The Barkers love to camp. It's in our blood or something. Most springs, summers, and autumns, you can find us in a tent or trailer, hanging out in a beautiful place. Unfortunately, for a multitude of reasons, we haven't camped once this spring.
It was a travesty of earthquake size proportions, so we promptly rectified the problem by packing everyone and everything up this past Friday and heading somewhere sunny and hot. We pointed ourselves in an easterly direction and landed at Memaloose State Park in the Columbia River Gorge. We are not normally state park campers- we generally prefer to not see any people, much less those who hang out in giant rvs with satellite dishes and big screen tvs, but Memaloose is just so ideally located, it's difficult to pass up. We went there last year for Mother's Day and we have fond memories. We are creatures of habit, what can we say?
Upon arrival, Hazel celebrated a return to camping by stripping off all of her clothes and running around naked. Who DOESN'T love to camp naked? Bravo, Hazel, for having the guts to do so!
Then, Hazel slept for 10 hours. This is a bigger deal than you may surmise. Hazel is an amazing sleeper, but she has recently developed this opinion thing. Her opinion is that if she happens to be traveling with her parents AND she gets to sleep in the same room, then she gets to play with them all night.It seems that we have a difference of opinion.
Turns out that Hazel is actually smarter than we think. After explaining the concept of sleeping on the floor in the trailer and then setting up her bed, she quickly adopted all 2 square feet available to her as "MINE!" and curled up in her cozy sleeping bag and fell asleep.
Thus far, this is the only time that "MINE!" has worked in our favor. Adult beverages were later enjoyed by the campfire while the toddler snored away.
Last year, we attempted a hike up to Tom McCall Point above the Gorge, but gale-force winds scared us away. This year, the winds were calm and Hazel weighed about 15 more pounds. I am not really sure which is more torturous.
Barkernews gamely carried the increasingly heavier Hazel while huffing and puffing up the 1000 vertical feet. I bounded ahead and kept worrying that he was going to have a heart attack. It was all worth it. The views at Tom McCall Point are truly spectacular and the top is a very kid-friendly meadow filled with wildflowers. Also, I wore a tank top, as evidenced by this picture. Not only that, but I was hot. That was so awesome.
After a quick descent and some sandwiches, we headed to Mosier for a fast bike ride to Hood River. Once again, I lucked out and did not have to deal with Hazel weight. I rode my super light, super fast race bike. Barkernews did not. He rode his commuter bike, fenders and all, and towed Hazel in the trailer. I had fun beating him up all the climbs and pretending that we were in a team time trial. Barkernews had fun? Yeah, I'm not sure.
Why did we ride to Hood River? For ice cream, of course! We promptly rode back to camp and filled Hazel with more sugar- her first s'more. She liked it and asked for more. Or was she asking for a s'more? Or maybe more s'more? Sometimes I make mistakes in my toddler translations.
On Sunday, Joe and Ky showed up and we went rock climbing! In the desert! And it was hot! I keenly noticed that it happened to be raining in Portland. I laughed. We had never been to Horsethief Butte before and wow, it is a cool place. The climbing is great, despite the reality of having to set top ropes, and the scenery is spectacular. In addition, there is no one there. MY FAVORITE KIND OF PLACE.
We topped off our day with-what else?- more ice cream and then drove through a rain storm back to Portland. Or, I heard that there was a rain storm. How would I know? I was fast asleep.
I am now sunburned, scratched up, overdosed on sugar, and tired. It was the kind of weekend I looked forward to for weeks and one I will remember for a long time to come. For me, nothing can outdo camping with my family in the desert sun, doing all of our favorite activities (yes, ice cream is a hobby). I can honestly say that I faced Monday with a sense of dread. The weather was gray and rainy, the work day seemed unnecessarily long, and my two favorite people did not get to come out and play with me in the sun.
I am already dreaming of our next weekend as desert rats. Only 10 days until Memorial Day and counting.
