We all slept in this morning. It was a nice day (although it got very hot later), so we had breakfast at the picnic table. We drove over to Edgefield and parked in their large grassy lot used mainly for concert parking. We were the only ones there. Ken and Anara were there to fly the new kite, and my mission was to pick a bunch of blackberries.
Kite flying didn't turn out so well. There wasn't enough wind even for the little kite. Anara said they got it in the air several times, but after a few seconds, it dove to the ground. They decided to explore a bit and made a visit to the Glashaus.
Meanwhile I was in blackberry picking heaven, with loads of glistening ripe berries just waiting to be picked. Except for the darned thorns, everything was wonderful, and I picked several quarts of berries.
After lunch, Ken worked on checking and inflating the trailer tires while I went grocery shopping and started on supper. Anara enjoyed reading and playing games on her new iPad. About 6:00 p.m. Chris arrived. He said that Shawn would join us later for dinner but wasn't feeling well and didn't want to go on our planned Angel's Rest hike.
We drove out to the trailhead at exit 28, about ten miles. The round trip hike to Angel's Rest is about 4.8 miles, mainly uphill. We hiked only a bit more than half way up, but we got to enjoy some great vistas and two waterfalls (Coopey Falls and Upper Coopey Falls). Fortunately, most of the hike is shaded, and the running water also cools the air, so it wasn't blazing hot, which describes a lot of Portland weather recently.
Shawn beat us to the trailer so she was waiting for us when we arrived, tired and hungry. Ken had made a seven-layer salad earlier and just needed to add the dressing. After everyone oohed and ahhed, he tossed the salad. Meanwhile I made some mac and cheese for Anara. The rest of us had an Indian style dish, a green bean tagine with garbanzos over rice, topped with mozzarella and Asiago.
Shawn hugged everyone goodbye and went to dog sit. Chris washed the dishes (he is very quick and efficient at this!), Ken dried, and I put away the food. Then we got ready to watch a documentary on the making of the eighth grade play at Anara's school. Chris had it on his laptop and transferred it to Ken's flash drive. They inserted the flash drive in the TV and once they navigated to the correct USB port, the movie file opened and played. Now we know we really have a SmarTV!
Anara gave us a play by play commentary. She clearly enjoyed her part in the production. Guided by their teacher, Ms. Ferguson, the students were responsible for developing the ideas and creating the performance. They showed ingenuity and humor and demonstrated lots of talent in everything from play writing to lighting to singing and dancing and political satire. We especially appreciated Anara's parts in the production, of course!
While we watched, we enjoyed some vanilla yogurt topped with (what else?) blackberries and whipped cream.
It was rather sad to hug them goodbye and see them walk away to return to Portland, knowing that we will be leaving in the morning on our way to Kansas, but it's been a great visit, and we have lots of wonderful memories. Plus we have plenty of things we still want to see and do with them on our next visit.
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