Last week, we set out on an adventure. Early in the year, we made plans to camp with friends during the first weekend in August. Usually, in previous years, we have made reservations well in advance.....well, mostly. This year, being full of DC preparations and then graduation, making reservations kind of took back seat. In more recent weeks, we found ourselves spending inordinate amounts of time trying to find reservations in the surrounding areas, someplace within a 4-6 hour drive due to time constraints, without success. As the day of departure loomed, we decided to just go in a general direction and see what we could find. Choices? northeast or southeast, desiring warmth and water activity. We set out later than anticipated on Wednesday with cars loaded up for any possibility. Choosing southeast, we exited the interstate at the two hour mark, heading towards mountains and hopefully warmer weather. Stopping at various campgrounds, we found that first come, first serve sites are mostly a thing of the past. Reservations are IN, just showing up OUT. After trying alternative places, we decided as the day waned, that we would take some sites only available for the first two nights and pray that sites for the next two would open up. Setting up camp at dinner time, we quickly made dinner and prepared our tents for bed. Unfortunately, Bob had been unable to come with us, but would join up with us on Friday after working.
After dinner, we spent the evening playing games by propane lantern. Starting with Dutch Blitz, a game of speed, we soon changed to Boggle, something more suited to me as it didn't include speed although timed. The giggles and laughter commenced as we squealed and screamed whilst the moths came out in full force. They were attracted by the lantern and were very persistent in their pursuit of the light, not bothered by our shrieks and swatting of arms. I have never seen so many moths or those so persistent. I am certain our nearby neighbors were not impressed by their presence either as we squealed with laughter and concern. Amidst the laughs, we became giddy with our playing, finding words that weren't really words at all like mooen for mooing or mulk for milk or kansa for cancer or natle for Natalie. You could imagine them especially if you spell phonetically or spoke with an accent. At the end of the evening, our found campground for our planned adventure, became better known as MOTHyrock instead of Mossyrock due to the moths. It just seemed fitting.
The next morning, we found out a campsite had opened up for Friday evening, but it meant moving one of our campsites today (Thursday). We did that by just tranporting two tents to the new site before heading out to explore. Now instead of right beside one another, we were separated by one site. The plan for the next day was to move our tent to their site to share for Friday night. The sites were HUGE so three tents on one site was possible and allowed. The sites although right next to a busy parking lot for boats and trailers was rather nice as it backed up against the woods. It had a bit of a slope to it, but nice grass and large trees. The view of the mountains and lake (reservoir) was nice too.
Early on the second morning, I awoke to rain dropping on our tent (may have been condensation from low fog), but it was enough to warrant a quick excursion to place the rain flap at 630 AM. We had not done it previously as the weather had been so beautiful and sunny. I like being able to see the stars as i drift off to sleep......Anyway, due to the earliness of the hour, we jumped back under the covers and into the warmth of our sleeping bags. Soon after drifting back to sleep, I heard the distinctive rumble and growl of Bob's BMW. I was not surprised, as it is just like him to show up early, trying to surprise us. He began a fire to warm us and then I headed out to begin preparation for our Dutch Oven breakfast, a lengthy process, glad for his help and assistance. The day had dawned cloudy (or foggy) and neither dissipated as the day wore on. We enjoyed a lazy morning and a late breakfast called Mountain Man before once again moving our tents-this time to share our friends site. Then we headed into town to explore the local Farmer's Market. The market a disappointment, we did enjoy the fresh blueberries purchased by our friends and enjoyed them throughtout the remainder of the weekend. YUM. Lunch at our campsite was followed by swimming, volleyball, frisbee, and ice cream at the beach. The campground had found us another campsite to share and blocked it for Saturday night. However, we were hopeful another would open up as this one was really small, near more traffic and sloped. For now, we enjoyed the togetherness of our site, enjoying dinner from the grill and peach cobbler made in the Dutch Oven. Way too many sweets!
Saturday morning brought another relaxing morning, started right with fresh blueberry pancakes and then ANOTHER move to our new and last campsite. This time we carted all three tents over, carrying them whole and in one piece. We like to joke that it is the new RV due to high gas prices. Tents moving on human feet. Farmer Girl was able to capture some of the moments as we moved.
 |
| Whole wheat and regular pancakes with or without blueberries. |
 |
| Don't they look num yummy? |
I didn't actually take many pictures at our campsite. I know others did though. I took more when we were off exploring! Those will come next time!
After our move, we ate once again (you sure do eat alot when you are camping!). THEN we discussed options for the remainder of the day...so many choices, so little time. Loading up after one o'clock, we decided to just drive east and see where we ended up. Given our late start, making it to Windy Ridge at Mt St Helens where we could see Spirit Lake seemed optimistic. Soon after beginning, we stopped at place that sounded promising as it had "FAlls' in it's title. We drove down to the river's edge hoping to find a swimming hole. We found instead a lovely picturesque spot along a fast flowing deep and cold river, perfect for fishing, but not necessarily for swimming. We strolled about chatting and visiting, laying on picnic tables absorbing the sun's warmth, eating blueberries and taking pictures. After a leisurely bit, we opted to explore further although admitting it was too late to contemplate Windy Ridge. After more scenic drives through woods, dark and deep, we chose to turn around and head back so we could further enjoy our campground for it's amenities of ice cream and volleyball. Ice cream in our bellies, we enjoyed parents against children in a game of volleyball (preceded by some practice of bumping and setting the ball, skills that increased my confidence and abilities). After another dinner ala Bob and smores one last time, we played Boggle again and enjoyed the campfire. The moths were less, but the giggles were heightened in this, our last evening at MOTHyrock.
Another fun adventure with great friends.
Thanks, fellow Mothyrockers! We love you all.
No comments:
Post a Comment