Camping at Kanaskat-Palmer (IV)

We have a bit of a backlog on photos, but here’s a set from our recent camping trip to Kanaskat-Palmer State Park. This was our fourth year camping, the second with Dom, and first with just the Derecola clan. We elected to stay in a yurt again this year – it’s a great combination of spending most of your day outdoors and having enough indoor space for Dom to sleep somewhat normally. We’ve actually figured out how to use his crib mattress with a play yard as his bed… and also that we could carry them in our roof box.

We spent most of the weekend walking around the campground, hanging out at our camp, and playing in the Green River that’s adjacent to the park. The water was pretty chilly – probably in the 60s – but Dom didn’t seem to mind once he got used to walking around on rocks. He spent the entire time picking up rocks and throwing them in the water. As in, that’s literally all he did… and he thought it was awesome. I took a swim in the river; something I’ve realized I haven’t done enough of lately.

I was actually surprised by this campground, given it’s only 40 minutes outside Seattle and an hour from home. We’ve driven as far as 6 hours (8 with traffic) to camp, so this was a welcome change – especially with a toddler. It’s missing the grandiose reasons for going to some of the places we have, but it’s a perfectly acceptable way to escape life for awhile. There’s no cell service, you can hear the river, and most everyone was friendly. The place is definitely more of a weekend spot for locals (lots of campers) vs. the hipster outdoor folks with their slacklines.

Dom slept pretty well and the weekend was relatively painless… if not tiring chasing a toddler non-stop… so maybe we’ll be switching back to a tent for our fifth year? We’ve also been talking teardrop trailers, so who knows. Oh, the weather was great. We rarely get that lucky.

Camping at Grayland Beach (III)

Well, we did it. We continued our annual tradition of camping with the Kizers by spending our third year at Grayland Beach – now with 50% more humans! This time around, we opted to stay somewhere with an actual roof and room for baby sleeping arrangements. After some research late last year, we landed on renting two yurts at Grayland Beach Campground. This place ticked all the boxes – it was under three hours from home, had roof/walls in case of rain, electricity, fire pits, and a proper bathroom including showers. It doesn’t necessarily meet my criteria for proper camping, but it was a great compromise given we had two infants with us.

The campsite was actually pretty great – quiet, a short walk to the beach, and everything you could really ask for when rolling the dice like we did. On the whole, Dom did pretty well. We didn’t do a whole lot, other than explore the immediate area and spend time away from life with friends. He didn’t sleep particularly well in his pack-n-play and we ended up getting somewhat creative about sleeping arrangements. We came back way more tired than we left, but I’m glad we made the effort. Things will be a lot easier when Dom’s sleeping in something that better resembles a bed. I think we have a bit more time before we’re all tent camping together and even then, maybe we put the boys in their own tent so the parents can get some personal space. :-)

We’re just a few months away from planning next year. There is talk of RVs…

Camping at Lopez Island (II)

At some point we’ll post pictures from Prague and Maui, but it’s always so much easier when you’re pulling together the happenings from a weekend away. In the case here, it’s our second annual camping trip on Lopez Island with the Kizers. I don’t know that we ever really intended it to be an annual, but we’ve now done it two years in a row and we talked about doing it next years with our little ones in tow. They just announced a few days ago they’re expecting a boy on New Year’s Eve… so maybe this turns into a family tradition of sorts.

The camping itself was a better time than the last go ’round. We enjoyed ourselves last year, but the ridiculous amounts of rain made it a rough go. We did get a bit of rain this year, but it was mostly at night and didn’t prevent us from getting out to see the area. We didn’t really do anything major, given Melissa was seven months pregnant, but we also didn’t sit on the couch for two days. The San Juan Islands are a beautiful part of this state (and country) and I can see us visiting and/or camping there more often.