A Day at the Lake

Aaron's parents are back in the States for the summer. The trek from their summer residence in Montana to our home in Washington was a bit too far, so Aaron's parents met us in Medical Lake, WA (just outside of Spokane) for a short weekend.

The initial plan was to leave early on Friday, July 5 to have as much "family" time as possible. However, Aaron was scheduled for a double dose of flying that Friday. We decided to leave once he got home that night. We would drive 3 1/2 hours to the half way point and stop for the night in Wenatchee, WA. I had the car packed when Aaron arrived at our house that evening. Not long after we were on the road.

Maverick's car trip sleeping location. On the floor of the passenger seat.

We arrived into Wenatchee and spotted our hotel. The hotel was just three stop lights away. We pulled forward through an intersection after the light turned green. That is when I noticed a deer in the driver's side corner of the windshield. I said, "deer, deer!" but our car still collided with it. Actually, we did not hit the deer, but instead the frightened deer ran into the side of our car! Shocked, we slowly pulled forward out of the intersection and pulled over to the median. We looked back and didn't see a deer in the road, so we figured it must have run off. (I am still hoping that deer was not seriously hurt.)

I checked into the hotel while Aaron assessed the damage to the car. Our left fender was bent and crumpled. This prevented the driver door from opening all the way.

The next morning we drove for a couple of hours and met at Aaron's aunt and uncles home. We loaded up coolers with treats, fruit and drinks and headed out to the lake. The sun was out and it was hot! I walked out to put my feet in the water. The water is cold! People were swimming in it, but I thought it was freezing. That happens when you spend two years living on the Gulf Coast. Water temperatures under 80 degrees feel like there should be icebergs floating around!

Aaron's cousin Katie with her husband.

Our dogs even enjoyed the water. However, Allie is afraid of the water. She would only step in a few inches deep. Maverick had no fear and would swim out to the toy we tossed out. The other dog is Aaron's aunt and uncle's dog. They all got along well. A toy would be thrown out and their dog would swim out grab it and swim back in. At which point Allie would take it back to shore and Maverick would then pick it up and run around with it. This same relay was repeated over and over.

Eventually, I ventured out in the water, via sitting on an inflatable tube. Aaron's parents rented a ski boat. All of the Kinghorns took rotations out on the boat to go wake boarding or tubing. I was perfectly content sitting in the boat holding up the orange flag whenever anyone was in the water. Aaron got as much time out on the water as possible.

 Kay ready to go tubing.

 Aaron enjoying a tubing run.

 Kay and myself enjoying a ride on the bow of the boat.

Aaron trying out water skiing.

Our journey home was much longer than planned. We were on the road heading back west when Aaron's aunt called. We had forgotten some of Aaron's work materials that were needed. We turned around and met her at a half way point. (Thank you Connie!!) Apparently we were not the only people who went out to Eastern Washington for the sunny weekend. There was a truck that caught on fire over Steven's Pass, which added 45 minutes to our journey. Once we made it over the pass there was a long back-up on Highway 2, a two lane road that was not meant for heavy weekend vacation traffic.