We spent this last week camping in Eastern Washington at Sun Lakes/Dry Falls State Park. Temps between 60-90, lots of sun, a lake in which to swim and fish, mini-golf, spectacular geology, a snack stand with delicious ice cream shakes, lots of wildlife, and it was the perfect week. But a few questions remain. . .
- why is there always somebody in the campground who labors under the false impression that everybody else wants to listen to their choice in music?
- as a subset to the previous, why is their choice in music always either country or metal? Why is there never a camper blasting jazz or classical? Maybe that ought to be my new thing.
- why is boaters+camping always a recipe for obnoxious, drunken, loutish behavior?
- why do quail run more than fly? Don't they know how silly they look?
- why does the Air Force decide to run late-night low-level flight training directly over campgrounds full of tired campers?
- why is the Washington State Parks system in such financial trouble? If anything should be funded, it's the parks that give us all such joy and recreation.
- why is it that a week of rest and relaxation can be destroyed by 15 minutes of rush hour traffic on I-5 through Federal Way?
- why don't park rangers get more recognition? Ranger Dennis was very kind and helpful to us after our children drained the battery on the Kia the last night there. (he was also very professional in dealing with the attempted rape by an axe-wielding, murderous-threat-spewing drunkard down the way our first night there (no - we weren't involved. Just hear all the screaming and shouting)).
- why do kids grow up so fast? And why do the good times pass so quickly? Between standing on the dock teaching the girls to cast their lines, jumping from the diving block into the deep, cool water, making s'mores over the evening campfire, and watching Clara spend an hour tracing the path of a beetle through the campsite, these were the good times.
Showing posts with label camping. Show all posts
Showing posts with label camping. Show all posts
Saturday, August 04, 2012
Tuesday, August 17, 2010
Um, ouch (part 2)
Warning kids: do not try this. At home or anywhere else.
Thursday night, the first night of our weekend camping trip. First campfire, first s'mores. The 9-year-old is excited to roast her marshmallow. Gets it flaming hot, almost dripping off the marshmallow roaster stick. Makes a quick turn to retrieve her chocolate and cracker. At the same moment I lean in to stir the fire a bit.
Molten flaming gooey sugary mass connects with my right cheek. Now I understand how napalm works. It sticks to you, burning through your skin even as you desperately try to get it off, pull it off your eyelashes, keep it from going into your eye.
Yeah. That hurt. 2nd-degree burns all-around. And all the kids staring at me, wondering why I'm shouting and flailing and generally making a scene.
Here's a picture 5 days later. The blisters have popped, thankfully. Interestingly,we had purchased freshly-made Whole Foods mallows, which are square-shaped. Which is why, if you look closely, the scar is in roughly a right-angle.
The way I figure it, at least this all made for a memorable camping trip.
Thursday night, the first night of our weekend camping trip. First campfire, first s'mores. The 9-year-old is excited to roast her marshmallow. Gets it flaming hot, almost dripping off the marshmallow roaster stick. Makes a quick turn to retrieve her chocolate and cracker. At the same moment I lean in to stir the fire a bit.
Molten flaming gooey sugary mass connects with my right cheek. Now I understand how napalm works. It sticks to you, burning through your skin even as you desperately try to get it off, pull it off your eyelashes, keep it from going into your eye.
Yeah. That hurt. 2nd-degree burns all-around. And all the kids staring at me, wondering why I'm shouting and flailing and generally making a scene.
Here's a picture 5 days later. The blisters have popped, thankfully. Interestingly,we had purchased freshly-made Whole Foods mallows, which are square-shaped. Which is why, if you look closely, the scar is in roughly a right-angle.
The way I figure it, at least this all made for a memorable camping trip.
Friday, July 02, 2010
Thursday, May 08, 2008
It's Time to Hit the Trail
Washington now has a new official Wilderness Area - the Wild Sky Wilderness, the first federally-funded wilderness in the state since 1984.
As a youth, I spent a lot of time hiking these mountains, playing along the Skykomish river and camping beside deep mountain lakes. It's some of the most beautiful country I know.
Now the government agrees, and it will be set aside as an undeveloped playground and sanctuary for generations to come.
Kudos to the politicians for getting this one right.
Read the P-I article here.
From the Wilderness Society: "In the heart of the Skykomish Valley, the Wild Sky region serves as a critical link between the Alpine Lakes Wilderness and the National Park and wilderness lands of the North Cascades. Low-elevation old growth forests remain in the Sky Peaks, Ragged Ridge and Rapid River areas of the Wild Sky. They provide critical habitat for black bears, bald eagles, mountain goats, wolverines, cougars and spotted owls."
As a youth, I spent a lot of time hiking these mountains, playing along the Skykomish river and camping beside deep mountain lakes. It's some of the most beautiful country I know.
Now the government agrees, and it will be set aside as an undeveloped playground and sanctuary for generations to come.
Kudos to the politicians for getting this one right.
Read the P-I article here.
From the Wilderness Society: "In the heart of the Skykomish Valley, the Wild Sky region serves as a critical link between the Alpine Lakes Wilderness and the National Park and wilderness lands of the North Cascades. Low-elevation old growth forests remain in the Sky Peaks, Ragged Ridge and Rapid River areas of the Wild Sky. They provide critical habitat for black bears, bald eagles, mountain goats, wolverines, cougars and spotted owls."
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