Let's Play Ketchup...

So much is happening and it's hard to keep up. I'm now training on a team for a triathlon in Sept. at Yuba Lake, Mckinley is headed to the Boundary Waters in Minnesota for 3 weeks, Ettienne just finished a week of horsemanship camp, and my Nursing School graduation was last night! Oh! And last weekend I took the kids to Causey Reservoir.

Causey was great! A little pristine lake above Pineview up Ogden canyon. No large boats are allowed and mostly you find canoes and kayaks up there. Of course the Zettlers went on this little trip; Gabe and his kids and my kids and I. There are no roads to the backside of the lake so campers have to boat in with all their gear. This makes for not so many campers and a great comfortable amount of privacy from others on the lake. Up above the water surrounded by a fortress of trees we were the kings of the cape. This is the second year now that we have gone to Causey and camped in that same spot. I think I will dub our camping area Cape Zettler.

We swam all weekend. And for the first time we actually caught fish on the reservoir. Little Rainbow trout who liked the worms and salmon eggs we were using and seemed to be lurking on the bottom of the lake where the water is so cold. I know because I dove with goggles to the edge of cliffs that were submerged. A layer of warmth gives way to a darker, colder body of water that chills the body to the bone almost instantly. Ettienne, McKinley and I took turns seeing who could dive the farthest.

On the small boat that Gabe rented we cruised the entire lake until we found where a small inlet from the river above drains into the reservoir. And what did we find floating there below the small spillway? A large wall of wood just sitting there. It was like a raft that someone used to escape some distant island. We rescued it and pulled it out into the water where Gabe jumped on it as we pulled him around the lake a bit. Wakeboarding on a two-stroke baby!

On our cruise we boated past several people jumping and diving off cliffs. Every year there are accidents on the lake where someone hits their head or falls off the cliff. Last year a teen drowned the week after we were there. Gabe has stories of when he helped a hurt kid that was way back in the back of the reservoir. They used his canoe to get the guy out of the water and then to a hospital. We were careful.

We also noted some mysterious stairs in the cliffs that we will soon be exploring on a future trip.

As I mentioned, Ettienne just finished a week at a local horse ranch learning a bit about horsemanship. At Shawen horse ranch Ettienne learned to groom, bridle and saddle, lead in hand and show horses. Each day she helped clean stalls, feed and clean the horses and all the little things that come along with owning a horse. On her final day she put on a show for everyone along with her classmates of all the skills she learned.

McKinley has been preparing for his big trip of the summer. Next week he is headed to the Boundary Waters along the Minnesota Canada border. For 3 weeks he will be packing his gear along with a canoe from waterway to waterway with other kids his age and experienced guides. Outwardbound Wilderness will be leading the expedition. McKinley will be flying by himself too. A sort of right of passage for my 14 year old. I hope that this trip will be a good experience for him.

On a final note, I finally walked this past Friday. Graduated from nursing now and waiting for my invitation from the Department of Professional Licensing to take my NCLEX for my license. As an RN, I hope to find the financial freedom I need to have the time for my family.


Well, consider yourself caught up now. Until next time.