

I half expected little water sprites and nymphs (is there a difference?) to jump out at me.

Last week, with another midweek weekend in my schedule, I accepted the invitation from Mari and Jackie to go camping with them. What ensued was a whimsical couple of days deep in the Mount Hood National Forest that found us swimming across the clear waters from one shore to the other, catching newts and sleeping on the sun-warmed rocks surrounding our little oasis. 

I didn't even need to touch these pictures (for which my trusty old point and shoot is eternally grateful because she was starting to develop a bit of a complex since The Beast joined the family). 

Never leave me alone while you go back to get the firewood out of the car.

I will do horrible things. 

Take note: if three girls in the wine industry are drinking a boxed wine, you know it's decent at the very least. And this was perfect for sipping as we floated around the lake (find it at Trader Joe's!).

"Models? Or supermodels?"

-Jackie-

Jackie workin' a feat of balance I couldn't even dream of.

This started out as your average self portrait. Then a horsefly decided it was going to audition for the Blue Angels around my head. But it was funny so I didn't delete the picture. Cool. 

And then I was going to mock the duck-facers. Until I took off my glasses and realized how damn bright the sun was. 

And then another effing horsefly touched my face as it flew by... And later bit me, drawing blood. Awesome. 

"Ted Newtgent"

Favorite shot of Jackie. 

My adventure girl! 

Dinner time...

...Brought to you by Kurt Vonnegut. 

Drying rack. 

While dinner cooked over the fire, we stared out over the quiet (and utilized the self-timer on my camera for the first time). 

Once night fell we listened to quiet campfire music and watched the stars. 

And then the next morning awoke to another day of blue bliss!

We also woke up to the fact that while we left all of our food out (including fresh veggies and rice cakes), the chipmunks at all of our peanut butter filled pretzels.

All of them.

Jackie put it best:

"The didn't even touch the veggies! At least now I feel better about my food choices if even the chipmunks are going after the junkfood." 

Mari made sunflower seed butter... I may have fantasized about eating the whole jar with a spoon. 

Early morning was still too cold to swim just yet, so we three propped up on a warm rock and napped while taking turns reading Vonnegut's short stories out loud.

(for the win)

And then... Oh, and then I found my equilibrium and crawled up onto the giant log that was nature's own floaty. And promptly fell asleep in the sun. 

*This is not an advertisement for Five Fingers... But it should be*

A couple more friends joined us for the day making our little party the best looking gals on the lake. 

We are adventurers. 

Jackie, Mari and I spent the whole ride home (and much of the trip overall) gushing over how blessed we are to live in such a beautiful place and have this kind of thing at our fingertips.

Oregon - you have won me. Heart and soul. 

Oh yes, adventuring we will go.