Wildcat

 You are in for a treat with this post. Not only is it extra long but the photos were snapped by my son who has better photography skills and equipment than I do! 

Nancy had asked us several times to visit her camp at Wildcat, but we were always too busy working on the house. Years went by, actually, before we decided to make time to go to Wildcat. The campground isn't too far away from us, and she was always camped out there for a long time,  so we really should have gone every time she asked. It's not like we saved a lot of time and made a lot of progress by staying away, was it?

I am not sure that Wildcat is more special than other places we have seen in Oregon; Oregon is just plain special everywhere you look! But this one spot was special to Nancy. We were only going there because of her, and it was fun to take a break, etc. Well, Wildcat turned out to be one really neat place! 

It was perfect for small children, but interesting enough for the big kids. The little creek was just deep enough to wade in to cool off, and there were water snakes (harmless) and minnows to watch. 

The children built a rock dam and played in the creek, stopping for sustenance at Nancy's RV (ice cream and hot dogs). They also enjoyed the old-fashioned fresh-water pump in the camp. 

Nancy was thrilled to have the baby (as usual).

(It didn't really matter who the baby was, actually.)

She was determined to show him the wonders of God's creation. 

Her enthusiasm was always contagious, and it was a perfect combination with an insatiably curious baby. 

She have to did spend some time pulling rocks out of his mouth. 

Finally someone had the idea to go and get her a chair. 

We all went on part of the hiking trail. Nancy walked all 9 or so miles of it regularly. She hoisted baby on her back to take on some of the trail with us. 

Who needs to spend a hot afternoon building a house when all this pleasant green was just a few hills away?

After our third or fourth time to visit Nancy at Wildcat that year (making up for lost time) we determined that we would go back whenever when she was camping out there.