Do you have any idea how hard it is to pick things up when the adults stick one of these bubble things on you?!

Originally published at Michael and Jaspenelle. Please leave any comments there.

Imagine this picture, only in the dark, after a long drive down a rocky dirt road with a six-year-old scared that the bears would get her in the back of the van. That would be us on Friday night, driving to South Skookum Campground. Apparently the ranger I have talked to earlier in the day had been wrong about it being open. It closed on Labor Day, which was the weekend before!

Skookum is one of those wonderful secluded campgrounds, you know, the ones without phone reception? Which is awesome, except when you are stuck out there late at night with no way to tell the people who are coming up the next day that it is closed. However, we are a stubborn resourceful group of Pagans, so with a little bit of exploring by lantern light, we were delighted to find the host site was only 200 yards down the road and that someone had left the outhouse unlocked (double score!)

So we hoofed the basics down there (tents, sleeping bags and diapers,) pitched the tents and settled in for the night. Sal played his Native American flute for a time, a beautiful sound to drift off to sleep with. I did wake up three times during the night. A couple of the times were for Damian’s usual nursing and changing^[1] and once was to the sound of coyotes in the distance and something scamper past my tent (possibly a chupacabra or a baby sasquatch…)

The view coming out of our tents in the morning completely made up for Friday night’s misadventures though:

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Originally published at Michael and Jaspenelle by Jaspenelle. Please leave any comments there.

(Me at Skookum Lake, WA in 2006)

So it is decided! We are going camping up at Skookum Lake on September 5th, 6th and 7th with Shannon and Rachelle. Andrea and Peter might be coming up on the 6th too. I am so psyched!

Skookum is in the Colville National Forest. I haven’t been there since 2006, so it will be interesting to see if it has changed much. I hope not! The campground is perfect, 25 spots, not to big or small, lots of trees (not like those campgrounds devoid of greenery.) There is a trail all around the lake that is wonderful, and then the lake itself of course, totally gorgeous. It is $12 a night per vehicle. The only thing I am unsure of is if there will be a ban on campfires that weekend, but there is lots of rain in this week’s forecast though so hopefully any ban will be lifted by the 5th.

Last time we went, we drove up to Gardner Cave in Crawford State Park and walked across the US/Canadian border, but this time we will probably spend more time at the lake. My swimsuit does not fit so I will be doing the t-shirt and shorts bathsuit thing. Besides that I have no idea how anyone could breastfeed in a one-piece suit.

I am not worried about how Damian will be out there, he loves being outside and we cosleep. We are going to have to bring all his cloth diapers to make it through, and his potty. And we’ll have a bucket if handwashing is needed. On a side note, he will be turning 3 months old while we are there. He was 17-lbs yesterday and 26-inches long, which is the average size of a 6 month old, he is growing so fast!

So, twelve days to get everything together, which more then enough time (too much time!) I am already pulling out and sorting our camping stuff though, as well as plotting a dehydrator meal for Friday or Saturday night. Any ideas? Our dutch oven kind of got left on the patio all the winter and has rust, I have no idea how to remove that… Elbow grease and wire brush? Michael always makes cobbler in it. He is an excellent cook when it comes to camping, must be a boy scout thing.

I can’t wait!

(Blue tarps are a necessary accoutrement for the Northwest camper, but hopefully we will avoid the biggest thunderstorm of the season this time!)

Originally published at Michael and Jaspenelle by Jaspenelle. Please leave any comments there.