The fate of 8: Friends, TeePees and Warm Springs, not necessarily in that order.....

With summer almost over and the season of nonstop sports and school commitments approaching we left town Wednesday for a quick overnight trip to Kahneeta!!!

The view of Mt. Hood on our way to Kahneeta. Due to thunderstorms the previous week, there were several fires on the Warm Springs Indian Reservation that were only 30% contained...thus the haze/smoke in the photo!

Warm Springs Indian Reservation....out in the middle of nowhere.....on the way to Kahneeta...you can see the smoke in the air.

Tons of horses roam free on the reservation

Our home for the evening!! TeePee Village!!!

Note....when staying in the TeePee, you need an air mattress, because the only thing in the TeePees are #1 A cement floor #2 A picnic table bolted to the floor #3 an empty toolbox also bolted to the floor (I'm assuming this is a TeePee's version of a safe) and #4 a fire pit in the center.

For future travelers to the Kahneeta....It is highly recommended that you PLACE IN YOUR VEHICLE ALL air mattresses for your family AND an air pump for those said mattresses. The reason I'm telling you this is because #1, after you leave the town of Sandy...there are A) No Department Stores B) No Cell service to call friends and ask them the favor of delivering your forgotten items.

The positives from our trip to Kahneeta -- #1 we realized we had forgotten the air pump PRIOR to losing cell service and we were able to call our friends that were joining us for the Kahneeta adventure to bring their air pump. #2 We were only 20 minutes past Sandy when we realized we not only forgot to bring the pump, but 2 of our 4 queen air mattresses, SO backtracking to Bi-Mart which opens at 9am wasn't a big deal. The added bonus...the 2 air mattresses we bought were on SALE and each came with a battery operated air pump!! #3 Bi-Mart also carried the Catsup, Paper Plates and Football that we also forgot to pack :)

Our funniest story of the trip ---- We stopped for gas along the way. In Oregon you are not allowed to pump your own gas...it is against the law. Therefore, you must wait in your car for an attendant to come and pump you gas. Matt asked for $50, the attendant put the nozzle in, at about $47, he comes to the driver's side window and says "I'm going to go and get some coffee, so when the pump clicks off, go ahead and put the nozzle away". 20 seconds later, as he was entering the convenience store, the pump had finished. We concluded that the man must have had a LONG HARD night as he forgot to put in his lower teeth.

This was the view from our lounge chair and our hangout for 2 days!!! The pool is heated by the warm springs and kept at 91 degrees!!

I love our family!!!!

The snack shack....where we were frequent customers

Sarah jumping in!! She LOVES the water, just like her Daddy!

Tori posing for the camera as she jumps into the pool

This is how Ryan attracts all the LADIES (SEXY HAIR)

Ryan doing the "Apple Dive"

The feet in the air belong to Tori after she SHOT out of the tube.

For future travelers who choose to add the water slide adventure to your trip this is what we learned this time around ---

The tube is DARK....it will eventually end so don't be scared....watch for the light....when you see the light it is time to plug your nose and stop screaming (it is best to slam into the pool at a high rate of speed with your mouth closed to prevent choking on a gallon of water).
Sitting in the tube is lame...you don't go very fast
To go semi - fast, become a pencil. This means lie flat on your back, with your legs crossed at the ankles, toes pointed, and your arms crossed across your chest. This will help you pick up speed and shoot halfway to the safety rope
For the fastest slide .... Assume pencil position as noted above PLUS arch your back so only your sholders and hind end (aka rear, tush, buttocks) touch the slide. This will enable you to either shoot directly into the pool and with toes pointed shoot under the safety rope coming out somewhere near the middle of the pool, OR as in Tori's case, don't point your toes and you can do the fancy feet in the air landing.