The Golden State Says Crazy

We somehow landed stand-by tickets to go visit family and friends in southern California. Having never flown stand-by we were concerned that we’d get bumped to a later flight and end up having to hang around the airport all day. We arrived early and got our seat assignments on the plane we wanted without incident. The kids did great on the 2-hour flight. Our checked bag was already going around the carousel by the time we got to baggage claim and grandma was waiting for us outside. Mt Baldy stood proud above us as we made our way toward Cajon Pass. Mrs Smitty and I got a little nostalgic as we drove over the PCT crossing under I-15.

We had a relatively quiet Friday in Barstow before more family would come for the weekend. Trains fascinate the kids, so we walked down to the train station to get a closer look. We checked out the Route 66 and railroad museums but the kids were most interested to explore the locomotives and cabooses in the yard.

On the walk back to the house we found a preying mantis. The cousins had a great time playing and getting to know each other over the weekend. After a couple days with family we made our way down to Orange County to visit our old stomping grounds. Our friend's D&S put us up in their guest room.

We weren’t planning to go to Disneyland but D (who works for Disney) offered to sign us in for an afternoon. We jumped on it. The kids were scared on most of the rides but had a great time anyways. The highlight for Anza was seeing Mary Poppins. We were able to borrow a few sand toys for our outing to the beach. The kids loved playing in the sand and were especially interested in the ebb and flow of the waterline as the waves rolled in. The week went so quickly, and we were suddenly on an airplane headed home.

Wiggly Salmon Sand Bridge vs The Yurt Monster

Took the kids to a new (to us) park yesterday. Our intent was to meet up with friends and hike a few of the trails along the river and/or to a scenic hilltop bench. We met our friends in the parking lot but got a little side tracked playing so didn’t get much hiking done, but the kids had a great time… which is more important than how many miles we cover.

John MacDonald Tolt River County Park is an interesting facility. It’s got everything one could want from a place called a park… a campground with RV hookups, mountain bike/hiking trails, baseball diamonds, a play structure, dense forest, a soccer field, a classic red barn turned picnic shelter, pebbly river front beach, reserve-able yurts, an impressive suspension bridge, views of the Cascades, large open lawns, and hike-in campsites.
Sometimes getting the kids out of the parking lot is difficult because they become interested in some unexpected thing that just happens to be there. It could be as simple as a pinecone or a parking space bumper. That wasn’t a problem here because the suspension bridge is visible from the parking lot and is quite alluring. We made a b-line to it. From the bridge we could see hundreds of salmon swimming upstream to spawn.

Once across the bridge we were at the yurt village. One of the yurts was being cleaned up from the previous nights tenants. The caretaker let us have a look inside… 2 futons, a bunk bed, a heater, and a table w/chairs. It was a pretty simple set-up but sparked my interest to stay in one. Each yurt (and each campsite in the park) comes with a fire ring and a picnic table. The restroom is it’s own building in the middle of the yurt village.

We started to walk along the riverfront trail but came to a large sand deposit from when the river last flooded. It was the best sandbox ever. Our friend was prepared for just such a situation and brought a couple buckets and shovels. The kids were happy to cut our walk short and play a while.

Near the sand pile there was a trail to the river’s edge. I got some footage of the salmon swimming upstream.

On the way out I couldn't help but snap a few pictures of the hardware that holds the bridge up. These bolts are about as large in diameter as my wrist.

Back at the parking lot the kids did find something better than getting back into the car... a puddle of murky water. The little Smittys enjoyed walking through and standing in it to let their feet soak.

After a quick wardrobe change back at the car, we were on our way home. The kiddos were konked before we got to the highway.

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.