Vacation Plans

August 10 we were all set to leave for Wallowa Lake. We had a campsite reservation made 6 months in advance, we had the food purchased, and planned on waking up in the morning, loading the car, and heading out for a week of fun and relaxation. 

At 3 a.m. Grace crawled into my bed, saying she felt ill. Her throat hurt, she couldn't swallow, and she was burning up with fever. I gave her some Advil, sent her back to bed, and waited for morning. 9 a.m. found us at urgent care seeking a diagnosis. I was really hoping for strep throat. We could treat her and still leave 24 hours later. Alas, it was not strep throat, despite the rapid onset and inflamed throat. All of her tests came back negative, so we tucked her back into bed, and canceled our camping trip. 

That evening Michael and I went for a bike ride. We needed a little reset and a chance to come up with a new plan. We happened to find a kayak someone had thrown away, and Michael was pleased to strap it to his bike and haul it home.

Meanwhile, Grace was still sick. She pretty much spent the next four days in bed. Her fever would go away for a few hours, but then come raging back. She was a miserable little girl.

This was what we did instead of camping. A whole lot of nothing. But we did it together, because we all managed to get the time off of work.

By the end of the week, Grace was feeling a little better, so we decided to head up to McCall for the weekend.

 

We even had a couple cousins come with us. Grace was still not 100%, but she was feeling well enough to join us for most activities.

We had a picnic lunch in Charlie's Garden, outside of McCall. The greenery was stunning, the flowers were blooming and there were even a few ripe huckleberries.

After Charlie's Garden we headed for the lake, with our paddle boards, our trash kayak, and my niece's two-person kayak. Parking was a nightmare, and the beach was packed. I was ready to turn back, but my nieces pointed out we had come a long way and they wanted to play. It was crazy when we first got there, but soon a couple of huge groups left, and the lake became much more pleasant. We spent hours paddling, swimming, and lounging around.

After we got everyone and everything back to the cabin and ate dinner, we took everyone down to the nearer beach to see the sunset.

We were only able to spend one night in McCall, but we got plenty of lake time, plenty of ice cream, and plenty of family time. It wasn't the vacation we planned, but it was still nice.