It’s quiet now. All are sleeping. We’ve been moving most of the weekend and week. We just returned hot and tired from our third church sponsored Gold Basin camping trip. My overwhelming impression from the trip is of community. Our church family spans the environs of Seattle and beyond. My interactions are often a few quick words and a smile while I dash after my active toddler. For two brief days, we were neighbors and in definite, life giving ways a community of Christ.
The week leading up to the camping trip was swim camp for Sara. Sara and Johanna, with the blessed help of Audra, went to swim camp at our club for my days of work. Every evening, I would pick up Sara and she’d still be swimming, 3 hrs after her lesson. Audra set up a huge inflatable pool and another kiddy pool with warm water. So the girls just kept swimming once they got to Johanna’s house. My adventures with swim camp are for a different entry.
Friday morning, I put the kids in daycare the earliest I’d ever gotten them there. I then hightailed it up to Northgate to join Wayne and Doug in line to purchase an iPhone. There was an air of excitement about the whole thing. The good folks at the Ram came out with free coffee. The folks at ATT were nice, but the activation process was offline and it took another 2 hrs at home to get the phones working. For awhile, we considered being off the grid if we couldn’t get the phones to work before the camping trip. It was a good weekend to be away because the transition to MobileMe was a bit of a mess. We were far away from the freneticness.
Wayne watched Laura while I took the girls to swim camp. They both did well. Sara learned kickboard skills and got a fun certificate. We left around 4:30pm and took Johanna with us. Johanna was mesmorized by the DVD player. Wayne was smart and bought a pass at the gas station on the way up. We arrived at Gold Basin around 7pm.
We found our individual site and then drove back to the group site to eat dinner. The camp host came over and said it was fine to have more people in the group site. We took that as a blessing and forsook our individual site. So I got my wish to have the group site experience. It made the difference for me being able to socialize and relax with other people versus hanging out at an individual site while the kids slept.
Phil fed us a steak dinner. They had left overs so we didn’t even break out our stove. That meant our sandwiches were all made for the next days hike. Wayne got the tent set up. It’s such a nice home. It fits our family’s need well. Laura rebelled against bedtime and didn’t go to sleep till 10pm. I got to make a smore despite my daughter’s insomnia.
Saturday, Laura and I slept in. Sara and Wayne went down to the river. I figured we get there, but the day went differently. Wayne made us a pancake breakfast (w/ chocolate chips!)
The whole group decided on Heather Lake, a 4 mile, 1,400 foot elevation climb through old growth forest. Wayne decided to carry Laura. The hike was beautiful, but a bit of a mistake. It was not designed for our aged kids. The trail was always on an incline so the stopping places were few and not very safe. The middle third went over avalanche ground which was rocky and rooty and difficult for small legs. The girls ran on for the promise of snow. Alex would call to Sara and say “come on baby Spirit.” Sara loved this.
Snow was fun at first. We went the less tame way. Sara started slipping and sliding and becoming unsure of herself. She was unhappy. We pushed through to the lake to have a place to rest. Sara was psychologically stressed out. She recovered with food and friends. We had to rely on Phil and Audra to help us carry Sara over the snow. She was terrified of walking on it. She was tired and cranky for the long, grueling walk down the avalanche section. Her Dad guided her steps with his walking stick. This encouraged her lots and she was able walk down most of the trail. Burke would come at times and give her a short ride on his shoulders. With community, we made it down. Laura cried for the last 30 min, tired of being in the carrier.
We arrived at camp late and exhausted. Luckily, there was a group meal of burritos waiting for us. It was awesome. Laura and Jane took baths in the dirt. I got complimented on my parenting style. Laura earned her bath when she dumped a pail of dirt on her head. She went to bed on time and I got to enjoy the evening. I made more smores and a dough baby.
Sunday was more pancakes. Breaking down camp took a lot of work. I essentially watched the kids (making sure dirt was avoided) and Wayne did the heavy lifting. Worship service was fun. We sang fun songs. A fitting end to our last church endeavor at Gold Basin. Wayne and I were exhausted. We stopped at McD’s for lunch and ran in to Mike and Amy.