First Camping Trip!

A few weeks ago we packed up a couple sleeping bags, a portable stove, and a kite, and took off for the Washington coast. Our friend Teresa had passed on her reservation for a yurt at Cape Disappointment state park, so we took it. True to Washington State form, the weather was more or less lousy - barely hitting 65-degrees (in JUNE!). It rained at the beginning and end of the two days, but in between (Saturday afternoon) it was nice and sunny.

When we arrived late Friday night, Jan immediately felt feverish. And she was pretty much out of the game the rest of the time. The yurt, fortunately, had an electric heater inside to fight off the on-shore winds and keep her comfortable.

The next day, we all made it down to the dark, silty-sandy beach to fly a kite, check out a seal pup (from a distance), and discover a shipwreck. Then off for a brief hike through the ferny wood to a spectacularly situated lighthouse, licked by the churning water of the Pacific.

Late that night, we were visited by our pals Jensi and Carmen (and their nephew). They trekked through four hours of Portland traffic just to say "Hi". We wished they could've stayed longer. Thanks for the homemade taquitos!

Cape Disappointment was the site where Lewis and Clark finished their expedition (or around there)in Eighteen-ought-six. Cape Disappointment got its name, "[i]n 1788, while in search of the Columbia River, English Captain John Meares missed the passage over the river bar and named the nearby headland Cape Disappointment for his failure in finding the river." (WA State website)

Helena loved being outside the whole time - it was a good thing the yurt had a lock on the door, or she would've wandered out without us. We built an improvised lean-to tent that served as a house for her new friend - a caterpillar. Flying a kite was a breeze (ha ha) on the beach. And we had some time to commune with the wildlife - shooing off chipmunks and racoons.

More pictures H E R E

PS: The caterpillar spent a couple weeks with us in a Tupperware container, spun a cocoon, and transformed into an orange moth! Yay! Then promptly flew into the heating duct in the living room.