Girls backpacking trip

We finally got to go backpacking again!  We weren't able to go the last couple of years but we were able to do a 2 night trip with Auntie Kina on her birthday weekend! We tried to go to Shellrock Lake to try something new. Unfortunately, there was a wildfire too close so the trail was closed.  We headed to Packwood lake since it was close and we'd been there before.  Turned out to be a good thing.  We're not in hiking shape to do much more than we did.  The length was the same but the elevation change would've been triple what we did. Packwood Lake is the first place we went backpacking and it was... uninspiring.  Part of that was weather, the other was our campsite.  We were excited to be backpacking no matter which trail though.

We got to camp around lunchtime.  Since it was Friday we had a ton of choices of campsites. We followed the trail around the lake and found an amazing site!  It was down from the trail, you could barely see the only campsite next to us and we had our own private water entry.

The first thing we did after getting to camp was to put up the hammocks!  It was awesome that we had enough trees to put THREE up next to each other! A lot of time was spent in the hammocks.  Mostly reading, or in Kayda and Kina's case, napping.  Best last minute purchase of the trip for sure.

The smoke was fairly heavy.  We couldn't smell it but you could definitely feel it.

It was nice and toasty Friday so we spent almost the whole time in our swimsuits after setting up camp.

Our campsite...  It was empty a ways to the right.  Then there was a big divide before the next useable site.

I got an expandable 2 gallon jug.  We filled it twice.  The first day Kayda insisted on doing it all herself. Saturday we worked together.

On the hike in I had mentioned that people recommended bringing a floaty but I didn't want to carry the weight.  Kina simply said that we did, in the form of our sleeping mats.  We kind of forgot about it that day.  However, Saturday we decided to give it a go.  

It turned out to be AWESOME and it was warm enough that they dried out quickly for bedtime.  Just in case you were wondering...mine won.

The smoke cleared up just in time for us to be leaving.

We took this picture so we could remember exactly where to find the campsite. We've decided this will be our annual trip. Forget having to find a new one.  We love this spot!

On the hike back we found huckleberries and wild blueberries.  I take after Papa G and thoroughly enjoyed "grazing" on the berries on the way back.

Side note: We found it really entertaining that the boys went camping with Daddy's family.  Daddy would only camp if they could be in the trailer.  Then the girls went backpacking!  Talk about role reversals.

Boys Trip To Packwood

Uncle Pat rented a lot in Packwood and invited everyone to come.  Since Mom and Kayda were backpacking, the boys headed up.  Uncle Pat's Family, Grandma and Papa Hanis, Uncle Greg and Aunt Liz, and Uncle Scott's Family were all there part of the weekend.  They squeezed 3 trailers, all the vehicles, and 3 tents into the lot.  

Daddy had fun reminiscing about the old days he spent in Packwood.  His grandparents (Baba and Grandpa Hanis) owned a lot and cabin in Packwood (High Valley) for over 30 years.  Daddy spent a lot of time there growing up with his parents, brothers, grandparents, uncles/aunts, and cousins.  

He went around showing the boys where the cabin was, the creek they would play in behind it, they walked along the dike that divided the lot from the Cowlitz River, swimming in the community pool, eating pizza at the Packwood Pizza Parlor, and golfing at the nine hole course in the High Valley community (they were able to play two 9 hole rounds).  The boys also had a blast playing with their cousins, as always.  It was a quick trip but fun.

Getting ice cream in town.

The cabin in the back (which was an old water pump shed that was hauled up, and the mobile home to the right (you can see the window and deck.

When Daddy was a kid, where everyone is sitting used to be the main channel of the Cowlitz River.  You could not swim in it as the rapids were to fast.  Now, it was perfect for sitting and playing in.

Butter Peak

Beverly Beach State Park

Our annual trip with our "summer friends" was to Oregon this year.  We're glad we had that planned since so much of Washington was forcibly shut down.  It was chilly, so of course we had to dress warmer than I like to in the summer. Fortunately we only had to get a new wetsuit for Dillon so the kids could enjoy the ocean.

We went to look for critters at devil's punchbowl again.  I appreciate so much that my kids have such a sense of adventure and curiosity.  They didn't hesitate to clamber all over the rocks and look in every nook and cranny.  Then of course they would pick up any crabs and touch the anemones.  We had to work a little to get Ryan and Ethan interested.

Ozzi loved exploring the rocks and followed us anywhere we went.

The beach is too far to walk with any swim stuff so the kids usually rode in the back of their truck. They loved it.

Daddy and Rene have their bromance joke.  They always have to do something like they're gay dad's raising kids alone. I didn't catch their shenanigans this year though.

We went into town and took a whale watching tour.  It was not what I expected.  Did we see a whale? Yes. One whale, the same whale, all we did was follow it down the coast for 45 minutes.  We saw it frequently, it never did anything exciting and we ended up seasick.  I actually talked to a crew member that used to captain the ship (he's retired now and was just helping out that day). I learned more from him than the tour guide that just kept saying "there she blows".  Apparently they can tell the whales apart based on scarring.  They have whales there that don't migrate, they live there year round.  I believe it was around 7 of them.  He described the rock shelves that push the food up along the bluffs so that's where the whales like to hang out.  

Can't go to the Oregon coast without going on quad rides!  We had such a good time when we went with Grandma and Papa H that we HAD to go again.  It was neat to see the kids' confidence levels change since they've been riding at home.

We actually went out to the beach this time.  It was Kayda's favorite place to ride.  We thoroughly enjoyed racing and doing donuts in the sand. It's definitely an easier ride since you can get stuck in the soft dunes fairly easily.

Dad crashed.

Went up to Thor's well again. It didn't disappoint.  Unfortunately, since you're there at high tide, there aren't any tide pools.  However, we saw whales.  They were hanging out just off the coast.  Didn't need to go on that whale tour after all.

We had a couple fires on the beach as we really enjoy them. 

We were hoping to see the tide come in and put out our fire. It took too long so we had to deal with it before we left the beach.

It's impossible for my boys to be near a hill or rocks and NOT climb around.