Our Yurt Trip at Winchester Lake State Park

Here's Henry helping me pack up the cooler.

I was just about to take a picture of Joe, Helen and Henry in front of the sign when the "master campers" (a retired couple that live here part of the year) pull up in their vehicle, get out and without a word signal for me to hand over the camera. This was so nice! I didn't even have to ask, they just took our photo and then went on their merry way.

Henry is looking at the lady parked in her vehicle, while her husband takes our picture.

There was a nice dock to fish from.

Fishing is so relaxing.

The three fishermen walking toward the lake.

Here's a shot of the lake. It was a beautiful place and not very crowded at all. We canoed on the lake with the kids, but I didn't take my camera because, well... just because I didn't want it to get wet.

Henry practicing his casting skills from shore. That Spiderman fishing pole works like a champ.

Here's Helen mid cast...

... she got pretty good. They put their own salmon eggs and power bait on their hooks. Joe handled the worms.

Playing cards while I cooked dinner on the propane BBQ!

Helen took this shot of Joe and I on our hike.

Here's the outside of our yurt, the Tamarack. Notice the gas grill on the deck.

Inside the yurt looking up, there was a round skylight in the roof. At night the stars were really bright! The kids really enjoyed that.

As you can see, the yurt is made up of lattice with a canvas tent on the outside. There were two screened windows that can be closed up at night.

This is pretty much the same bunk bed that Helen and Henry have at home! On the wall to the left are life jackets, and bike helmets. The yurt came with a canoe and two cruiser bicycles.

Most importantly, the yurt had a MICROWAVE! Can you imagine, we had microwave popcorn around the campfire. We brought our Coleman stove just in case, but we never used it.

Here are my three sweeties on the dock.

Henry could see some perch right here, and he tried scooping them up with the net.

The kids got to use pokers in the fire. We roasted many a marshmallow, too!

The fire was so mesmerizing for all of us. What a nice way to end the day.

Notice how Helen is keeping her eye on Henry here. Really, they were farther apart than they appear in this picture and we were keeping a good eye on them.

Joe taught the kids about making a fire, and before they started they went to the lake to fill a bucket with water in case of emercency.

Here's Henry's first fish!

He was pretty happy about finally catching one.

Here we are, getting all packed up and ready to leave.

On the way home, we passed the 45th Parallel. We had to stop and take a photo.

Joe and Henry at the 45th Parallel.

On the way home, we went through McCall and stopped to make lunch. Joe thought it would be fun to picnic at Payette Lake State Park. I'm so glad we stopped here. After we ate sandwiches, we all got our swimsuits on and went to the beach. The water was clear and beautiful... perfect for swimming.

Here I am trying to use our tablecloth for a towel.

Helen and Henry are in their element here. After being in the car for two hours, this was a great break. After about an hour here at Payette Lake, we got back in the car and headed home.

Hope you enjoyed our vacation pictures. I'll post some from our next adventure soon.