as a child, until the time i was 5 or 6, i visited lake chelan every year. my mom's husband's family owned a big house right on the lake, which served to house a small family reunion every year. perhaps my clearest memory is fishing with my cousins off the little dock, using hot dog pieces for bait. when we caught a fish, rarely larger than 6 or 8 inches, we'd drop it into our kiddie pool, destined to roast in the sun or be released back into the lake.

this weekend, matt and i will be making the 3 1/2 hour drive to chelan, this time to see our friends, brian & christi, get married, and to celebrate our own first anniversary. i haven't been back in 16 years. i wonder if that old house is still there. i wonder if the family still gets together every august. i wonder if the little convenience store down the street still sells the tubes of bubble goo, with the little accompanying straw.

i don't remember much more about the lake. i remember a nearby water park - but i hated (and still hate) water slides. i remember riding in the boat, and even "driving" it myself (with a watchful, albeit daring, uncle behind me at all times, of course). and swimming. i remember a beautifully green, grassy park just "down the lake" from our house. i know the lake is very, very big, and man-made. there's a small ferry that runs the length of the lake, carrying passengers, tourists, called the Lady of the Lake. when we were in the lake as kids, we'd get terribly excited (verging on fearful) each time the Lady of the Lake came by, because the wake she left was huge. of course, our life-preserver-ed bodies never would've been swept under in wake like that, but our older siblings enjoyed telling us so.

i'm so excited about our trip. i love small car trips, with music, and scenery, and talking. and i'm excited about the wedding, the bed & breakfast, the sight-seeing, and hopefully, the swimming. i'm hesitant to try to plan too much though, but i do have my eye on a U-Pick blueberry farm.