The Before and After Pictures

Gary and I started the Medifast diet in April of this year.

This picture was taken during the first week on our diet.

Gary may have been holding his stomach in but I wasn't!

Gary has actually gone a little lower than his target weight (and I think he is a little too skinny) but I still have another 10 pounds to go.

This time I don't think Gary was holding in his stomach!  Of course, Lady wants to be part of everything we do, including pictures!

 I would call this diet successful - Gary has lost 50+ pounds and I have lost 40+ pounds but we are each down even more than that from our highest weight from two years ago.  Now we just have to get ourselves in a good exercise routine to keep it off and stay healthy!

I hope to get back to posting on our blog a little more regularly - but then you have probably heard that before.  Like anyone else there are always interruptions and hiccups to life plans!

Tractor Day for Gary

Gary got an early start working on our property.  I brought him water and a snack about 9 am and brought the camera for some pictures!
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This bumblebee was on one of our flowers - I think it was a thistle.  I will need to start learning the flowers in this region.

Gary was on Doug's tractor pulling a brush cutter to get the largest sage and other plants mowed down.

 

I took pictures of a few of the flowering plants ......

 

This is a view from where we will probably build our house .... across the road is a 160+ acre ranch so we should have great views of the valley.

Oregon Tales

Doug and Bev have added a greenhouse to the side of their garage and have lots of veggies, herbs and flowers already showing progress.

 

Of course, we had our neighborhood black lab, Rufus, down to play with our dogs.  He always seems to know when company has come.  He got some brushing and dog treats along with Lady and Apollo.  They were very happy to run loose after being tied up or on leashes the past week.

We walked to our property and found that our trees have been home to some Great Horned Owls!

We saw at least 3 owls and found feathers that looked like they had come from young birds so we think they may have nested somewhere on our property and are raising their young among our pines and junipers!

This was the last of the owls I could get a picture of as they seem to be able to camaflauge themselves quite well.  I sure hope they stay and make themselves at home!

Today we went to church in Chiloquin.  There is a small branch there and they have a building just like the one in Dayton, before we added on the chapel.  Gary estimated there were about 35 members present and they were all very nice to talk to.  We'll go again next time we are up in Oregon.

Tomorrow Gary and Doug will get the tractor hooked up with the brush hog so we can cut down some of the scrubby plants again on our property.  I will try to get some pictures at ground level instead of up in the trees!  Tuesday we will go into Klamath Falls to check on our property at the county offices.

Camping at Eagle Lake

I have reposted this entry from last week (June 30) as the pictures did not stay with the text.  Soooo you will read the same text from a week ago but now you will have the pictures that go with it!

On Saturday the Olson Family and us met Heather & Jason and crew in Carson City and then headed for Eagle Lake. We stopped at Hallelujah Junction for a lunch break and our RV got filled with kids!

Jason and Heather led the way and it was a beautiful drive.  The lake is now within sight so Apollo and Lady were getting excited! 

Our camp is pretty well set up but most of the action is between Heather and Jason's camp and Doug and Bev's camp.  By the way, Doug and Bev along with Tammy & Brian's crew came down from Sprague River and Klamath Falls so we have 5 families total camping together for the week.  Besso is up from LA to spend time with "the family" which we love.  A couple of friends came with H & J's crew and T & B's crew so I think we have 13 kids, 10 adults and 5 dogs!

Gary and Ron were working on an antenna for our RV (what else is new?) and they also worked on Doug's antenna for his truck.  I think all three were having a great time.

We planned 6 dinners for the campout and each family signed up for certain dishes.  Sunday we had a salad bar and it turned out great.  We had about 15 choices of things to add to the salad! 

After dinner we let the boy scouts (David & Isaac) be in charge of starting our campfire.  I don't know if anyone else helped, but it's the thought that counts!  David had just been picked up from a week at Scout Camp where he had been a Jr. Asst. Leader.  He earned 3 badges and did work on 2 others so he had a successful week!

Besso and Rayna took advantage of the hammock as some played games and others just hung out around the campfire.  Plans were being made by some to go fishing first thing in the morning.  Other plans were being made to go to Mt. Lassen on Thursday and our meals were decided for specific days.  It sure makes it easier to have everybody working together.

It is Monday morning and I haven't left the motor home yet so I think I will go out in the beautiful weather and go join in with a game or a walk or ????

Mt. Lassen Volcanic National Park

Thursday we traveled to Mt. Lassen Volcanic National Park.  We took 4 vehicles and had everyone except the Olsons (they went there last year).

Our first stop was at the Visitor Center at the South end of the park.  Everyone had brought their lunch and we enjoyed the beautiful surroundings as we ate.

This boiling muddy pot is right next to the road so everyone was able to see it without much trouble.  You just need to get used to the smell!!

Everyone in the picture was part of our group - pretty nice crew!

A little further up the road we set out on a hike to Bumpass Hell.  The trail still had snow patches so we had to be careful not to slip or fall.

Ahren and Besso found a really interesting seat among the roots and branches of these two trees.

About 2/3 of the way down the trail we came across a nice overlook.  Besso and Ahren encouraged us to sit for a picture.  It was a sheer drop-off behind us!

We had already stopped at the summit parking lot where the trail to the top of Mt. Lassen began but the trail was still snow so we continued on the road. I think this was named Kings Creek and it flowed along the meadow.  Besso enjoyed the cold water!

This is Choas Crags and still shows the affects of the gigantic rock slide that occurred when Mt. Lassen erupted almost 100 years ago.