Camping Vacation

So I sat down earlier today and decided to go through my 600+ photos that we took while on our vacation and narrowed it down to 60 pictures. That was with me being, in my opinion, very cut throat about which ones to share. So, I am going to try and narrow it down a bit more and break it up into a few different posts. One of these days I will find help for my photo taking condition but until then you will just have to put up with my shenanigans.

We left on Sunday the 12th for our camping vacation, it was a cloudy day but nothing too worrisome. Well, not until we hit Albany and then the rain started. Eh, a little rain never hurt anyone right? Flash, flash, BOOM, the thunder and lightning started and then it started to dump buckets of rain on us. The kind of rain that makes it difficult to even see out of the windshield no matter how fast the wipers are going. It was about this time that I turned to Joel and asked him if there was a Best Western in Florence. Luckily, the big storm was headed away from the coast and by the time we got to Honeyman, it was only sprinkling off and on. We managed to get most of our camp set up during one of the dry spells. The Pyryts showed up while we were setting up our camp, they too hit that fun rain storm on the way down. Unfortunately, all of their stuff was in the trailer and some of the rain got in. So shortly, after they arrived, John and Joel headed into town to dry sleeping bags and pick up pizza for dinner. While they were gone I took the boys on a bike ride down to the lodge and Cleawox Lake. We spent the rest of the night sitting around the fire, chatting and staying warm.

Monday the clouds were letting up and we only had to deal with a little bit of drizzle. Late in the day, we started to see breaks in the clouds. Most of the day was spent at Junior Rangers, walking around the campgrounds and over to Woahink Lake. A few bike rides here and there, lots of time around the campfire, card games, Whoonu, etc. is how we spent the day. Tamara also showed up on Monday, got her camp set up and joined in on the fun.

Tuesday, John and Joel decided to give us ladies a kid-free day by taking all the kids to the Aquarium in Newport. I can't tell you how nice that was. The aquarium was followed by lunch at the Rogue brewery then back to camp. Tamara, Steph and I spent the day down in old town going through all of the cute shops. When we all got back to camp, John and Joel took the kids swimming while I cooked dinner. Just like the previous nights, we spent more time around the campfire and playing games.

Swimming at Woahink Lake was on the agenda for Wednesday, well swimming for all those that can stand swimming in cold water. Cold water and a cool breeze means I stay on dry land. Tamara and I stayed dry and chatted while everyone else, including the three dogs, went swimming. That evening, we decided to head up to the bowl. The bowl is a huge bowl in the dunes right next to the campground. Lots of fun to play up there but we wanted to head up and watch the sunset and sit by a small bonfire that night. All of the kids and dogs had glow sticks so they were easy to find. Joel, John and Tori hiked up to the top of a tall and steep dune called Shooting Bullets. Supposedly called this because it's so high up there, it's windy and the sand that hits you feels like bullets. It didn't take them long to get up there but they all said it was STEEP.

Thursday was spent at Hobbit Beach just down the road from Honeyman. I love Hobbit Beach and looked forward to it all week. Even with the fog, it's always warm and pleasant down there. The fog burned off quickly and we had a great time. I loved walking on the beach, the kids and dogs loved playing in the water and we spent some time just relaxing in the sun on the hot sand. It's such a beautiful place. Thursday night, our last night there, was a blast! After all of the kids went to bed, the five of us adults spent the evening drinking, playing card games and laughing until it hurt.

Friday was spent breaking camp and driving back home. We did make a quick stop in Eugene to see if the guys could tour the Ninkasi Brewery but they missed the tour by a mere 15 minutes.

All in all we had a great trip and we are looking forward to our summer camping trip in 2010 already. We had so much fun with the Pyryt family and Tamara. Hopefully we didn't scare Tamara too bad because we'd love to have her join us again next year. I will post pictures in the morning. For now, I'm off to bed...