We went camping

Last weekend, the day after our 9th wedding anniversary - we packed up the minivan and headed to the beach for a little camping trip.  We returned to a spot we visited last summer - Beverly Beach, between Newport and Lincoln City.  It was a completely different experience from last summer's visit.  You may remember that we woke up after our stormy night to find ourselves sleeping on a giant puddle of water.  It was sort of like pitching a tent on a waterbed.  Not this time though.
Our drive took us directly to Lincoln City and when we reached the beach we were surprised to find so much sunshine (not really in the forecast). So, of course we made an unscheduled stop to enjoy the beach - you just never know what you will find 30 minutes down the road on the coast. It was in the mid 60's with clear blue skies. We stayed and played for a couple hours before heading further down the coast to our campsite - it was dinner time and we were all hungry. But we managed to set up camp, take care of dinner and head to the beach for more fun in the sun and a wonderful sunset. A fantastic first day to a really nice beachy weekend.

more camping pics

Andy finally got to put our little hammock to use on our last camping trip. This was a wedding gift, so it only took us 8 years to test it out. The girls loved the hammock, but since I had to stand next to them to make sure they didn't flip out (do you see those tree stumps right under Andy's bum?) - I didn't really love it so much. Maybe next trip, we will have a campsite with a friendlier place to land should we fall out.

With only two camping trips under our belts, lightsticks for the girls has become a quick tradition. I bought them the first time, just so that they wouldn't drive Andy nutso with wanting the flashlight all the time. They didn't forget, and were thrilled that the sticks made a second appearance. I'll have to remember this next summer.

I love the designs that the lightsticks made and I am thrilled that something small like this for the girls also gave Andy something fun to do. Good times all around.

Camp food

Our camping background is a little different from what we experienced on the coast a few weeks back. I have only been backpacking, except for the one night that Jackie and I spent sleeping on the side of the Grand Canyon and the one night we slept out in New Mexico and then the one night we slept in the van in a rest stop along the highway heading west for our new home. Oh, and the night Jackie and I were in West Virginia and we tried to cook corn-on-the-cob in a fire pit, and we tried to cook whole, raw potatoes in a fire pit and all we ended up with was a single Jiffy Pop of popcorn. There may be a few others like that as well, but moving on...

When backpacking, I nearly always survived on lots of water and gatorade, trailmix, hot cocoa, honey nut cheerios, and instant chicken noodle soup (just add water). But, that was just for me, and I certainly didn't have the luxury of a cooler in my pack. Even the girls would bore of that diet quickly.

When Charley was a young pup (before the girls), Andy and I decided to take her camping - just to see if she would do well, so we picked a site on the Salmon Creek Trail that we could hike to, but also quickly get to the car should she be crazy. This one night trip is when Andy introduced me to "foil packs". A hamburger, some sliced potatoes, onions, mushrooms, and peppers and seasoning is wrapped in foil. To cook, you literally just put it on the fire - the hotter the better. It really works, and it was delicious, especially in reference to my sketchy camp food background. I always considered this to be an Olson original, having never heard of it before. So, yesterday when I came across this article - this one - well, I was a bit surprised! It has all the ingredients and it even includes Andy's favorite seasoning - Tony Chachere's.

Needless to say, our first meal at the campsite was a dinner made of foil packs. Just like the one's described above. Then, since our only campstove was intended for backpacking and not for cooking for a whole family, we made everything else on a stick. The girls had hot dogs, s'mores, even breakfast sausage the next morning. It was fun enough, and low maintenance (there was very little for us to clean) - but I think we need to do better next time. So, we are borrowing our neighbor's fancy grill with burner and intend for everyone to eat more than one great meal (obviously, the foil pack on our last trip).

REI executives read my blog!

Well, that's what we decided anyway.

See, a couple days ago, I edited a previous post to add a link to the tent we would like to have. I put it there, partly just as a place to save it since the rebate doesn't happen until March. But, less than a day later I received an e-mail. It was from REI and it was offering 25% off one REI brand product. Uh, really? Did you read my blog? Because, now you just made it an even better deal. Thanks! So really - my grandparents, Andy's parents and REI executives read my blog. Today after lunch we took the girls to REI. The employee who went in search of one of these tents came back with tent in hand and moved another tent out of the way. We got to set it up right there - the girls immediately climbed in and checked it out. They gave it four thumbs up. So, it was decided. When Andy checks with work tomorrow, I will be online reserving some campsites in Crater Lake and Bend for a few weeks down the road. One problem though - we can't take Charley to Crater Lake. That is a serious bummer... so we are still deciding on that part.

Nehalem Bay

So, I have a bunch of pictures from our stay on the coast. The best way to share them is to post one here and include the link to all the rest on Facebook. They are there, so go and enjoy.

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=66884&id=1639924057&l=111653d050

Now that we know the girls are campers, we have our eyes on a family tent. We hope to borrow the neighbors' tent one more time, then we have a yert reserved for the end of August. So, when the REI rebate happens in the spring, this is the one we have our eyes on:

http://www.rei.com/product/777768 - between the rebate and the 20% off coupon that comes with it, we should get a great deal and will be planning some long weekends for next summer. Woot!!!