St. Matthew parish campout day 2

Now, we had really been wanting some rain.  All summer had been really hot and dry which is unusual for Oregon.  Of course, we didn't particularly want rain while we were camping but that's what happened. It was pouring most of Friday morning but the rain stopped for a while.  After that, the rain went on and off, pouring and sprinkling, all day Friday (Saturday, thankfully, was drier).  Of course, that didn't stop us from having fun!

It was egg and bacon breakfast at our campsite on that rainy morning.

Friday was the day that some of the people from the parish (including us, our cousins, and our aunt) went to Ape Caves.  Ape Caves are lava tubes created by Mt. St. Helens millions of years ago. 

This sign was on a board when we got to Ape Caves. 

These are the people from the parish who came to the caves.

There were to caves to choose from. I (and most of the other people)
chose the upper cave.   Once you got out of the upper cave you
had to walk the 1. 5 miles above ground to get back to the parking lot.
It was challenging (look at the words on the sign and you'll see why) but it was a lot of fun!

I liked this sign.

Walking to the caves.

Going over what to do in the caves.

This sign showed Ape Caves and the surrounding area. 

Both the lower and the upper caves start at the same place
but the upper cave was much longer and you came out at the end of it.

Descending into the caves. 

My Mom went in the lower cave with two of my sisters
along with a few other people.  Mariposa, Gemma, and
my cousin Sophie are in this picture.  Sedric and Celeste stayed
with my grandparents at the campsite. 

The ceiling looked pretty cool here.

There were some rocky slopes they had to walk down.

When they got to the end of the cave, they turned around back to
the entrance and went back to the campsite in a separate car.

Since I brought my camera I was able to take some pics of the
upper cave. I wan't able to take many, though, because I had to use
my hands to climb and keep balance over all of the rocks.
Also, the only lights in both of the caves are our flashlights and
lamps, so a lot of my pictures dark to make anything out. 

There were some wide, flat, open places like this where we would wait
for everyone to catch up.

Near the end of the cave, there were some holes in the ceiling.
We were really happy to see them because we had been in the cave
for about two hours.

Finally, we made it to where we had to climb out. 

My friend wanted me to take this picture of this picture of her.

It was raining when we came out of the cave and my camera lens
got all fogged up. 

Even though it was raining and we got absolutely soaked,
the walk back was nice after being underground so long. 

Once we got back to the car, we headed back to camp.

 I think we went to the pool when we got back (we went, like, twice everyday) but I don't have any pictures.  Anyway, at about 5o'clock some friends of ours had a happy hour for the parish in the community center.  Everyone was invited to it but of course, only the adults got drinks. 

Or friends are making some kind of tropical drink.

While the adults were enjoying their drinks, us kids played games.

Celeste fell asleep while my grandpa was holding her.

 That night, the lead signer of a famous Catholic band came to do a little concert for our parish. 

His singing and guitar playing was REALLY good!

Celeste like the music.

Stay tuned for day 3!