We camped!

[elfs]

Anyway, we went to Wentachee State Park, which is, as far as Omaha and I are concerned, far too civilized, in that decadent way that post-imperial America is supposed to be: there's a camp store, there's electricity, and there are assholes who seem to think that it's perfectly okay to leave trash at the campsite for the rangers to pick up in freakin' bear country. I saw this twice: once, it was food trash, and I and the girls packed it to the bear-safe trash boxes, the second time it was just three empty propane cans left behind. We didn't clean those up.

There were also a lot of people who brought dogs despite all the signs telling them not to. I pointed to a chihuahua and said, "It's so nice of those people to bring the bears and cougars a snack, don't you think?"

Dinner was beercan chicken, our family tradition on outings like this. I used a pear for the head since we'd forgotten the usual potato, patted the bird dry with paper towels then rubbed it down with a mixture of butter and a handful of herbs, and used a mixture of watermelon beer and liquid smoke. We ignored the instructions to cook with "indirect heat," instead making a foil chimney to channel heat around the bird.

We also had broccoli, wrapped in foil and steamed directly in the fire, and egg noodles. It was all magnificently delicious.

We also made s'mores, which were fine with graham cracker, dark chocolate, and marshmallows. Like an idiot, I was tempted to buy "campfire" marshmallows, which were too damned big and made so much of a mess that I must discourage others from buying them: just buy regular marshmallows.

Morning brought scrambled eggs, bacon, toast. Yum.

We broke down camp then walked down to the water. The girls swam until almost three. Thunderstorms rolled in, we quickly packed up and headed back home.

The thunderstorm followed us until Stevens Pass, dropping nasty hail at one point, and then we stopped at Deception Falls for a restroom break. Deception Falls had a number of small paths leading away, and someone had left their lovely ancient convertible open, with two coolers and a large box of... lettuce? Very strange.

We drove back home, restauranted at Red Robin (Kouryou-chan's choice). They have these tableside cardboard add placements that change every quarter. This quarter they were celebrating their annual "kid's cook" menu, which was oragami'd into the shape of a stove. The placements have a cute note visible only if you pick them up, and this one read, "Stove tops have all the fun. Stove bottoms? Not so much." Oh, the things I could say.

I have discovered that the salt scrub sold at Trader Joes is awesome as a daily defoliant and completely alleviates the itch from my ankle brace.

Comments

[sirfox.livejournal.com]

At the grocery with my sweeties a few weeks back, i found some marshmallows that were comedy-option-huge. "Extra Giant Size", they were the dimension of a soda can lopped in half.

We had a good laugh, put them right back. I'm frightened of what purpose they could be legitimately put to, besides instigating diabetic shock.

I'm glad everybody seems to be having a wonderful time.

[katybeth]

The giant marshmallows are good if you're the type to do multiple roastings of a single marshmallow (toast, eat the "skin", re-toast). I got four times out of one. Given that they're approximately equivalent to four regular marshmallows, that's about right. They're definitely too big for s'mores.