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elfsWell, Omaha and I decided that Wednesday and Thursday we'd go camping. A good idea, in principle. We packed Tuesday night until the car was bulging at the gills, and went to bed on time to be up by 7. By 8:45 we were out the door, the girls dressed, fed, and ready for the day complete with toys and CD players and drawing pads and pencils.
And we drove. For seven hours, down 90 to the intersection with 97, up to 20, over to Republic, just North of Spokane and 20 miles from the Canadian border. The drive was still beautiful-- the weather was nice, although Kouryou-chan fell asleep and slept hard for an hour or so. We stopped at a picnic site for an egg-salad lunch, then drove on.
What we were hoping for was desolation. A campsite so out of the way that it barely qualified as fit for human habitation. What we got was a green lawn, sprinklers, a boat ramp... ah, well. We put up the tent, which literally popped up out of the bag, on a nice green flat spot halfway down a hilly slope overlooking the lake. We gave the girls whistles so if they got lost or were in trouble, they could blow the whistle and we'd come running. The water in the swimming hole chilled at first, but a few laps through the algae-tinted water and I felt fine, but the girls with their smaller bodies and lack of bodyfat couldn't handle it well. Still, Yamaarashi-chan demonstrated her doggy paddle and Kouryou-chan got her first practice with hers, and both showed off their ability to splash the adults.
The girls toast marshmallows. We made baked beans and hot dogs for dinner, with Jello salad and watermelon for dessert, and then it was dark enough for the girls to roast marshmallows and see the stars. They both seemed to be having a good time.
We put the girls to bed and then Omaha had the temerity, after japing me about my being unable to leave my laptop behind (I did anyway), she pulled out hers and began working on something. I lit up the camplight and read A Civil Campaign. The girls did not go to sleep, however; for the next hour they giggled incessantly, until we finally got to bed ourselves. We realized then that we'd forgotten pillows. We also forgot: clothesline, extra batteries for the camplight.
Sometime around 1 a.m., it started to rain hard, with thunder in the distance. I got out and packed up the vulnerable items and threw them into the car, then went back to bed. The tent was worth every penny we'd paid at REI: it kept the rain out all night. There was only one design flaw: an elastic strap on both the front and back screens, meant to hold the modesty panels when not in use, wicked some water into the tent, but not enough to be even annoying.
The rain persisted until ten the next morning. Breakfast plans were abandoned in favor of a ride into town to use the laundromat and eat at a cafe, and then we collected our camp and headed over to the Stonerose fossil site, an ancient lakebed where tourists (that's us) can dig up ancient dead things. We went out, chisels and hammers in hand, and proceeded to do just that.
The girls find a few nifty fossils. Yamaarashi-chan found a rock with two leaves and an ancient flower, now extinct; Kouryou-chan found a perfectly preserved "meta-alder" leaf.
Afterwards, we stopped at another park and had lunch-- loose meat sandwiches-- and then we headed back. This time, we took WA20 all the way. It added an hour to our driving time (although perhaps the driving rain did some of that as well) but it was a beautiful drive through the upper Cascade passes. We stopped at a creek
The family at the creek. and took pictures, and heard this creepy cry. Omaha finally spotted a badger standing some thirty yards off among the rocks on the other side of the creek, and it would open its mouth and make this really weird noise. The creek was a fond memory for both Omaha and I, as it was where we had a snowball fight some nine years earlier after a weekend of mountain biking. That summer had been cooler and at the top of the pass, where this was, the snow was still on the ground. I should dig out the photo and post it side-by-side with these; Omaha and I haven't changed very much in the past ten years, physically.
We drove on until we reached a restaurant that served buffalo burgers. Yamaraashi-chan seemed to find it highly disturbing that one of the things on the menu was ostrich meat, but she had an ordinary cow burger after all.
The rest of the drive home was uneventful. We reached the house sometime shortly after midnight; the girls were out cold, so we just dumped them into their beds, and then went to sleep ourselves.
Next year, we'll pack more time, find someplace closer, and plan better. But no disasters took place this trip, so all in all it was a success.
And we drove. For seven hours, down 90 to the intersection with 97, up to 20, over to Republic, just North of Spokane and 20 miles from the Canadian border. The drive was still beautiful-- the weather was nice, although Kouryou-chan fell asleep and slept hard for an hour or so. We stopped at a picnic site for an egg-salad lunch, then drove on.
What we were hoping for was desolation. A campsite so out of the way that it barely qualified as fit for human habitation. What we got was a green lawn, sprinklers, a boat ramp... ah, well. We put up the tent, which literally popped up out of the bag, on a nice green flat spot halfway down a hilly slope overlooking the lake. We gave the girls whistles so if they got lost or were in trouble, they could blow the whistle and we'd come running. The water in the swimming hole chilled at first, but a few laps through the algae-tinted water and I felt fine, but the girls with their smaller bodies and lack of bodyfat couldn't handle it well. Still, Yamaarashi-chan demonstrated her doggy paddle and Kouryou-chan got her first practice with hers, and both showed off their ability to splash the adults.
The girls toast marshmallows.
We put the girls to bed and then Omaha had the temerity, after japing me about my being unable to leave my laptop behind (I did anyway), she pulled out hers and began working on something. I lit up the camplight and read A Civil Campaign. The girls did not go to sleep, however; for the next hour they giggled incessantly, until we finally got to bed ourselves. We realized then that we'd forgotten pillows. We also forgot: clothesline, extra batteries for the camplight.
Sometime around 1 a.m., it started to rain hard, with thunder in the distance. I got out and packed up the vulnerable items and threw them into the car, then went back to bed. The tent was worth every penny we'd paid at REI: it kept the rain out all night. There was only one design flaw: an elastic strap on both the front and back screens, meant to hold the modesty panels when not in use, wicked some water into the tent, but not enough to be even annoying.
The rain persisted until ten the next morning. Breakfast plans were abandoned in favor of a ride into town to use the laundromat and eat at a cafe, and then we collected our camp and headed over to the Stonerose fossil site, an ancient lakebed where tourists (that's us) can dig up ancient dead things. We went out, chisels and hammers in hand, and proceeded to do just that.
The girls find a few nifty fossils.
Afterwards, we stopped at another park and had lunch-- loose meat sandwiches-- and then we headed back. This time, we took WA20 all the way. It added an hour to our driving time (although perhaps the driving rain did some of that as well) but it was a beautiful drive through the upper Cascade passes. We stopped at a creek
The family at the creek.
We drove on until we reached a restaurant that served buffalo burgers. Yamaraashi-chan seemed to find it highly disturbing that one of the things on the menu was ostrich meat, but she had an ordinary cow burger after all.
The rest of the drive home was uneventful. We reached the house sometime shortly after midnight; the girls were out cold, so we just dumped them into their beds, and then went to sleep ourselves.
Next year, we'll pack more time, find someplace closer, and plan better. But no disasters took place this trip, so all in all it was a success.
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Badgers... harumph
Date: 2004-08-08 06:08 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2004-08-08 09:25 am (UTC)Re: Badgers... harumph
Date: 2004-08-08 09:43 am (UTC)Oh, what a mistake! I heard that for the next hour. Ugh.
Re: Badgers... harumph
Date: 2004-08-08 07:57 pm (UTC)