Brew-Ha-Ha At The Ensign Ranch

Mrs Smitty and I organized an end of summer car camping trip with a few friends the last weekend of September.
We had a pretty good turn out… 8 families… 16 adults, 15 kids, and 1 dog. It was quite a group. There were even a few babies, the youngest one being 3-months old. There was less mid-night crying than one might expect. The kids mostly did what kids do best… play in the dirt and get dirty. One adventerous kiddo tried to develop a new way to ride a tricycle so hat he could eat dirt while he "rode". The adults did boring adult stuff... like sit around the fire and talk... even where there wasn't a fire.
There were signs around the campground warning of the dangers of attracting bears by not storing food and trash properly. We did our best to follow the rules but it was comforting to know we had a trained guard dog in our party. I’m not sure but I think he might have some wolf in him… or maybe not. On the way home Saturday some of us stopped at Lake Easton to play at the sandy beach in the day-use area. Some of the adults took turns paddling the canoe while the rest watched the kids. Unfortunately we didn’t get the camera out so have no pics of that part of the trip.

A PooPoo Kind of Weekend

PooPoo is my baby sister. It’s always a good time when she’s around, so we were super excited when she came to visit a couple weeks ago. She’s been to Seattle several times so we couldn’t just rely on the typical attractions. We talked to a few friends and got some new ideas of places to take her and things to do. Since this post is a few weeks after the fact I don’t remember the exact sequence of events, so I’ll make this post more like a list of highlights rather than a narrative.

Breakfast at The Portage Bay Café near the Univ of WA. The place was packed. We chose to wait for our table outside, and a guy blowing purple bubbles entertained the kids. After being seated and ordering our food we went a little crazy taking silly pictures of each other. I forget what life was like before digital cameras. One of the joys PooPoo and I share is that we both love to swing and are always on the lookout for tall swing sets. Earlier this summer a friend turned me onto Cowen Park. If it doesn’t have the tallest swing set in Seattle it’s definitely a close second. It was a great place to spend a couple hours. After our fabulous breakfast at the Portage Bay café, PooPoo grabbed the reigns and made breakfast 2 of the remaining 3 mornings she was here. I didn’t get any pics of the quiche but it was equally as delicious as her French toast with fruit, maple syrup and home made whipped cream. Good pistachio ice cream is difficult to come by. Every once in a while Mrs. Smitty and I will make some. It seems more gourmet to eat it out of these tiny bowls. One day we hiked to Talapus Lake. There were a few lingering huckleberries around the lake. Picking/eating berries and climbing on the logjam at the outlet pretty much occupied us for a couple hours. Thai food with PooPoo and friends. The kids got restless so we took them outside to the patio for some dancing. It was sad to drop PooPoo at the airport. Hopefully she’ll return for another visit soon.

Smitty v Manson

The Smitty clan recently had an opportunity to spend a weekend at a friend’s condo in Manson, WA (near Chelan... near the center of WA state). It was a pretty low-key affair mostly focused on food and relaxing.

We stopped and borrowed a 17ft canoe on the drive over the mountains. Carting a 17ft family-sized canoe is a completely different experience than hauling my relatively tiny 11ft solo canoe. Somewhere just on the fast side of 60mph it would begin oscillating and it felt/sounded/looked like the whole roof rack might rip off the car at any moment.

We got to Chelan without incident. It was very windy on the first day so we hunkered down and enjoyed the comforts of the condo. The next 2 days were warm and sunny… perfect for spending time at the pool ...and at the lake. On day 3 we stumbled upon a great sandy beach at Willow Point Park....and for a drive in through the orchards until we found a u-pick apple orchard. Unfortunately the Jonathan apples we were hoping to find had been picked clean the previous day, but we did end up with nearly 50 lbs (between both families) of a variety of other types of apples.

We stopped at Rusty Burger in Cashmere on our way home. The food was a bit of a disappointment (we had high hopes because the place had a line around the building) but it was convenient. The stars were out in full force for the moonless drive home over Stevens Pass. It was a great way to spend a weekend with family and friends.

A Boundy of Places Named Deception

We made a last minute change to our original plan to go on a family-backpacking trip with some friends to a lake near Stevens Pass. The forecast called for possible thunder storms at the cascade crest. Even though it was just 30% chance we thought it best to seek another destination to increase odds of kids having a good time. We ended up at Deception Creek... about 10-miles SW of Stevens Pass. Had beautiful blue skies and there was no indication that the storms ever developed at the crest, but we couldn’t see that far because we were in the bottom of a 3000ft deep valley. We were a bit disappointed to find the lone creek side campsite occupied when we got there. After a bit of scouting we located a better site. It had a gentle sandy/pebbly beach and soft sandy tent pads. Other than the people in the other site and 2 groups who were just passing through to destinations more than a mile from the trailhead, we had the valley to ourselves... except for the hordes of biting flies. Kids and adults played in the creek for a while, but whenever the breeze would slow or we would stop moving the flies would swarm and begin their feast. It was decided to truncate our stay at Deception Creek to just a day trip. We loaded up the packs and headed back to the car. The new plan was to grab dinner at a Zeeks and drop in on the A family in Monroe. The A’s were happy to see us and gladly let us camp on their relatively insect-free lawn. Their house is on top of a hill facing east with great views of the mountains. We got to use indoor plumbing and borrow some pillows. We woke to a beautiful sunrise over the Cascades. After breakfast (it was nice to toast our bagels rather than eat them cold) we took the kids to Lake Roesiger for some more water/sand play. We made our camping lunch on the beach and lounged in the shade. We timed the drive home to coincide with naps. It wasn't exactly the trip we planned but turned out to be an excellent adventure.

Note: Mrs Smitty is featured in all the photos in this post because so often she's running the rat race while Mr Smitty and the Kiddos are out having fun on her dime.

Slip (Denny) Slidin' Away

Met up with a hiking friend and her kids today for a hike up to the Denny Slide. The Denny Slide is a kid friendly piece of exposed granite bedrock in Denny Creek near Snoqualmie Pass. It’s about a 1 mile hike with moderate elevation gain, so is perfect for short legs. We were on the trail about 10am. We went at kid pace so it took us about an hour and fifteen minutes to get to the slide.

The kids were super excited to get in the water. It was all I could do to keep them (more specifically their clothes) dry while I changed them into their swim suits. The day started out cool and cloudy but the sun came out and it warmed up not too long after we got to the slide. The water was cool and refreshing to stand in but Mo's only options (because he doesn't stand) were to sit in the stream or slap at the water surface. He grew tired of these options so found entertainment elsewhere.

There were some older kids there (young teens) who were sliding down the natural waterslides. Anza was fascinated to watch them but when one of them offered to let her try his sliding pad she declined. Insteasd she opted to follow the example of our hiking friend's 3-year-old daughter and perfected a technique to get wet at both ends but keep the middle dry.

Mo never quite regained his composition after getting bit by 3 black flies in rapid succession (they -the 3- were the only bugs of consequence that we encountered). I'm not sure the logic that led me to it but I decided that if I carried the kids up to this waterfall (150 yards upstream from where we were playing) for a picture Mo would calm down.

Who cries while they're having their picture taken in front of a waterfall? He finally crashed on the hike out. We got back through Seattle before afternoon traffic which made for an uneventful and speedy drive home.

Fire In The Hole... Monroe Mormon Style

On one level the following is a tragic tale of failure and dissapointment. On another level it's a story of success. You dear reader can decide for yourself which it is to you.

Our friends in Monroe chopped down some trees and one of them was hollow. Rather than split the hollow logs they've developed a unique method to cook hot dogs. Basically they build a fire and get the hole burning then roll the hollow log off to the side. If the cook does everything right, it only takes a few seconds to cook a hot dog to perfection. I watched Hyrum do the first one and it looked easy enough. I gave it a try. Mo was very interested in the fire, so I held him at a safe distance.
All seemed to be going well. The dog was starting to sizzle and I could smell the deliciousness. I was just about to pull it out when the the end of my roasting stick burst into flame.

I was able to extinguish the fire with a swift breath.

The dog had a little blackening but that wasn't the real problem. The flare-up had comprimised the integrity of my roasting stick. My dinner fell to the dirt.

It was tragic, exciting and funny all at the same time.

The dirt dog did get eaten and many more dogs were cooked in the log that evening with great success.

Gettin Our Island On On Jetty Island

Made a few calls this morning and rounded up a few friends to go check out man-made Jetty Island in Port Gardner Bay in Everett. The ferry dock is near the public boat launch. Once on the ferry it was a very pleasant trip. The ride across the channel takes maybe 3 minutes plus a minute or 2 for docking on either side. For some reason most people wanted to ride on the water-level deck of the ferry. We had to ride on the upper deck both ways but that's where I wanted to ride. We waited for the deck to clear out and had Taylor snap a shot of the Smitty crew. The Island is surrounded by a wide flat shelf. We showed up at low tide so the water was a ways away from the sandy beach. Once the tide started to come in it made for excellent kid wading conditions.

Even Mo got in on the action and was able to practice an amphibious version of his scoot.

We only walked from the ferry to the beach, but apparently there's a trail to the north end of the island about a mile from the ferry dock.

When we got back to the mainland we saw this guy cruising the dock. He seemed as interested in the dozen people on the dock as we were of him.

For those who might be considering going to Jetty Island... I would recommend making resevations for the ferry. If you want to just show up, the late morning boats were full. People were having to wait 30+ minutes to get on a ferry. Apparently the first ferry often has space available and when we left in the early afternoon there was no crowd. Also, the folks who operate the ferry like you to be there 10 minutes before the boat leaves.