Whistler's Mother and Toru’s fine self

Columbia Hills camping

Our first tent camping trip of the year took us to Columbia Hills State Park.  Neither Jack nor I had driven through the part of the state south of Yakima or spent any time on the Columbia River, so it was novel.  From cancelled trips last summer we have learned to plan adventure in Eastern Washington early in the season when fires and excessive heat are less likely.

We spent three nights camping, which was a good decision because of the length of the drive and we enjoyed sharing the trip and our meals with good friends.

Friday night we set up our tent in the windiest conditions I’ve camped in, which is what I had been led to expect for the area.  Funnily enough though it was hardly windy at all the rest of the weekend and we actually had thundershowers that cut short our swim and left seven of us huddled in the bathroom one afternoon.  Most of the time though it was pretty nice and not as hot as I had feared it would be.

The first picture below is a petroglyph we saw on a short walking tour.  Not much is known about them, but many tribes converged on the area and it sounds like it is roughly 400 years old, perhaps.

 

For Fathers’ Day, the two dads took an adult-paced hike while the rest of us enjoyed a decidedly kid-paced, much shorter hike.

No one got bit by a rattlesnake though the possibility had me a bit freaked out.  The long hours of daylight this time of year have their advantages, but it was impossible to maintain anything close to a normal bed time for the kids.

The roof is ready for summer!

Earlier this month we finished building our four roof planters, complete with automatic irrigation.  Jack set up the irrigation, which is programmed on a smart phone app and is smart enough to water less when it has rained.  The plants we moved from pots to planters seem much happier.  We also got a table and have really enjoyed sitting up on the roof, especially at sunset and later in the evening.

We also busted out some drywall to open up access to the cat door to the roof.  The kittens, who are now one year old, are figuring it out and really enjoying the outdoor time.

The next roof projects are building planters around the outside boundary and fixing up our free barbecue. 

Iron Springs again

We spent Mother’s day weekend at Iron Springs Resort on the coast again.  This time my sister and brother-in-law joined us for the first time and Jack’s extended family actually wasn’t there, due to a conflicting work party up at the family property.    We had pretty good weather, with one day where the fog didn’t lift until about 1 pm.    On the way home we visited Jack’s grandma and then took the Bremerton ferry back to Seattle.  Even though we missed the boat we were aiming for, it beat sitting in traffic on way home on a hot day.