Readers, I have to explain about the hammock. We have brought it on EVERY camping trip we have ever taken but have NEVER used it due to the trees in our site not being conducive to the hammock. Usually, they were spaced too far apart and/or had too many nearby bushes for the hammock to be used. We contemplated leaving it behind on this trip, but I said, "You know, if we leave it home, this will be the first time it'll be able to be used." How right I would have been!! This camp site (lot 67) offered a perfect hammock experience! Many a relaxing moment was spent in the hammock over the weekend; it was glorious and renewed my desire for a hammock stand at home so we can use it more often!
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| Ahhhh!!!!! |
After my "leave me alone for a little bit, I want to enjoy my wonderful hammock" time, we set about many of our other camping past times, including playing games galore. Of the course of the weekend, we played dice, checkers, tic-tac-toe, a version net-less badminton called Jazzminton, and more.
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| Conor and Eric mid-Greed game |
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| Annika opted out of playing Greed once the hammock was vacated by yours truly |
After we finished our game of Greed (yes, I won... but who is counting???), the kids and I went on a bit of a hike while Eric discovered how lovely the hammock is. Behind our camp site was a trail that followed a leg of the Yakima River. We found the trail head and made our way from one end to the other. It was a lovely day, easy hike/walk, and pretty view. Win, win, and win!
We finished up the day with more games, roller blading/scootering up and down the campsite rode, readying, and roasting hot dogs over the open fire, and snacking on s'mores. A perfect evening!
Perfection was rattled a bit at 3 AM when we discovered that just on the other side of the Yakima River from our camp were railroad tracks that freight trains ... LOOOOONG, LOUD freight trains travel on at 3 AM and 5:30 AM. (We'd hoped this would be unique to our first night, but the 2nd night proved that nope, it was a regularly scheduled event. Oh joy...)
Needless to say, our 3 AM train wake-up call left us feeling a bit drowsy on Saturday (and down-right zombie-like by Sunday). We had a low-key (coffee-filled) morning and eventually out ourselves in gear enough to get dressed and pile into the van for our excursion into Cle Elum.
We had lunch at a tasty Mexican restaurant (Conor requested Indian food, which wasn't exactly an option in Clu Elum.... it was either generic "American" food or Mexican food) and were thrilled to see how easily the kids (especially Annika) conversed with the waitress in Spanish. (Thanks, CKS Spanish teachers! You are rock stars!) After lunch, we poked around some of the local shops and the Telephone Museum, which was a huge hit with the kids! They got to use rotary phones and call each other while seeing the internal mechanism do their thing. They kids thought "old timey" switchboard was particularly fun and took turns being the switchboard operator.
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| Annika using the rotary phone to call Conor |
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| Silly telephone boy |
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| Conor talking with Annika (who was 3-4 feet away) |
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| Eric inspecting the switchboard |
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| Switchboard operator Annika at your service |
We wrapped up our Cle Elum visit with a much-needed stop at the local Starbucks (please reference the previous train story if you don't understand that need) and a speedy "hi and goodbye" visit with another CKS family who has a 2nd home in Cle Elum. The kids were anxious to get to swimming in Lake Easton, so we did a quick "how has your summer been going?" catch up with our friends and then headed back to camp to change into swimsuits.
Knowing the lake was glacier fed, I opted to guard our blanket and towels while Eric and the kids braved the insanely cold water. They get the Bravery Awards for their willingness to dunk themselves in the frigid water. I happily claim my "stayed warm and enjoyed reading a book" award.
Because the water was SO cold, the kids were more willing than they otherwise would have been to make it a short trip to the lake. They spent a bit of time in the water, laid in the warm sun to thaw a bit, and then we high-tailed it back to camp so we could build a fire and warm up a bit more. Eric took the opportunity to teach the kids how to safely make kindling (the family at the site next to us could have taken a few lessons from us on hatchet safely.... but then again maybe not all families feel the need to tell their kids not to swing hatches around and come insanely close to lodging them in their little legs.... but I digress....)
With a crackling fire nearby and thawed children, we changed our focus to dinner and then on to the ranger's presentation on bats. We learned all about bat anatomy, species, metabolism. conservation, and behaviors. It was quite interesting and even included a rather cute bat puppet.
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| MMMMM! Burgers (Thanks, Crowd Cow) |
Sunday morning was another sleepy one thanks to the middle-of-the-night trains... this time, the 3 AM one included lots of whistle blowing as a bonus. (God bless the inventors of coffee!)
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| Conor and Eric relaxing by the fire |
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| Crackling fire, hot cocoa, and a little table time for Conor |
Before packing up and heading home, the kids and I attended another ranger presentation. This one was about salmon. Annika rocked the presentation because of the fact her 4th grade class studied and raised salmon most of the school year. She had the vocab and life cycle information down pat!! Conor was a bit disappointed with the whole thing because for some reason, when he heard "junior ranger presentation", he thought they'd learn how to use a bow and arrow. Salmon aren't NEARLY as cool as what he'd envisioned. Poor boy!! Fortunately, he worked through the disappointment and found a way to have fun.
By late morning (not only because we ran out of coffee and were insanely tired, but those reasons didn't hurt), we packed up and started on our way home. The drive home was uneventful and included a stop for lunch and more coffee in North Bend... win for all involved!! Before long, we were home, doing laundry, airing out our suitcases (no camp fire smoke smells allowed in our closets!), and were reunited with Buca once the dog sitter dropped him off.
All-in-all, a great weekend for the Olsons!!
