We have one of those freaking huge family tents that's been sitting around in a closet for at least the past three years. It was a 10-year gift from Nintendo, my wife's previous employer. Our youngest son is almost five, so we decided it was finally time to use the aforementioned tent.
The scene: Lake Easton State Park. This park is a mere hour's drive from The Shire, which is always nice. The kids didn't even get the chance to ask "are we there yet" or request a restroom break. We arrive, check in, and head to our site. The clan goes to locate the nearest bathroom and water spigot, and I busy myself setting up the tent. It's a nice one, and my only real complaint is that it lacks privacy flaps on the front doors. You know, the upper half of the doors are mosquito nets, and in most tents, there are zip-up flaps on the inside of the doors for privacy. But the rain fly works just as well if you let the front down, so no big deal.
One of the first things I noticed about our site was the amount of litter on the ground. And by litter, I'm talking about small stuff - bottle caps, pieces of wrappers, things of that nature. I guess it's the Boy Scout in me, but I was taught two things: 1) Don't Litter! and 2) Always leave your campsite cleaner than you found it. And it wasn't just the stuff in our site - there was some on the nature trails, by the lake, in and around the restrooms. What is wrong with people? I must be getting old and grumpy now that I'm in my early 40s. But honestly, what is so fucking hard about using a trash can, or sticking your garbage in your pocket until you get back to camp?
Overall, we had a great time. The kids and the family hound had a blast, got dirty as all getup, dropped some hot dogs in the ashes of the fire, ate s'mores, and manged to not freak out at night in the tent. We were there just under 24 hours, which goes by too fast, but it was just right for the first time. Next time we'll go two nights, and see how that goes. And yes, the last thing we did before we got in the car and left was to make a thorough sweep of the camp site. It's easier to explain the "always leave your campsite cleaner than you found it" concept as "you need to pick up litter, even if it's not yours, because the animals who live here can't do it themselves."
It felt good to go tent camping, and it's been waaaaay too long (our last trip was about 13 years ago, pre-kids, holy schnikes!) so we were overdue. I hope to one day take everyone on a true back country hiking/camping trip.
Showing posts with label vacation. Show all posts
Showing posts with label vacation. Show all posts
Wednesday, August 5, 2009
Wednesday, August 20, 2008
She Sells Seashells by the Seaside
Took a family vacation to Seaside, Oregon recently. We typically take two vacations each summer, one to Lake Chelan, WA and the other to a destination on the Pacific Ocean - Cannon Beach, Seaside, Pacific Beach (WA), etc.
As always, the kids love digging in the sand, flying kites, beachcombing, and wading in the surf. And when they are not at the beach, they are in the swimming pool. Nights are spent watching movies and perhaps playing a little bit on their Nintendo DS. We had to make the drive to Cannon Beach (a mere 6-8 miles down the road from Seaside) in order to visit Bruce's Candy Kitchen. I stood outside with the family hound while the wife and kids shopped for sugar.
I HATE dealing with traffic clusterfucks, especially in small towns like Cannon Beach. It's one of those times when you have to suck it up and deal with it, because you want the kids to remember how fun it was, and not how many people you cussed out or ran over.
Good memories are what we're shooting for when we take these trips. I totally dig it when the kids are back here in The Shire, and they go on and on about very specific memories taken from any vacation they've ever been on. I still remember feeding raccoons in the Yosemite National Forest when I was a kid. My parents still remember me falling into one of the local creeks/rivers.
One of these days, when the youngest of the three kids is old enough, we'll brave a trip to Disneyland or another similar account-draining funhaus.
On sort of an anti-fun note, school starts in about two weeks. Back to packing lunches, multiple trips to bus stops, homework, PTA meetings, and all that stuff. The kids are still young enough that they are looking forward to heading back to school. Heh. That, I'm told, will change one day.
As always, the kids love digging in the sand, flying kites, beachcombing, and wading in the surf. And when they are not at the beach, they are in the swimming pool. Nights are spent watching movies and perhaps playing a little bit on their Nintendo DS. We had to make the drive to Cannon Beach (a mere 6-8 miles down the road from Seaside) in order to visit Bruce's Candy Kitchen. I stood outside with the family hound while the wife and kids shopped for sugar.
I HATE dealing with traffic clusterfucks, especially in small towns like Cannon Beach. It's one of those times when you have to suck it up and deal with it, because you want the kids to remember how fun it was, and not how many people you cussed out or ran over.
Good memories are what we're shooting for when we take these trips. I totally dig it when the kids are back here in The Shire, and they go on and on about very specific memories taken from any vacation they've ever been on. I still remember feeding raccoons in the Yosemite National Forest when I was a kid. My parents still remember me falling into one of the local creeks/rivers.
One of these days, when the youngest of the three kids is old enough, we'll brave a trip to Disneyland or another similar account-draining funhaus.
On sort of an anti-fun note, school starts in about two weeks. Back to packing lunches, multiple trips to bus stops, homework, PTA meetings, and all that stuff. The kids are still young enough that they are looking forward to heading back to school. Heh. That, I'm told, will change one day.
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