John Day National Monument!

August 3, 2015

Today, Daddy had to work, so, us girls thought we would head out and explore while we was working.  We headed to the John Day National Monument, since, it wasn't that far from Prineville and we could do a little hiking and get a stamp for our books.  

There are three parts of the John Day National Monument.  We visited two out of the three today.  The first one we stopped at was the Painted Hills unit.  We sure learned a lot about how the hills were colored with red and gold.  

We went on a little interpretive walk along the board walk.  

We were quite fascinated by the red clay here and why we were able to walk on it and what would happen if we did.  Don't worry we stayed on the trail and didn't walk where we weren't supposed to.  

Here we are up close and personal with the painted hill!

Some more views of the painted hill's unit!  It was fun to get out and explore this area!

We really wanted to see some fossils, so, mom took us to the Sheep Rock Unit to check some out.  We went to the Thomas Condon Paleontology center where there was a lady inside this window working on a fossil.  We sure had fun watching her.  

Next we stopped at the Cant Ranch, which, was a prominent sheep ranch in the area that is now a historical landmark.  We were able to go in and see what the ranch would have looked like when it was used as a sheep ranch.  

After we toured the house, we headed outside to tour the out buildings.  

We found the bathroom.  Good thing for us these weren't to be used and they had real ones open to the public!

Nothing like a three person outhouse!

They had a big orchard of mostly apple trees.  

Look at this cute little building.  

Is that a chicken in the chicken coop?  No that is just McKenzie thinking she is a chicken.

Now it is Makayla chicken!

Check out these old wagons they used to use.  

Times have sure changed!

One of the ranch buildings with the painted hills in the background. 

We headed in to check out the barn and the stalls were the sheep were kept when it was time to sheer them.  

I have gone from being a chicken to a sheep!

This is where all the action happened and the sheep would be sheered

We saw this cute little bunny and had to get a picture of him to show Dad when we got back. 

A picture of sheep rock in the background.  We sure had a fun day exploring John Day National Monument!

The McKenzie River!

August 2, 2015

When we headed up to Prineville this time, mom and dad told me they had a fun and special place they were going to take me!  They figured this would be the perfect time to take me to McKenzie country, since, it wasn't that far from Prineville!

We got out to stretch our legs and I was so excited to see my name all over the place spelled the correct way!

We thought we would check out the McKenzie River National Recreation Trail.  It is 26 mile trail that goes through the central part of Oregon.  

We had fun playing on the bridge and then got back in the car to go and see the McKenzie River!

Before I was born, Mom and Dad were trying to figure out a name for me.  Dad liked McKenzie like this river.  They thought it would be fitting to name me after water, since, so many important things for them happened around water (they got married by the ocean, engaged by a river, and first really hung out by a lake).  Mom liked McKenzie, but really wanted to find something shorter since McKenzie Nettleton is a pretty long.  

A few days before I was born, mom was praying over my name and she was given this verse to go with McKenzie since it is a river, "There is a river whose streams make glad the city of God, the holy habitation of the Most High.  God is in the midst of her; she shall not be moved, God will help her when morning dawns." Psalms 46:4-5.  A few days later I was born and given the name McKenzie Mae.

I don't have a river that I was named after, but I do have a lake that mom and dad said they would take me to some day.  I still had fun getting to explore McKenzie's river.  

There are some beautiful waterfalls along the McKenzie river, so, we thought we would go out on a hike to check a couple out and walk along the river.  

It was a beautiful walk along the river on the trail.  There were lots of cascades to view as we hiked along.  

We found an area that we could get down to the water and see it up and close.  

I wanted to put my hand in the water and see what it felt like.  It was sure cold.

I  wanted to feel the river just like my sister, so, Dad helped me.  Glad he helped me, so, I didn't fall into that cold river.  

It was fun playing in the water for a little bit.

It sure was a beautiful stretch of river that we hiked along. 

We came across some pools that were such a beautiful blue.  Mom tried to get a picture, but the blue still doesn't come out as blue as it was.   

The blue pools were just like the blue in my eyes!

Here is another waterfall we found along the way. 

The hike we did today was from one waterfall to another and then back to the first!  Here is the second major waterfall.

We headed on a little bit to find a good view point!

Mom tried to get a picture with us in front of the waterfall!

Then a nice fellow hiker offered to take a family picture for us.  It is always nice to get a family picture. 

A nice bench to rest on before we head back to our car!

It was a perfect day to be out exploring my river. 

I think this is the prettiest part of the river that we saw all day.  A beautiful river just like the beautiful girl.

We stopped by the McKenzie River Ranger Station to see if it just happened to be open to get a souvenir of our day.  It was closed for the weekend, but I got to get my picture taking in front of the biggest "McKenzie" sign yet.  

Makayla wanted in on getting her picture in front of the big McKenzie sign!

Then we saw this life size wood statue of Smokey the Bear and had to head over and get a picture.  

On our way back to Prineville, we took the McKenzie Pass to check it out.  Here are the Three Sisters in the background!

At the top of the summit, we got out to check it out.  There was a huge lava field that went right through it.  

Here I am at my very own pass.  Who knew there was so much named after me!

One of the coolest things we saw today was the lava castle at McKenzie Pass summit.  Okay, so it might not have been a castle, but an observation tower.  I am going to think it was a castle.

We hiked up to go and explore the castle.  We beat mom and Makayla up, so, they took a picture of us looking through the window.  

Welcome to my castle!

I had fun looking out all the windows and enjoying the views.

There were little window above the big window that would tell you what mountain you were looking at.

We climbed up to the top of the castle and a nice person took a family picture of us on McKenzie Castle.

It was sure an amazing day getting to see my river and castle!  We stopped in the little town of sisters on our way back to Prineville for some dinner.  I can't wait to sometime go back and explore more of the McKenzie river.