Camping, Day 1

[elfs]

The family went on its annual camping outing. This time, at the girls' request, we went to Baker Lake, up by Mt. Baker. It's a lovely drive and no more than three hours from Seattle. We loaded up the clamshell and strapped it to the roof of the car, packed our gear and headed out.

Camping trick #1: pack dry ice in the bottom of your cooler, then put regular ice on top. The ice will form a protective layer between the dry ice and the foodstuff, and the dry ice will keep the whole colder much, much longer. We didn't need to refresh the ice until Thursday night.

Traffic was terrible through Everett. The straps of the rooftop clamshell made a buzzing sound like angry hornets, but we eventually made it to the campsite. The girls have fantastic fantasy lives; it's all Harry Potter and Golden Compass at the moment. You know you're driving through a different world when the self-proclaimed "finest steak house in town" has a Budweiser neon in the window.

Omaha and I turned off our electronics: iPhone, iPod, cell phone, Palm. Omaha needs to keep her Handspring on because it reminds her when to take her epilepsy medication. I left my laptop at home to collect mail. I wonder what Speakeasy will do since sometime around seven the line will go hot and stay at maximum bandwith for the next 120 hours or so (don't ask).

Home in the woods.

It was misting when we arrived and threatened to rain at any moment. Omaha dug out the foodstuffs while I set up the tent in three minutes flat, rainfly and all. I love modern camping technology. Omaha and I went cadillac on the sleeping pads this year-- no more Coleman inflatable air mattresses that deflate in the middle of the night leaving you on rocks like they did last year. Instead, we bought REI self-inflaters; less than four pounds each, $80 a person, but they're much more robust. They didn't give us any problems at all. Dinner was hot dogs and chips.

I had to pump water from the river. I love my PUR pump; it's too bad they got bought out, although I think the company that bought them makes replacement filters. It took a long time to fill up the water bladder-- so long Kouryou-chan became frightened that I'd fallen in and gotten hurt or something. It was very dark by the time I got back. There's no potable water supply at the campsite, although the one up the road has one (and a tiny general store for the rangers and campers).

The only other couple on the campsite was very friendly. The mosquitos are absolutely murder this year. We went to bed shortly after dinner, and it did rain harder later that night, but the tent kept us mostly dry. The campsite is next to Boulder Creek, which was rushing hard through narrow channels at the bottom of a much wider riverbed. It makes a lovely roaring sound that I think comforts most human beings by some deep instinct. I know I slept well with all that white noise.

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[slfisher.livejournal.com]

I stayed at Wenberg State Park a couple of weeks ago and liked it a lot.