August 19, 2009
It's Over Already?
I’m feeling a little smug: Night-time temperatures—breezy, chilly, high 40’s. Day-time temperatures—mid-90's.
Packing clothing and bed linens appropriate to summer, winter, fall and spring—a wise move. I used all of the clothes in a dizzying merry-go-round of shorts-jeans-sweatpants, t-shirts-sweatshirts-jackets, sandals-sandalswithsocks-sneakers, nohat-baseballcap-knittedcap. You know those children’s books that are cut in half horizontally so you can mix and match an infinite array of the top of something with the bottom of something? That was me during the course of a day.
A picture for Ken, who taught me how to do this:
Another picture for Ken so I can tell him that after I set up Tent A, I helped set up Tent B, even fixing some problems. I expect to receive a fully executed graduation certificate, dude.
Below, pictures for anyone who enjoys—or hasn’t been introduced to—the beauty of the Northwest outdoors. We rented three campsites and each one had access to the river…
…and this view:
And then, on the way home, there was this piddly thing:
There truly are some days when The Mountain (you can actually hear the capital letters when Washingtonians talk about it) is spectacular enough to make you weak at the knees. Yesterday was one of those days. I knew The Mountain was lurking somewhere nearby because, well, the fact that I was driving through Mount Rainier National Park was a dead giveaway, but on the way up, saw nothing. On the way home, drove around the corner and there it was, gobbling up most of the sky.
Below the scenic area where I stopped were some hiking trails. When I looked down I saw this—five women dressed in full hijab walking the trails and posing for photographs. I love this country.
As for the knitting, half of a skein of merino-bamboo-nylon sock yarn got wound into a ball, the other half got snargled into a knot, and all of it just lay around on the picnic table for most of my stay in favor of lively chatting, playing with the three goofy dogs, bird-watching, and eating s’mores:
Woweee Wow wow! How beautiful are those pictures. I hope you didn't copyright because I *IMMEDIATELY* copied the Mt. Rainier pic and made it the background on my desktop. Let me know if I need to pay you a fee. I just loved those views.
As for the Graduation certificate from "Ken's School of Camping" - you earned that and more. A *stellar* job on the tent! Any Boy Scout worth his salt would give you a gold star. You're a real "Chip" off the old block! ;-)
I can't comment on the bringing of yarn on a campout however, I've never knitted much in the woods (heaven knows the *other* things I've done in the woods...) I *know* it's not one of the ten essentials however. Maybe knitters have their own ten essentials? ;-)
All in all a STELLAR posting today! Do we have to find some new Pioneer-woman nickname for you now?
Posted by: Ken-bob on August 19, 2009 12:26 PMGorgeous photos! You are making me miss camping. It's been so long since I've gotten to sleep outside.
Posted by: Seanna Lea on August 19, 2009 02:36 PMWowee! What a lovely time that must have been!
Posted by: Kristen on August 19, 2009 04:41 PMWOW!!! What beauty, and the mountain and streams aren't bad either!
Posted by: Cynthia on August 20, 2009 05:17 AMLove those women. There is a family around here, from the look of things from the Indian subcontinent somewhere, who walk around in the full heat of day in saris and (what are the ones they wear with pants?) as though they were on a stroll through a lovely English garden. In spite of 105+ temperatures they look cool and relaxed. I wish I knew how they did it.
Posted by: Carrie on August 20, 2009 06:40 AMI have to admit to being impressed. Totally. Pe and I were thinking about camping at OFFF but our tent is broken. Can we borrow yours? It's Sept 26 and 27...;)
Rebecca
Posted by: Rebecca on August 20, 2009 01:06 PMI
Posted by: Diana on August 20, 2009 03:53 PMCamping is fun, especially in my son's camping trailer. Love the indoor plumbing and the outdoor scenery. Lassen has some nice campgrounds, too. And camping with friends can't be beat.
Posted by: Joan in Reno on August 20, 2009 04:03 PMGorgeous pics! Did you go swimming or wading in the river?
Posted by: Kim on August 20, 2009 06:15 PMWhat stunning scenery! Camping is so much fun. If it weren't for Mr. Batty's C-PAP machine, I'd love to go again.
And you packed just right... stuff you can put on and take off in layers. It's amazing how cold it gets when the ground cools off and you aren't moving.
Posted by: Batty on August 22, 2009 03:32 PMGorgeous camp-out! I'm trying to figure out how to trick the husband into going camping. He really just doesn't see the fun in it.
Posted by: Lorette on August 24, 2009 08:22 AM