I'm taking the lazy way out by telling the story of our weekend through pictures. (And some brief commentary, of course.)

We pitched our little tent in a quiet corner of the park.



Roasted veggie dogs over a small fire.



And watched the sun set between the trees.



The next morning we got up bright and early to take in the brilliant sights and sounds that Mother Nature had to offer.



We slowed down our usual city pace, taking the time to stop and smell the flowers.



Sitting proudly in the treetop, a magpie told us all about his day. What a little chatterbox!



I have a real fascination with tree bark -- I don't know why, but I just do. I love to pour over the wooden wrinkles, feeling their texture beneath my fingers. My sketch pad is filled with pages of trees, and although I didn't bring my sketch pad on this camping trip, I still took a little time to run my fingers along the deep canyons of an old Ponderosa Pine.



After our walk, we headed down to the lake.



J caught up on some very serious reading.



While I sat there and simply soaked up the essence of just "being". (Oh, and I tried to get some sun on my absolutely-refuses-to-tan skin. Then again, that SPF 30 sunblock probably wasn't doing me any favours.)



After the beach, we decided to go for a hike down the trail. There were all kinds of old barns and buildings. I found this one of particular interest. I wonder what stories those old walls could tell?



We saw a set of stairs which led to the waterfall. As we began going up, and up, and up... we soon realized that this was no ordinary staircase. In fact, I counted at least 400 stairs by the time we reached the very top!! It should come as no surprise that as we climbed higher and higher, I found myself humming Stairway to Heaven.



And indeed it truly was the Stairway to Heaven! With breathtaking views along the way, I leaned against the railing as the mist of the magnificent and powerful waterfall cooled my face. No picture could **ever** possibly do it justice!



My spirit filled with unspeakable happiness and I thought my heart was going to leap out of my chest. Each resting point was so spectacular, that sometimes I found myself hopping up and down with a silly grin plastered from ear to ear. Some folks on their descent asked us if we'd like them to take our picture. Such a thoughtful and unexpected gesture... I only wish I wasn't grinning like some kind of crazed fool in the photo. Ha. Oh well, at least it really captures the moment.



We took some pictures from the very top of the falls. Again, they simply do not do it justice. However, to give you some perspective of the sheer magnitude, if you look near the top of the photo, you can see some tiny people down below... those people are about 3/4 of the way up the falls.



After our long hike, we returned to the beach for a while longer, played some catch (or "pick-up" in my uncoordinated case), and then headed back to our campsite to enjoy a couple wobbly pops before we called it a night.



The End.