As you might remember from last week’s Camping with Children post, this past weekend we went to the seventh annual Pagan Campout at Beaver Creek Campground on the beautiful Priest Lake.

The question is how little can I get away with saying? You see, Andrea already posted her recap and well, since we hung out with her and Peter for 99% of the weekend (heck, we even coordinated our food, though we still ended up with waaay too much and fed other campers too) what she said is pretty much what I would say. So can I just point you towards her post and fill the rest of this post mine with photos? Yes I will, why? Cus Ivy is teething, Damian is under the weather and I am functioning on serious sleep deprivation (damn you America’s Got Talent two hour show!)

Unpacking and setup (Damian is so proud of his new little red backpack.)

The first night was a little rough. Ivy did beautifully but Damian took forever sleep. He slept in for quite awhile Saturday morning though, which took me time to get ready for the day. Andrea and I made sausage and gravy over rice for breakfast (carbs and protein!) And mimosas of course.

Isn’t she lovely in orange with the sun behind her? Friendship, beauty, sun, orange and gravy, yup, it’s all good. And for the record our Radio Flyer wagon made a great bassinet for Ivy’s nap time. Supervision required of course since she can both crawl and pull herself up now.

It is also great for towing the children too and from the lake. I love that photo of Damian and Michael both walking down the beach. They have the same strut, it is so cute.

All of us around lunchtime (when we realized our cooler wasn’t going to keep a stack of burgers cold the whole time so we cooked them all. Burgers for everyone!

My favorite part about the forest in the Priest Lake area are the tree roots. I always imagine faeries using them as walkways and homes.

The forest and beach also provided new photos for Graceful Symmetry of course, and I have lots more photos in a set on flickr. My favorite photo of Andrea’s from the weekend?

*Sigh* Isn’t she beautiful? I want prints of this one. I also adore the one I used in the middle of Damian’s collage from yesterday’s post. Check out Andrea’s flickr set (which is about 60% photos of my children, hehe!)

Today is Michael and my third anniversary by the way. Though marriage is far from easy, I am grateful to have him as my partner in the wild ride called life. I love you.

This weekend we will be going to the seventh annual Pagan Campout at Beaver Creek Campground on the beautiful Priest Lake. Michael and I have both always adored camping and with the exception of the year Damian was born (at two weeks postpartum I really didn’t want to go anywhere) this is our first big camping trip of the season. This will be Ivy’s first camping trip as well.

Since adding our children to our lives’ we have learned that camping takes a bit more preparation then it use to, especially for this campout. Priest Lake is in the Colville National Forest which also happens to be a rain forest. We have never had a dry morning there (though it almost always clears by noon in true rain forest fashion.)

I thought I might share some of the things I’ve learned in the couple years we’ve been doing this.

• Lots of Warm Clothes: I cannot emphasis this enough. The nights are colder outside then children are you to and the mornings wetter. Layers are your best friend. onies, t-shirts, long sleeve shirts, sweaters, pants, sleepers, socks, socks, socks. Fleece dries fast, wool is great too. Hats are vital. Blankets, blankets, blankets! Towels too, if there is a way for them to get wet (that water pump for example, endless fun!) they will. Where their is a will, there is a way.
• Upgrade the Tent: Last year we used our 4 person tent for Michael, Damian and I and even then it was a little cramped. If someone had to pee in the middle of the night, not only could you not stand upright in it, but you had to crawl over another person without disturbing the baby to get out of the tent. There was also barely any room for “stuff” (shoes, dry clothes, extra blankets, diapers…) Now with Ivy and a bigger Damian, we decided it was time to upgrade. We bought this 6 person tent (shown above, sans it’s rain-fly, with Damian peaking out.) Michael (6′3″) can stand completely upright in most of it and it has lots of room for the aforementioned “stuff”.
• Bring an Air Mattress: I know it sounds silly to some but seriously, it puts an insulating layer between your little person and the ground. Cold makes for late night crankies which are massively unpleasant. Air mattresses pack up small too. Don’t forget an air pump and always bring a patch kit. Did I mention warm clothes and blankets, lots of them? I would also recommend an air mattress if you are pregnant, I was last summer and it was so nice! If you side-lie when you breastfeed, as I do, it will make that much easier as well. And if you are worried about your little one rolling off the mattress…
• Co-Sleep: This will be Damian’s first trip with his own sleeping bag but he will also be sharing Michael’s air mattress should he need some comfort cuddles. I’ll let you know how that goes. Ivy still co-sleeping with her food source (me!) and this won’t change while camping. I completely unzip my bag and adding some blankets to my air mattress (making it more of a bed then bag) which makes switching sides when feeding way easier.
• Diapers: Cloth is great, we use them almost all the time, but if you are going to use them while camping invest in a couple really big waterproof diaper bags (think swimsuit bag on steroids.) Otherwise just use disposables, you can buy eco-friendlier ones if their carbon footprint bothers you. We take both kinds with us.
• Wraps: Skip the stroller as hiking trails are not designed with them in mind and go with a wrap or sling. I bring both my Maya Wrap and Moby Wrap. The Maya works much better when you just need a little extra support for carrying a bigger babe on your hip (Damian) and the wrap is great for hiking comfortably with someone who doesn’t yet walk (Ivy.)
• Wagon: If you have one, go ahead and bring it. Last summer Damian received the pimped out ATW Radio Flyer (it has pneumatic tires!) for his birthday. It was fantastic for camping. It took the easy trails around the campground well and pulled double duty by ferrying stuff from our van and back. We use an old quilt to pad it (and wrap up little ones who throw themselves into lakes and puddles.) It just occurred to me if you have a babe who is not yet pulling themselves up, it would make a fantastic bassinet too.
• The Baby Cage: this is what we call our North States Superyard XT Gate Play Yard. It collapses flat to fit in the van and sets up easily, we put it beside our tent. It is really nice when you just want to sit and veg without having to chase your minions everywhere. This will not contain Damian this year (he can climb over it easily) but worked great last year when he was still toddling (and shorter.) Ivy is crawling now so it will work for her. Let of a worry of other people (especially their children at the campout) running over your little person with a barrier like this in their way.
• Snacks: Lots and lots of noms, snacky noms. Cheerios, dried fruit, trail mix, fruit, pbj fixings. Children do not like waiting for the fire to start and then the food to cook. Preventing the crankies is far better then coping with them after they arise. If your child had a favorite treat, put some of those just for them in little ziplocks that can be tucked into the side of packs (last year it was fruit leather bits that Damian adored.) Pull them out when a distraction is needed (like if you need them to sit in that wagon just a moment longer.) Damian has his own pack this year (he is so proud) so we will be carrying some of his own snacks.
• Toys: This goes without saying but you would be surprised how easily it is forgotten. Bring sturdy toys but not things so vital that if they get lost in the woods it will be devastating. Especially at large campouts where stuff can get mixed up easily. Label your toys. Balls, buckets and shovels, a few jars for all the special things they will want to collect and show you. Flashlights are pure two-year-old love by the way. We bought Damian a little battery powered lantern and he adores it.
• Best Friends: Now this goes for camping whether or not your have children, but your best friends are often the people who also love your children. If you need to do something (like say, run to the bathroom) it is nice to have a trusted pair of eyes to watch your spawn (and I mean spawn in the most loving way possible) for a minute. Bring your friends’ favorite noms too and let them know how fantastic they are always. We love you Caswallon and Andrea and Peter!

I’m sure I will think of more stuff over time but those are the most important things I can think of at the moment. If you have any other camping with children tips, even older kids, feel free to share them. I’d love to put together a larger reference sheet at some point. I would love to know how you have dealt with potty training and camping. Did you bring the potty chain with you? Or is camping too distracting to even try to keep up with it? How about time-outs? We can’t bring the time-out chair with us, so I was thinking of using a kitchen mat sized rug as a time-out area. I like to think Damian will not need it but I’d rather be prepared then stressed.

And remember most of all when camping with children, have fun. Not everything will go as planned but just let go of expectations and see it as the adventure that it is!

This weekend we had our second annual trip with friends up to South Skookum Lake. True to form (we will see if this repeats next year!) we had a small hiccup early on^[1] that caused our plans to shift somewhat. When we arrived at South Skookum Lake on Friday evening, it should have been closed, it was not. The camp host was still on the grounds and she insisted that we could not camp there. This is not technically true since you can always camp in National Forest campgrounds, whether the road to them is open or not. This is why we camp there, we have the place basically to ourselves and the only cost is having to hike in our stuff. As we spoke to her the truth of why she did not want us there came out, it was her birthday and she had friends in the grounds for a party. At this point we were tired of arguing (and I for one did not want to be kept up all night by some drunken birthday party) so we left. Next year we are going to see about obtaining permission directly from the forest service so that that does not happen again.

We ended up drove a couple miles up the road to North Skookum Lake, which, while it is private land, also has a campground. The group campsite had been reserved but the party who wanted it had bailed at the last minute so we were able to get it (luck or fate?) and it was quite lovely. We set up camp, lit a fire and Andrea made everyone tomato soup and grilled cheese sandwiches. On the first night we had four groups up there, Michael, Damian and myself; Andrea and Peter; Shannon and Rachelle; and Issac and Mireille. Mireille is Rachelle’s friend and Issac is her older brother (I think he is 12?) They rode up with Shannon and Rachelle.

On Saturday I awoke to squirrels pelting our tent with pine cones and more importantly with the urgent need to pee. Yes I am aware that this is probably too much information (feel free to skip the remainder of the paragraph,) but it might be amusing to anyone else who has been pregnant. You see, I refuse to get up at night while camping to pee, not because I wake and ignore the urge at night, but I seems like a have a switch in my brain that turns off the reminder to pee. At 27 weeks along apparently this switch still works but I had definitely had to waddle/sprint (as only a pregnant woman can) upon waking to the restrooms. I admit I might have envied penguins able to slide downhill quickly on their bellies at that moment, or just wished I had a freshette and a bush (yes, I’ve used one before and yes, they are awesome.)

Bladder relief aside, I was on breakfast duty that morning. My cinnamon pancakes, fruit and gobs of bacon are my camping staples and this day was no exception. The nice thing about having some older kids around is that they can be sent out to collect deadwood for the fire, and smores offerings are more then enough motivation to get even the most reluctant preteen moving. Us adults had our treat too, Andrea always makes mimosas for the +21 crowd (champagne and orange juice in the wilderness, why not?) and in her infinite wonderfulness brought your’s truly sparkling cider so I didn’t feel left out, baby+booze=bad ya know. ♥ Andrea.

I have to admit the photo of me drinking while flipping pancakes may look somewhat incriminating but it is not nearly as bad as this one with Damian trying it. The jury is still out on what Damian thinks of sparkling cider, he loves plain apple cider but I think he was less then impressed by the sparkling aspect in this bottle’s equation.

After breakfast and cleanup, Shannon and the older children went down to the lake (where Rachelle fell in, other then being cold, she was fine though,) Andrea and Peter wandered off to do something exciting (that sounds way dirtier then it actually was,) and Michael, Damian and I went for a little walk around the campground. There were a few RVs and tents scattered throughout but it was pretty empty, one of the joys of camping off season. Damian rode in his wagon most of the way snacking on trail mix and leftover pancakes but ultimately Michael’s shoulders proved to offer a much better vantage point for him. (Notice how Michael’s braid makes Damian look like he has a tail.) No chupacabras^[2] were spotted this year.

One our way back to camp we ran into Mikcos, Michelle and Nathan, another family we know who had expressed interested in joining us this year. It is a small miracle that they found us as there is no phone reception whatsoever in the area so we couldn’t tell them that we were switching of campgrounds. We returned to camp for lunch (oh yes, we also bring brie and wine with us when we go camping too.) Damian took a nap, Nathan went squirrel “hunting”, the children collected more firewood and went down to the lake again for a swim and the rest of us sat around chatting.

After Damian woke, Issac, Mikcos, Damian, Michael and I went geocaching. I love my father-in-law’s definition of geocaching as using “multi-billion dollar military satellites to find ammunition canisters full of children’s toys in the woods.” We found two caches, Mikcos spotted the first and Michael found the second. I stayed back at the van for the second as I was too pooped from wandering through the underbrush by that point to climb up a steep heavily wooded hill. Michael took photos for me though and I enjoyed chilling with Damian in a wildflower field.

We were all starving by the time we got back to camp and chowed down on fried polenta, chicken, roasted corn-on-the-cob and probably a ton of other stuff (there is never even the threat of hunger on our camping trips!) provided by previous leftovers and the lovely Andrea. Mikcos, Michelle and Nathan were only staying for the day so they left after dinner and then so did Shannon and the older children. Rachelle was not feeling too well and Mireille wanted her mommy (something I can totally understand not wanting to deal out in the woods.) We missed them though! That just left us and Peter and Andrea (who I think look adorable together for the record:)

We stayed up late talking, Damian fell asleep on my lap and the fire burned low. Eventually we all went to bed, or so I though…

I had a very strange dream that I saw alien lights outside of my tent and then was abducted by one of them through a bright light in the top of my tent. They took me to the lake to be baptized by a teenager member of the Aaronic priesthood who owned his own planet (which is where the aliens were from.) Luckily some Quakers rescued me by materializing a bridge across the lake though.

Yes. Weirdness.

Telling everyone about it the next morning I found out at one point Peter was wandering around outside with his bright LED headlamp and Michael had a dream the tent was falling over so woke up and shone his flashlight at the top of the tent to make sure everything was kosher. Mix that with our conversations earlier in evening and apparently that equals LDS alien abduction for me.

Anyhow… It was breakfast duty for me again. Rice and gravy! My favorite! And Michael made the cobbler we forgot to do the night before. Since Shannon is gluten-intolerant we bought gluten-free cake mix, which didn’t work nearly as well as the regular stuff. I think we will stick with the traditional way next time and just leave her some fruit on the side.

Breakfast cleanup came after eating and then the worst part of camping by far after that, packing up to go home. I love the Skookum area so much and I swear it gets harder to leave every time.

Oh well, until next year!
(Lots more from Skookum photos can be found here.)

1. Last year was our first time camping at Skookum after Labor Day and we arrived to find the main gate closed. We just hiked in though, hence the discovery that it is wonderful to have a campground to yourself and a friend with a manual water filter pump.

2. The Chupacabra is a cryptid rumored to inhabit parts of the Americas. It’s name aptly translates to “goat sucker” due to it’s reported habit of attacking and drinking the blood of livestock. You can refer to the 2008 Camping Recap if you want to know why the heck I am referring to this creature.

We always know when summer is coming to an end in our area. The warm weather goes to battle with the increasing cold fronts and one day can be 90°F and the next barely pass 60°F. Last night dropped to 42°F and some of the outlaying areas even had freezing fog. On Friday I ordered row cover fabric to cover my Winter bed and protect my tomatoes from the cooler evenings. The variety I purchased is called GardenQuilt and should protect down to 24°F, a killing frost that hopefully is still a couple months away. Yesterday I also took some time to prune my tomatoes to encourage their heavy sets of fruit to start ripening. One can only eat so many green tomato dishes.

Even though the gardener in me is sad to see the first frost nearing (though I am looking forward to the Winter garden of root vegetables and hardy greens) I very much love Autumn. Bright orange pumpkins, the apple festival in Greenbluff, the fair, falling leaves, puddles to show Damian how to jump in and, of course, rainbows. We had a beautiful double rainbow bless our skies between rain showers on Saturday afternoon. The rainbows made that nights windy carnage a little less painful. The high winds of the next front blowing in did a little number on one of my Titan sunflowers.

Another Autumn perk is being able to make hot food in my kitchen without roasting in my home. This Sunday we had some of our friends over for dinner. With that day’s high of 63°F I went all out and made two baguettes, pound cake and my potato soup (which always seems to be a hit.) Andrea and Peter brought over some beautiful yellow and red corn from their garden and tiny little watermelons. I think Damian has a new fruit love.

Isn’t the corn beautiful?

This coming weekend we are having our what is becoming an annual invade-the-closed-campground trip to Skookum Lake. There are few things more beautiful then watching the mist rising off the lake at dawn while sipping mimosas (made with sparkling cider for me this year) with your closest friends. Or at least with your closest friends who don’t mind hiking it to a closed campground so that you have it all to yourself and the potential for slightly chilly nights (and maybe another, dare I say it? Chupacabra sighting.)

Sun or rain, wind or calm, life is truly beautiful when shared with those you love.

I might have a special place in my heart for Willow Bay because it is the first place I met Michael’s parents, almost 5 years ago now (wow, time flies…) A lot has changed since then but I still love that place. Willow Bay Resort is right on the Spokane River near Nine Mile (and about 45 minutes from our home.) My in-laws have a membership there so that they “camp” in one of the trailers on the grounds, but you can also pitch just tent.

On Friday Michael and I took Damian up there for the first time. Not to camp, but just for a nice dinner picnic with his family. We drove through quite a few rain showers on our way, but it was beautiful for the whole evening once we arrived. My father-in-law, Greg, grilled up steak for dinner and my mother-in-law, Kim, made her wonderful potato salad. Damian had lots of fun hanging out with his cousin Emily and running around like the crazy nature loving maniac he is.

I think it is so important for children to spend time as possible outside. Damian and I hang out in the backyard, go on walks and play in the park several times a week (if not every day.) Damian adores the outdoors, it fills him with more life, smiles and laughter then anything on the tube ever could. It also wears him out more and makes for longer naps, which I love (does that sound horrible?) since they give me time to blog!

So what is my favorite part of Willow Bay? I love it all but if I had to pick one thing, it would be all the colorful birdhouses. There are three of four of them on almost every tree along the main path. It looks like children painted most of them, which always makes me smiles. I think Damian will like projects like that when he is older. This is my favorite grouping of birdhouses (probably because of the sign):

Michael has the next few days at work, so you can probably expect another nature loving post soon as we are going to the annual Pagan Campout at Priest Lake this weekend. I am almost finished a garden update too (everything growing so fast!) but I have to wait for the rain to let up to grab some new photos. Oh and as always you can find more photos from our evening at Willow Bay in our photo gallery.

I love living in the Inland Northwest. I love living in a place that has amazing seasons changes and where I can feel the wheel of the year in action. I love the general timing of these changes here and how just when I begin to tire of one, the wheel turns. Admittedly Spring has taken the most adaptation on my part. There can be thunder, hail and snow all at once and then five minutes later the sun emerges so full of energy that the temperature jumps 15°F in 10 minutes, only for there to be a hard frost that night.

The gardener in me cringes somewhat at spring in Spokane but the dirty worshipping witch in me dances in the rain, laughs into the wind and basks in the radiant sun (all in the space of an hour mind you.) Soon enough summer will be here and the gardener will be appeased with zucchini, tomatoes, cucumbers, green beans and more though.

This weekend we will be camping with friends, assuming all of the Stewart household are healthy (Damian just healed from a head cold and so far Michael and I seem to have been mostly spared.) The forecast for Utopialaughastan* is expected to be 80°F and sunny so hopefully that will banish any remaining vestiges of illness on our part. With fingers crossed for good health, I can’t wait!

Imagine this picture, only in the dark, after a long drive down a rocky dirt road with a six-year-old scared that the bears would get her in the back of the van. That would be us on Friday night, driving to South Skookum Campground. Apparently the ranger I have talked to earlier in the day had been wrong about it being open. It closed on Labor Day, which was the weekend before!

Skookum is one of those wonderful secluded campgrounds, you know, the ones without phone reception? Which is awesome, except when you are stuck out there late at night with no way to tell the people who are coming up the next day that it is closed. However, we are a stubborn resourceful group of Pagans, so with a little bit of exploring by lantern light, we were delighted to find the host site was only 200 yards down the road and that someone had left the outhouse unlocked (double score!)

So we hoofed the basics down there (tents, sleeping bags and diapers,) pitched the tents and settled in for the night. Sal played his Native American flute for a time, a beautiful sound to drift off to sleep with. I did wake up three times during the night. A couple of the times were for Damian’s usual nursing and changing^[1] and once was to the sound of coyotes in the distance and something scamper past my tent (possibly a chupacabra or a baby sasquatch…)

The view coming out of our tents in the morning completely made up for Friday night’s misadventures though:

It even made up for the campground water pump not having it’s handle (I suppose they remove it for the season?) So no potable water other then what we had – not much (whoops!) We intend on buying a manual water filter, maybe a gravity filter, before we camp next; packing water in is way too heavy.

Friday night had gotten down to around 40F so we were bundled up pretty well for a couple of hours, until the sun broke over the trees. I think Damian and Shannon (in the photo to the left) win the most-layers-of-clothing award. Summer baby and So-Cal girl get along well!

Eventually we all were up. Some of us trekked down to the vehicles to retrieve the rest of our supplies and the others got the breakfast fire going. Hashbrowns needed to be rehydrated for catastrophe^[2] which brought around the question of our water supply, if Peter and Andrea didn’t show up with water we would have to drive to Usk to get some. (Luckily they brought a water filter hand pump – Andrea works for Mountain Gear, she is always prepared…)

After breakfast I thought I would trek down to the van to get the few extra things we needed, so I put Damian in the sling and wandered down to the road. It was very peaceful, I grabbed what I needed from the van and headed back. When I was a few yards from the van I saw something in the bushes right beside me so I turned and screamed. Yup, I’ll admit it, I screamed bloody murder. There was a big cat head looking right at me! As soon as the scream escaped my lips, the kitty vanished. I got back in the van for a few while I calmed down. I figured someone would have heard me and come with the bear spray. I waited, and waited, and waited some more. No one came. (They heard me back at camp but thought I was Rachelle, the six-year-old. Great, I sound like a six-year-old.)

Eventually I made it back, all by myself, unmauled. We figured out it was a chupacabra lynx and that is was probably long gone with my shrieking. Damian slept through the whole ordeal of course.

Shortly after the lynx incident Andrea and Peter arrived (with the aforementioned water filter,) we had some pbjs and all went on a hike around the lake.

The trail is an exceptionally beautiful one, full of ferns (I adore ferns!), unusual flowers and mushrooms; as well as tons of birds I could not even begin to identify. There are plenty of places to stop along it and enjoy the view across the lake. The windstorms this Spring did a number on some of the older trees but most of the big ones had been cleared from the path (thankfully since it is hard to duck under a fallen tree with a baby in a sling.) Since Andrea and I love photography we were the stragglers of the group, stopping to take a picture of everything (hopefully I will have some of her photos too eventually.) I had to hurry up at one point though because Damian and I were being sucked dry by mini-winged-chupacabras… I mean mosquitoes. (Yes the chupacabra thing could be seen as an unhealthy obsession odd interest. Dyslexic cryptozoologists untie?)

When we got back to camp we moved our tent (since we had set it up on lumpy ground the night before – imagine that it was hard to see in the dark!) and then sat around and chatted for awhile. As the sun began to set we started our dinner fire. We had so much food! Everyone brought extra to share, my jerky stew and cornbread, some Chinese food, olives, grapes, and many types of cheese. We also made cobbler with peaches, pears and fresh blackberries. Yummy!

After dinner Rachelle went to bed and chatting resumed and the wine came out, apparently we are all quite fond of the stuff so we had three bottles, two reds and a white. Sal played his flute for us. I tried to take a video of him playing it but the sound did not come through that well. The fire crackled while he played and coyotes howled in the distance creating a very surreal scene. It was so amazing having the entire campground to ourselves.

I wanted to stay up into the wee hours talking but alas, motherhood has turned me into an early sleeper. Damian fell asleep in my lap and I was nodding off shortly after so I headed off to bed with my munchkin. The next morning I heard that I missed and excellent debate about will power and guns, dang it! At least I was the best rested of the group (except maybe for Rachelle.)

Sunday morning was gorgeous once again, by the time I wandered out of my tent the sun had already crested over the trees. None of us had watches (our phones didn’t work so they were off and packed away) but it might have been around 9am. I tucked Damian in with Michael and I have to say there were some adorableness awards to be won by my guys. When Damian saw the blue sky and trees outside the tent he got the biggest grin ever. Of course as soon as I touch a camera it vanished but his eyes were still full of amazement and wonder.

Andrea is her pure wonderfulness packed orange juice and champagne, so mimosas for everyone! (After breastfeeding of course.) We laid out on the dock soaking up the rays, watching the waterbugs and shooting the breeze.

Eventually we got around to kindling the breakfast fire and having way to much food once again (better then too little!) Oatmeal, bacon, eggs, sausage, my pancakes and cinnamon rolls. Everything seems to taste better when cooked over a campfire and in good company. We took a long time to eat, maybe because our trip was coming to a close. Eventually though we all started going through the motions and breaking down camp and packing stuff up. We certainly took our time at that too, I don’t think any of us really wanted to leave. At least, we didn’t want to pack all that stuff back up the path to the cars!

Michael’s glasses disappeared at some point and I returned to look for them (nearly certain of not finding them) when I had a rather magical moment. I asked the powers that be to please show me where they were an a dragonfly came from the lake and landed on them. How awesome is that? Old Wild Mama Earth never ceases to amaze me.

The drive home was uneventful and beautiful. After we dropped Shannon and Rachelle off, we came home, ordered pizza, took baths, watched Smallville and remembered how wonderful it is to lay in one’s own bed! I adore camping but it is nice to relax at home afterwards too.

That pretty much wraps out up our trip, it has taken me a week to type this so hopefully it gave you a little glance into our vacationing style. Here is a short video to wrap things up:

1. It should be noted that Damian does not like cold cloth diapers on his booty! I stuck a few in my sleeping bag to keep them warm after traumatizing him with a freezing diaper on his sensitive areas at 3am.)

2. Catastrophe is something Michael makes, it is hashbrowns, eggs, sausage (or bacon) and cheese all scrambled together. With ketchup or sour cream if that is your thing.

We are back!

From a weekend full of road barricades, disabled water pumps, hiking, lynxes, campfire cooking, music, lots of food, good friends and so much fun. But that is all I am going to say for now since we are worn out.

So we going to take showers, order pizza, watch some Smallville and sleep early. I’ll post more in the next few days!

We are camping up at Skookum this weekend, see you on Monday! If I don’t post by Tuesday, Bigfoot got us…

This is the dehydrated stew we are taking camping with us. I dehydrated all this stuff myself but I suppose you could buy it all pre-dried if you don’t have a dehydrator. The veggies can vary in it depending on what you have. The batch I made for this weekend’s camping trip also has zucchini and extra potatoes in it. Just add extra water if you intend on adding more of course, basically you want to just cover the ingredients in water to rehydrate.

For my fellow ounce counters, the dry weight of this is 5oz (not including the carrot.)
Serves 4.

Ingredients:

• 5 cups water
• 1 cup dried tomato pieces
• 1 cup jerky pieces
• 1 cup dried potato slices
• 1 cup dried green beans
• 1 cup dried corn
• 1 tbsp dried bell pepper
• 1 tbsp dried onion
• 1 tbsp Italian seasoning
• Fresh carrot, sliced (optional)
• 1 cup dried brown rice

Instructions:

1. In a camping pot combine 4 cups of water and all ingredients, except carrot and rice. Let sit for 30 minutes to rehydrate. You can do this while you are starting the fire. Once you get the fire going boil the remaining cup of water.
2. Mix one cup boiling water with your rice. Cover and let rehydrate for 15 minutes. While rice is rehydrating put your stew on to cook, after 15 minutes add rice to stew. You can add the carrot here if you wish.
3. Cook for 30 minutes to one hour, until jerky is tender.

I’m going to be serving this with my whole-wheat cornbread while we camp (I can post that recipe if you wish, it is cooked in cast iron.) Oh you can also do this stew in a crockpot at home and simmer it on low for 6 to 8 hours. It is nice to have in your cupboard for an easy meal.

Today was the first morning it truly felt like Autumn. The air had that beautiful cold crisp quality and when I went outside to get the paper I noticed the edges of the leaves of the maple were just starting to turn. The morning sky has that surreal blue hue that only seem to happen this time of year.

We usually have one more warm spell before we get our first freeze but it will not be this week. Last night’s low was 40°F (about 4°C.) I am glad my sleeping bag is rated down to 30°F for this weekend’s camping trip. With highs expected in the mid-seventies it is going to be perfect. Our group size has also increased, Sal and Rusty are coming with us! I have everything ready except the cinnamon rolls and cornbread, which I will be making today. I may make the cornbread while we are camping as I cook it in cast iron. I have never tried that before though.

In a few weeks the Apple Festival will be here, time for our little framily will head out to Harvest House in Greenbluff to celebrate the Autumn Equinox. We do it every year and it is always fun. Thinking about the harvest, we reminded our California friend the other day that it is time for her to cut back her tomatoes so that what she has will ripen. I have three huge zucchini from her garden waiting on the counter, the fresh green beans, peppers and corn are long gone.

Autumn is certainly on our doorsteps, while I love the sunny vitality of summer, the cool down always is a welcome guest.

I made jerky in my new dehydrator (Excalibur ED 2500.) This batch is spiced with Italian seasoning and is soooo good! I am trying to save it for next weekend’s camping trip. I am going to make Backpacker Jerky Stew. Dehydrating potatoes, corn and tomatoes for it at the moment, as well as some of Shannon’s green beans and zucchini. I also have some yogurt in there, supposable I can make yogurt bites.

Can’t wait to go camping!

So far I really like the Excalibur. It has a wide range of temperature settings, even one for living (raw) foods and making yogurt. The unit is warm enough that it will rise bread quickly too, which will be a huge perk during the winter. It works much better then my last machine (Mr Coffee brand Goodwill find) but that isn’t saying much. That one took 24 hours to do what this does in 4 to 6, and the quality of these dried goods are much better.

I am enjoying experimenting with this one. I found some living food recipes recently too that I am thinking of trying out. Some of them sound pretty good! Harvest season is here so there is no shortage of fresh produce. Another tool in my food preservation arsenal.

(Me at Skookum Lake, WA in 2006)

So it is decided! We are going camping up at Skookum Lake on September 5th, 6th and 7th with Shannon and Rachelle. Andrea and Peter might be coming up on the 6th too. I am so psyched!

Skookum is in the Colville National Forest. I haven’t been there since 2006, so it will be interesting to see if it has changed much. I hope not! The campground is perfect, 25 spots, not to big or small, lots of trees (not like those campgrounds devoid of greenery.) There is a trail all around the lake that is wonderful, and then the lake itself of course, totally gorgeous. It is $12 a night per vehicle. The only thing I am unsure of is if there will be a ban on campfires that weekend, but there is lots of rain in this week’s forecast though so hopefully any ban will be lifted by the 5th.

Last time we went, we drove up to Gardner Cave in Crawford State Park and walked across the US/Canadian border, but this time we will probably spend more time at the lake. My swimsuit does not fit so I will be doing the t-shirt and shorts bathsuit thing. Besides that I have no idea how anyone could breastfeed in a one-piece suit.

I am not worried about how Damian will be out there, he loves being outside and we cosleep. We are going to have to bring all his cloth diapers to make it through, and his potty. And we’ll have a bucket if handwashing is needed. On a side note, he will be turning 3 months old while we are there. He was 17-lbs yesterday and 26-inches long, which is the average size of a 6 month old, he is growing so fast!

So, twelve days to get everything together, which more then enough time (too much time!) I am already pulling out and sorting our camping stuff though, as well as plotting a dehydrator meal for Friday or Saturday night. Any ideas? Our dutch oven kind of got left on the patio all the winter and has rust, I have no idea how to remove that… Elbow grease and wire brush? Michael always makes cobbler in it. He is an excellent cook when it comes to camping, must be a boy scout thing.

I can’t wait!

(Blue tarps are a necessary accoutrement for the Northwest camper, but hopefully we will avoid the biggest thunderstorm of the season this time!)