You may not know this but my dAd loves to write. In fact, he has <a href="http://wallawallalocal.wordpress.com/" target="_blank">his own blog</a> (which he hasn't been writing on too much recently). Yesterday we all went up to our family cabin. It's always an adventure. You never know exactly what's going to happen. Sometimes people pick wild berries, others fish, some people play cards and others cook/snack.

[caption id="attachment_5293" align="alignleft" width="614" caption="Eating cheesy chips in the great outdoors"]<a rel="attachment wp-att-5293" href="http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/?attachment_id=5293"><img class="size-large wp-image-5293 " title="Eating cheesy chips in the great outdoors" src="http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/07/IMG_9104-1024x682.jpg" alt="" width="614" height="409" /></a>[/caption]

My brother decided that he was going to cut up some logs. My MoM wanted to read her book. My dAd decided he would mow. I figured I'd poke around and see what was new. It was a pretty great day.

[caption id="attachment_5294" align="alignleft" width="614" caption="The Family Cabin my great-grandfather built in the 1920s"]<a rel="attachment wp-att-5294" href="http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/?attachment_id=5294"><img class="size-large wp-image-5294 " title="The Family Cabin my great-grandfather built in the 1920s" src="http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/07/IMG_9128-1024x682.jpg" alt="" width="614" height="409" /></a>[/caption]

Until my dAd got a bee sting mowing the nearly-knee high grass on his ankle. He's okay but this morning when I was trying to write a blog post he needed a lot of different things. First he needed to ice his swollen foot. Then he needed more coffee (which I had to make from scratch). Then he told me he needed my laptop so that he could read up on the Tour de France. Then he needed me to show him how to adjust the screen. Then all of a sudden he told me: here's your post. Then he told me to put lots of photos in it.

[caption id="attachment_5295" align="alignleft" width="614" caption="Water under a bridge"]<a rel="attachment wp-att-5295" href="http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/?attachment_id=5295"><img class="size-large wp-image-5295 " title="Water under a bridge" src="http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/07/IMG_9114-1024x682.jpg" alt="" width="614" height="409" /></a>[/caption]

So here it is. My dAd's first guest blog post. Thanks dAd!<!--more-->

There are certain things that Carolyn likes and or expects to do when she comes home to Walla Walla for a visit.  In the Summer one of those things is going to our family cabin.  It is located in the Blue Mountains, fifteen miles outside of WW.  The thing is that the fifteen miles is along a narrow paved road that turns into a gravel road and into then a one lane dirt lane - it might as well be hundreds of miles... the cabin is a rustic summer place with no insulation and just screens covering the windows.  The cabin is totally disconnected from modern life... no TV, internet connection or cell phone service.

[caption id="attachment_5296" align="alignleft" width="614" caption="The creek near our cabin"]<a rel="attachment wp-att-5296" href="http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/?attachment_id=5296"><img class="size-large wp-image-5296 " title="The creek near our cabin" src="http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/07/IMG_9118-1024x682.jpg" alt="" width="614" height="409" /></a>[/caption]

We unloaded the food and supplies from car, mowed the lawn and then brought out lawn chairs to sit on.  Nick and Kellie also drove up to the cabin and of course brought their puppies along.  Soon there were puppies, leashes and chairs all tangled up together...

[caption id="attachment_5298" align="alignleft" width="614" caption="Me cutting down a tree"]<a rel="attachment wp-att-5298" href="http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/?attachment_id=5298"><img class="size-large wp-image-5298 " title="Me cutting down a tree" src="http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/07/IMG_9057-1024x682.jpg" alt="" width="614" height="409" /></a>[/caption]

Nick decided that he needed to (maybe had to is more like it - is there a primevial urge for twenty-something males to use chain saws?) try out his chain saw to cut up a downed tree into firewood.  Only one person can use a chain saw at once so Carolyn and Kellie got out an axe and began chopping down a dead tree snag.  While Nick use a power saw to cut wood, Carolyn and Kellie used girl power!  The girls got done first!

[caption id="attachment_5299" align="alignleft" width="614" caption="More of me cutting down a tree"]<a rel="attachment wp-att-5299" href="http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/?attachment_id=5299"><img class="size-large wp-image-5299 " title="More of me cutting down a tree" src="http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/07/IMG_9060-1024x682.jpg" alt="" width="614" height="409" /></a>[/caption]

[caption id="attachment_5300" align="alignleft" width="614" caption="We use an ax while Nick uses a chain saw."]<a rel="attachment wp-att-5300" href="http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/?attachment_id=5300"><img class="size-large wp-image-5300 " title="We use an ax while Nick uses a chain saw." src="http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/07/IMG_9069-1024x682.jpg" alt="" width="614" height="409" /></a>[/caption]

[caption id="attachment_5297" align="alignleft" width="614" caption="Logs, logs, logs"]<a rel="attachment wp-att-5297" href="http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/?attachment_id=5297"><img class="size-large wp-image-5297 " title="Logs " src="http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/07/IMG_9078-1024x682.jpg" alt="" width="614" height="409" /></a>[/caption]

[caption id="attachment_5301" align="alignleft" width="614" caption="Nick with his tree"]<a rel="attachment wp-att-5301" href="http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/?attachment_id=5301"><img class="size-large wp-image-5301 " title="Nick with his tree" src="http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/07/IMG_9076-1024x682.jpg" alt="" width="614" height="409" /></a>[/caption]

After a little lunch it was time to rest... as it turned out a Dog Day afternoon.   Carolyn spread a blanket out on the ground and laid down to take a nap... the puppies laid down next to her - a lazy warm Dog Day afternoon.

[caption id="attachment_5303" align="alignleft" width="614" caption="Why you shouldn&#39;t leave your camera around and take a nap"]<a rel="attachment wp-att-5303" href="http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/?attachment_id=5303"><img class="size-large wp-image-5303 " title="Why you shouldn't leave your camera around and take a nap" src="http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/07/IMG_9082-1024x682.jpg" alt="" width="614" height="409" /></a>[/caption]

[caption id="attachment_5302" align="alignleft" width="614" caption="Taking a nap with a dog"]<a rel="attachment wp-att-5302" href="http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/?attachment_id=5302"><img class="size-large wp-image-5302 " title="Taking a nap with a dog" src="http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/07/IMG_9093-1024x682.jpg" alt="" width="614" height="409" /></a>[/caption]

[caption id="attachment_5305" align="alignleft" width="614" caption="Playing Cards"]<a rel="attachment wp-att-5305" href="http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/?attachment_id=5305"><img class="size-large wp-image-5305 " title="Playing Cards" src="http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/07/IMG_9100-1024x682.jpg" alt="" width="614" height="409" /></a>[/caption]

[caption id="attachment_5306" align="alignleft" width="1024" caption="Rose wine and a orange camp chair"]<a href="http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/?attachment_id=5306" rel="attachment wp-att-5306"><img src="http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/07/IMG_9109-1024x682.jpg" alt="" title="Rose wine and a orange camp chair" width="1024" height="682" class="size-large wp-image-5306" /></a>[/caption]

[caption id="attachment_5307" align="alignleft" width="1024" caption="Oh gesh, cooking hot dogs on the fire"]<a href="http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/?attachment_id=5307" rel="attachment wp-att-5307"><img src="http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/07/IMG_9112-1024x682.jpg" alt="" title="Oh gesh, cooking hot dogs on the fire" width="1024" height="682" class="size-large wp-image-5307" /></a>[/caption]

[caption id="attachment_5304" align="alignleft" width="1024" caption="And the hot dogs"]<a href="http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/?attachment_id=5304" rel="attachment wp-att-5304"><img src="http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/07/IMG_9113-1024x682.jpg" alt="" title="And the hot dogs" width="1024" height="682" class="size-large wp-image-5304" /></a>[/caption]