Chief Timothy Camping

Due to close friends having their baby this March our group did not take our annual Memorial Day Weekend  camping trip to La Wis Wis. Our inaugural (and what turned out to be our only) camping trip this year ended up being in August to the Chief Timothy Campground just outside of Clarkston, WA. My parents had been to this campground before and really liked it, but this was my first time so I was unsure what to expect. Sometimes our ideas of good campgrounds differ, is all.

Our adventure started out on a down note, unfortunately, as Abby woke up early from her nap (after only an hour of what is normally three) and then got carsick and threw up all over her and her car seat 20 minutes from our destination. Finally, we arrived at the campground and what I saw was really great. As we came in there was a pretty decent looking swim area off the river and when we found our campsite it was far enough away from the other campsites that, while there weren't a lot of trees for privacy, we did have a feeling of being by ourselves.

The weekend was a much needed relaxation time for all of us. There was a beer festival in Clarkston that Nate, my Dad, Mom, brother, Jerry (a family friend), and I enjoyed while Gayla (married to Jerry) graciously stayed back at the campsite and watched Abby for us as the festival wasn't her thing. We also went down to float in the river close to six times that weekend. It took a minute or two to get used to the temperature but after that the river felt really good, especially in the evening after we'd been in 100+ degrees all day.

Personally, the best part of the weekend was when Nate let me sleep in on Saturday morning. Our Abby is a fantastic sleeper...when she's in a room by herself. At home we easily get 11 hours of continuous sleeping. We even get this when we're at Nate's parents house, so long as she's in a room by herself. Put her in the same room as us and she sleeps horribly. I think that when she gets to the part of REM sleep where it's lighter she hears us and it wakes her up so that she checks things out. In doing so sees us and then decides that it's time to wake up. This trip we used my parent's tent which has two 'rooms' divided by a curtain. That curtain saved my sanity. Abby still woke up a time or two (especially during the night that the next campsite over had their kids running around and they themselves partying until late into the night) but because she couldn't see us she soon settled back down. Saturday morning she woke bright and early with the sun but Nate also seemed a bit on the awake side so he took her out of the tent to give me a few more minutes to snooze. Those few minutes turned into almost three hours! I finally woke up when I felt like I was being baked to death inside the stuffy tent. Ah...a mom sleeping in while camping. Who'd have thought!

Next year I hope to get more camping in and this spot will be on my list of campgrounds to go to. Quick and easy to get to, a fun swim area for Abby (and me!), and a decent distance from your fellow campers to give some privacy.

Look how long my baby's hair is! I was sleeping in the tent where her hair supplies were so she went as Cousin It for the morning.

She had lots of fun bouncing on the floats for the river.

Gayla lovingly walked with Abby to keep her entertained. It was definitely love because my back aches from bending over to the height of the stroller when pushing and Gayla is much taller than I. Her back had to be feeling these walks!

My Honey Bunny is so proud of herself on her bike! (Oh, and my Mom found a rubber band eventually so she had some sweet 80s looking hair for a while.)

Nate brought a badminton set which we all enjoyed.

Abby eventually found the dog's water dishes. We'd just filled this one up with fresh water when she wanted to take a peak at what was inside.

Since she'd seen the dogs do this she thought she'd stick her head in for a drink, too!

Water in the nose! I couldn't pass up these pictures. Germs are good, right?! :-)

And this was my 'special' moment for the weekend. My Dad had dropped a paper cover for one of the knives behind the stove in their trailer. His and Nate's arms were too big to reach down to get it so I thought I'd try mine. It took a bit of wiggling but I eventually got my arm down behind the stove and was able to grasp something (which turned out to be a plastic bag that had fallen back there and not the knife at all) when I went to pull my arm up and found out I was stuck! And I don't mean stuck as in it took a minute to wiggle my way back out. I mean stuck like Nate had to hold my lower body off the ground so that I could get the right angle on my upper body so it didn't feel like I was ripping my arm off. Eventually I was able to squish the skin of my arm small centimeter by small centimeter up and over the back edge of the counter. When I was finally free I looked at my arm and saw a big red spot and lots of scrape marks in the bicep area. A few days later I had a nice green bruise to show for being a loving daughter. And wouldn't you know, after my mishap someone went and found some tongs and pulled that knife cover up in two shakes of a lamb's tail. :-)