Nature/Environment & Personal Posted by Oaktown Girl, 14 Sep 2007 05:45 am

Kids and Vacations - Part Deux

By Seattle
{Continuing a travelogue began here, and which ended with this: So we left Ruby Beach and survived the ride home despite regular reminders of boredom in the van. Did the boys have a good time? Yes. Were they glad we went? Yes. Even though at times they had to be dragged from the van, they were glad they went.}

Encouraged by this review, we expanded the concept for the next weekend and went to the San Juan Islands, adding my sister, niece, and ex-brother in law. This was full blown camping and since I had to make a last minute doctor’s visit before leaving, not nearly as organized as the first weekend. First we went to Shaw Island, known as the island that is least visited in the four islands that get Washington State Ferry service.
seattle_vaca_shawislandpark.jpg
Shaw Island County Park, where we camped.

We found once we got there that children do not pack well and parents should always double check their work. Trying to sleep short two sleeping bags and two mats was quite the challenge. We couldn’t figure out where the missing sleeping bag was. Then sometime in the middle of the night my sister shoots up, unzips the tent door (which is an extremely loud sound on Shaw Island…) stomps off and comes back with a sleeping bag saying, “I woke up because my feet were freezing and I suddenly realized I’d packed one of the sleeping bags in the cooler….” I laughed and I laughed and well, I laughed. Then I was warm, but sleeping half on a mat, half on a folded up blanket….sigh. As an interesting aside, sometime in that relatively sleepless night, I woke and heard a rumbling noise. It went on and on and my befuddled brain was trying to figure out what it was. At one point I was wondering if the GNF had finally occurred (which shows just how deeply ingrained that fear is, given I was half asleep), but I finally decided it was the late night ferry going by between the islands. [Informational Note from the Minister of Justice: when Great Gojira does come to bring the Giant Nuclear Fireball, there will be neither doubt, nor doubters!]

Next day we headed to San Juan Island in hopes of seeing some orca whales:seattle_vaca_sanjuan08025.jpg
Lime Kiln State Park on San Juan Island

We ate in Friday Harbor where I found my niece has developed the distressing tendency to knock her drink glass over into the lap of the person sitting next to her. I…was sitting next to her. Sigh. I also found that both of my sons had failed to bring coats of any kind and we ARE talking about western Washington here so I dutifully made my contribution to the local economy in the form of replacements and a sleeping mat for good measure. Have I sighed yet? We located the official whale watching park and proceeded to see no whales, though my sister claims she saw a fin…
seattle_vaca_whale_70.jpg
The whale we didn’t see…Photo compliments of the Seattle Times

I heard on NPR on Monday morning that a whole pod had showed up Sunday evening with a baby they estimated at 2 weeks old. Such is life.

I have to say that adding additional family members to the vacation had its up-side and its down-side. My ex-brother-in-law is Iranian, so he made some lovely jokes about some extremely spicy olives being a form of domestic terrorism. LOL There’s an ongoing debate as to which child is more spoiled, my 8 year old son or my 16 year old niece…which made for some relationship stretching moments, but we survived. And my final conclusion: The taste of corn on the cob roasted over an open fire with baked potatoes pulled from the embers and chicken is worth the hassle it takes to get there - especially at 9:30 at night.

Next vacation? Agnes Creek Gorge. I understand you have to take a boat up Lake Chelan to get there-no roads in whatsoever.

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Responses to “Kids and Vacations - Part Deux”

  1. on 14 Sep 2007 at 9:32 am 1. Seattle said …

    As an update to that last bit, we didn’t make it to Agnes Creek Gorge over Labor Day Weekend. I was too late in pursuing reservations, etc and evidently it’s the kind of location people prepare to visit as much as a year in advance. No sweat, we hit The Ohanapecosh river south of Mt Rainier Park for a really special camping experience-complete with drunken neighbors, fireworks at freaking 1am and camp dog chasing…but ya get what ya pay for, and it was free and didn’t have to be reserved….
    http://community.iexplore.com/planning/journalEntryActivity.asp?JournalID=7676&EntryID=13946&n=Free+Camping

    The best part of the trip was down Highway 23 headed toward Mt Adams where we stopped at Layser Cave:
    http://www.nwhiker.com/GPNFHike18.html
    Then Takhlakh Lake just north of Mt Adams:
    http://accessibletrails.com/SW_Wa/images/takhlakh.jpg

    Mt. Adams doesn’t get as much traffic as Rainier, St Helens, or Mt Hood (in Oregon) because all the major population centers are to the west and you basically hit some other impressive peak before you get to Adams.

  2. on 14 Sep 2007 at 9:35 am 2. Seattle said …

    Also, the eastern half of Mt Adams is on Yakima Indian Reservation.

  3. on 14 Sep 2007 at 12:48 pm 3. Oaktown Girl said …

    Off Topic:
    Travel is nice. But Gojira has blessed me in that I don’t have to travel anywhere to be represented by one of the best, if not the best, person in Congress: Barbara Lee. Jane Hamshire reminds us all why here.

    Today is the 6th anniversary of her courageous immediate post 9/11 solo “no” vote against giving Bush unchecked warmaking powers. She was the…only…one.

    YouTube of the speech at the above link.

  4. on 14 Sep 2007 at 2:14 pm 4. spyder said …

    Many (almost too many) years ago, my roommates (and later even a couple of ex-wives) and i created a ritual for leaving our condo to go skiing. Each and every day we would recite: skis, boots, poles; gloves, goggles, pass!!! Later we began to add more items, and created similar rituals for day hikes, backpack trips, longer camping tours, and even just going to concerts. Keeping the lists short helped, focusing on those specific items that are essential and singular in importance. For example you can get by with missing some extra clothes but: tent, bag, pad, jacket, gloves, hat are essential for camping.

    Most classic missing item list i heard this summer came from a festival caterer in the northwest (who shall remain nameless), needing to ask (doing so over the operations channel of our radios {not a brilliant move in itself either}) for (and i kid you not) a chef knife, can opener, and kitchen towels. This is a big deal backstage event; you bring a giant truck full of equipment, food, and other resources with which to prepare, cook, and distribute meals; and you don’t have a knife, a can-opener, or something to wipe stuff up with??????? Seattle, don’t feel bad about the bag, pad, and jacket.

  5. on 14 Sep 2007 at 2:26 pm 5. Oaktown Girl said …

    When I think about a sleeping bag, first thing that comes to mind is something warm. A sleeping bag in the ice chest is rather counter-intuitive. No wonder no one thought to look there!

    A chef forgetting knives though? Beyond belief.

  6. on 14 Sep 2007 at 2:34 pm 6. Seattle said …

    I had a can opener…which we never used. LOL Heading out for the day to go meet with various school officials. Facinating child related details next week… LOL

    You all have a good weekend-

  7. on 14 Sep 2007 at 9:12 pm 7. JP Stormcrow said …

    Each and every day we would recite: skis, boots, poles; gloves, goggles, pass

    Our general purpose equivalent is to “drive around the park” before any significant trip. Down the street is a park with a loop road of about 1/3 mile - the family ritual is to loop around the park - no music/ipods/gameboys - while everybody thinks about what they might have forgotten. Return trips to the house are not uncommon. This practice became “The Law”, a few years back after we were nearly an hour into a trip to New York City, when we realized that we had neglected some necessary arrangement with the cat (and due to a number of travel coincidences no one available to call and arrange remotely.) I insisted on taking a different route the second time out (more notherly I-80, rather than PA Turnpike) just to reduce having the fact that we had backtracked right in my face.

  8. on 14 Sep 2007 at 9:29 pm 8. Kiera PSI said …

    You all are not going to BELIEVE the long list of items I forgot for our week long trip to Vegas. Here goes:

    1. My Camera (D-Man remembered his, fortunately)
    2. Food in Freezer (we had a full kitchen to use)
    3. The D-Man’s snacks (remembered mine)
    4. The D-Man’s swim suit (his fault)
    5. My nightgowns (not that big a deal)
    6. My panties (a VERY big deal)
    7. The casino club cards (all of them)
    8. Our deed to our condo (needed to change it to my married name)

    I became known as the “bad kiera” for the duration of the trip. But the D-Man spent lots of money on me anyway.

  9. on 15 Sep 2007 at 11:23 am 9. JP Stormcrow said …

    I have been blessed with the opportunity to spend a fair bit of time in and around Seattle and so have had a number of great trips to a number of the natural areas in Washington. On one backpacking trip in the Cascade Pass area of North Cascades Park we hiked down the Stehekin River towards Lake Chelan. One of my companions was an Englishman who although a willing enough hiker, hated sleeping on the ground and eating the dried food we had brought. He convinced himself that there would be a pub or somesuch at the trailhead on that side (we were parked over on the North) and insisted that we hike down - of course we found nothing but a dusty turnaround where I believe a shuttle bus from the ferry came once a day. His disappointment was palpable (and vocal) on the hike back to camp.

    A couple of nice day hikes you might try with the kids are Wallace Falls and Barclay Lake off the Stevens Pass highway (which is a great drive in spring or late fall for the view of Mt. Index - one of my friends calls it the best sub-6000 foot mountain in the world.)

  10. on 15 Sep 2007 at 11:40 am 10. JP Stormcrow said …

    And speaking of mountains and pictures, I was frustrated not to find on the web my favorite picture(s) of the Mt. St. Helens explosion. As I remember them, a couple of climbers were taking pictures of each other on top of Mt. Adams when the explosion happened in the background, one of the climbers literally fell back in disbelief.

    I never hiked near Mt. Adams, but I did get a chance to drive past it on the Yakima side. I love the abrupt transition from wet to dry you get on the east side of the Cascades.

  11. on 15 Sep 2007 at 3:06 pm 11. Oaktown Girl said …

    Sweet Lord Astaroth, Kiera! Did you try to pack without making a list? Bad, bad, BAD idea!

    Even if you make a list, it’s still possible to forget something, but NEVER a whole bunch of things. Another good list-making tip is to start your list about 2 days before you actually begin packing. That way, as items/things to add occur to you, you can add them to the list. It’s almost impossible to remember everything that goes on a list all in one sitting. And now of course, with computers, it’s easy to make a permanent list of things you’ll always need for a trip, then you can just add the other needed items to it.

    Well, I hope you had a good time, and welcome back! The number of typos in our posts while you were gone when up exponentially. So, you know, get back to work!!! :)

  12. on 15 Sep 2007 at 3:26 pm 12. spyder said …

    Forward toward more fun: Adams and Baker are really excellent peaks to climb and ski; Rainier on a good three-day weather window provides unparalleled views beyond one’s own expansive imagination; St Helens is worth it now just to see the grow-out of the new forests and watersheds; Hood is too many people but another stunning view.

    the best sub-6000 foot mountain in the world. I would agree, as well as adding that for the most part the Cascades are some of the best sub-6000 alpine hiking anywhere in the world. Each year my buddies and i end up doing a high country Sierra trip (all above 9500′) because it is relatively local (was for me too for years) and because there really is nothing like that rock and the light during the late Summer/early Fall. But one of these years i will convince them that these Northern Cascades are damn fine, especially upstate around the borderlands w/ Canada as well as the Okanagans.

  13. on 15 Sep 2007 at 3:51 pm 13. christian h. said …

    when up exponentially.

    Now this is what I call subtle humor.

    I’ll actually visit Seattle for the first time in early October (only for a couple days, sadly, and mostly work-related). But we might get a hike in.

  14. on 15 Sep 2007 at 3:59 pm 14. Oaktown Girl said …

    I became known as the “bad kiera” for the duration of the trip. But the D-Man spent lots of money on me anyway.

    Word to the D-Man: if you buy your wife regular panties instead of the edible ones, they last longer and you save a lot of money.

  15. on 15 Sep 2007 at 5:21 pm 15. Bill Benzon said …

    this too is only a test, and nothing more

  16. on 15 Sep 2007 at 5:40 pm 16. christian h. said …

    Both tests failed. James, how did you get spam filter to go after Bill for a change??

  17. on 15 Sep 2007 at 5:44 pm 17. JP Stormcrow said …

    Was amused that currently if you Google search waagnfnp (I am at my son’s computer), the short synopsis line reads:

    This is bullshit. Continue Reading » · Comments (30) · Apocalypse & Science &

  18. on 15 Sep 2007 at 5:49 pm 18. Bill Benzon said …

    Can’t have a rip roaring GNF without a lot of bullshit to fuel it.

  19. on 15 Sep 2007 at 7:19 pm 19. Kiera PSI said …

    And did you notice, they attribute that line to Kiera PSI? I think Michael is the only one to quote that line directly (this is b…s…t). Geez.

    On the other hand, they also put up the anacronym dictionary link, within which we are correctly defined, so that is a plus.

  20. on 15 Sep 2007 at 7:22 pm 20. James Killus said …

    Ah, sorry. I had surgery yersterday, so obviously Spam Filter realized that he could neglect his wife for the day and pursue his real passion, soliciting men in public restrooms harrassing the good citizens of this blog.

    Little does Spam Filter know that we Killus’ are a greater threat when coming out of anesthesia. The nurses were trying to interpret (what seemed to me at the time to be a perfectly reasonable demonstration that I knew where I was and had my wits about me) a recitation of the beginnings of Howl and Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas. I refrained from reciting Naked Lunch as a demonstration that I knew I was in neither New Orleans, Mexico, nor Interzone. None of this kept me from having a tumble with Spam Filter’s wife.

  21. on 15 Sep 2007 at 7:58 pm 21. JP Stormcrow said …

    Can’t have a rip roaring GNF without a lot of bullshit to fuel it.

    Which for reasons obscure and opaque made me think of:
    Buffalo buffalo Buffalo buffalo buffalo buffalo Buffalo buffalo.

    .. or maybe it is the result of being in State College where the Nittany Lions made sloppy work in dispatching the overmatched University at Buffalo Bulls.

  22. on 15 Sep 2007 at 11:54 pm 22. Oaktown Girl said …

    JP (#17) re: the Google - you know where that quote comes from? It come from my Guess What? You May Be Working Class post of Sept. 4, 2007! It’s the last line before you have to click the “continue” button to read the rest of the post! If you scroll down the front page of the blog today, you can still see it, or if you click on my name in the Author Archive. Ha!

    James - hope you get well soon. Are you going to be in the hospital long? I can be right over with a small crew of stuffed animals and DVD’s and CD’s and stuff. (I know how much you’d love that!) You know, if you had started quoting Naked Lunch, the medical staff just would have probably put you back under full anesthesia! And by the way, no wrestling with Spam Filter until you get better. I don’t want you accidentally ripping out your stitches and getting blood (or worse) all over the blog.

    Also on the get well soon list - brother Christian, who may subconsciously be linking the Cubs still being in the thick of the race (after he wrote them off a few weeks ago) to his being sick, thus keeping him sick.

    And Cal won today after a very sluggish start to the game. At first I wondered if I’d have to turn off my radio and not listen just to avoid the stress. So, not a bad Saturday.

  23. on 16 Sep 2007 at 1:40 pm 23. Kiera PSI said …

    This is bullshit.
    Continue Reading » Comments (30)

    Apocalypse & Science & WAAGNFNP [edit this] Posted by Kiera PSI, 31 Aug 2007 06:18 am

    So it is…and my post on Conservation is right after it which explains why my name was on it. Interesting how they picked up THAT particular line.

  24. on 16 Sep 2007 at 5:00 pm 24. James Killus said …

    Oaktown Girl, I was out of the hospital the same day, Friday, and have been home ever since, such are the wonders of outpatient surgery. I will, however, be returning to work Monday.

    I don’t think that I actually have any stitches; these days they seem to prefer to use glue and tape. I do have a drain in my arm for a few days. The procedure was “axial dissection” which is most often performed on masectomy patients–yo, sisterhood is powerful–and involves removing all the lymph nodes in the armpit.

    More fun with Google: we make #3 in the search for Giant Nuclear Fireball (the first two being by the dangeral Bérubé), and my search on waagnfnp gives something about a can opener as the first listing, so the Great Google knows something about flux. Or shows a different face to each supplicant.

  25. on 16 Sep 2007 at 6:11 pm 25. Spam Filter said …

    Thanks for the update, James. But isn’t that an excessively detailed lie just to cover up a scrotum tuck? You should have gone with something more believable like “gallstones” or “Ebola virus”.