Saltwater State Park

Sunday afternoon Keri and I loaded up the four kids and headed to Saltwater State Park in Des Moines. We had an awesome day full of outdoor fun. We started on the playground, but that didn't last long.

Four kids + four buckets = happiness
Beautiful view from the beach. I didn't catch it on film but you could see Mt. Constance peeking out over the clouds.

The sun was out and everyone got good and wet. I love that we live 10 minutes from salt water: how lucky are we!

Next we changed into tennis shoes and headed out for a hike. There is a great trail that circles all around the park, including some elevation gain. However, it was a lot muddier than we predicted, and by the end we were caked, yes CAKED in mud. It was awesome. The kids were troopers and hiked the whole way like champs.

Monica and Mom's Special Day

I planned a day of surprises for Monica and I to enjoy together. I only told her we would leave in the morning and it was going to be FUN! We started with a ride on the train to Westlake Center downtown.

Our first activity was a ride on the carousel: Next we met up with Kristine for lunch at Mod Pizza.
Then Kristine took us back to her office and gave us a tour. We checked out the view from the conference room:

And Monica tried out Kristine's desk.

Then we headed back home on the train. Monica had a grand time!

Camp Pigott and Camp Brinkley

Sunday we took a day trip with Scott and Kristine to see Camps Pigott and Brinkley. I haven't been on the property in almost 10 years and not since the Pigott/Omache renovation.

I had never actually seen a high COPE course before:

Their main lodge contains everything: dining hall, scoutmaster lounge, health lodge, offices, and trading post.

Somehow it reminded me more of an elementary school cafeteria than a camp dining hall.

Scott was especially distraught at the amount of clearcutting around and in the campsites.

Kristine with the kids checking out the fish:

Putting on a song and dance show at the under-construction campfire bowl.

We later walked over to Brinkley for a brief visit, which is now only a cub scout camp. The lake seems to have gotten smaller and muddier in the last 10 years.

But the rest of the camp was almost exactly the same, and probably has been for the last 40 years. Maybe it will be Jack's first camp.

We had a great time on our day trip with Scott and Kristine.

I won't bother critiquing Brinkley, but here are some thoughts on Pigott.

Negatives:

-Land maintenance issues like the clearcutting don't make for a pretty camp

-Buildings were sterile and lack character

-It's small and aside from some cool programs (cope, climbing, shotgun etc.) there's not much to distinguish it from any other camp

Positives:

-Like Hahobas, there's lots of potential here including outpost hikes and facilities

-Everything is new and in good condition

-The lake is pretty and provides a scenic backdrop for the chapel and campfire bowl

-If Dan Gelis continues as camp director, I'm sure the program will just get better and better. He had great training at Parsons, after all. (You know I had to throw that in there!)

Exciting stuff

Several exciting things happened this weekend. First of all, as refered to in the last post, the Huskies pulled off possibly the greatest football upset in school history:

Then there was this exciting activity. Pretty indescribable:

And finally a road trip that started off with lunch at Red Robin and two balloons. Stay tuned for the summary of the rest of the trip:

Springbrook Trout Farm

Today we went to Springbrook Trout Farm in Renton with the Martins:

Tyler takes fishing very seriously:

Here's the gang having a blast. Springbrook has three ponds with small, medium, and large trout respectively. There is no entrance fee but you have to keep anything you catch and are charged based on the size of the fish.

They also had a playground, for when the little guys got bored:

Here's the first fish of the day, caught by Monica. We named him Lester:

Here's Lester in his little bucket. Sorry, buddy, you've got dinner written all over you!

Thankfully, they clean and gut the fish for you. Monica and Kyle were fascinated.

Anton made me hold the fish I caught and pull the hook out. I don't get grossed out by many things, but holding a squishy dying fish was just sick.

We came home and had fish tacos for dinner! Yum!

Camp Hahobas!

We had a busy end of week 6 with a rush of visitors to Cp. The Martins were here to see campfire etc., then Andrew Bodien stopped by, and finally Anton's brother Greg and his family:

Saturday afternoon we decided we were ready to get out of camp for a few hours. So what better place to go than... ANOTHER scout camp! I have been wanting to see Camp Hahobas for years, as it is the "other" scout camp on Hood Canal, but one we rarely hear much about. So off we went...

It is quite an interesting camp. It's huge, and I do mean HUGE. It's probably a two mile walk from one end to the other. They have three lakes but this one is most heavily used:

Their campfire bowl is kind of randomly put in the middle of camp with no view or ambiance. Of course I am spoiled by Parsons, but then when you see their spectacular view of Hood Canal...

I was so in awe. Keep in mind that I LOVE Hood Canal and have never seen it from anywhere close to this angle. I stared for 10 minutes. You can see Lilliwaup and Hoodsport and I assumed the Olympic mountains, but couldn't be sure because it was cloudy. So I found this picture online:

This is their view on a clear day from their beach property.

Wow-ee wow-wow.

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And this leads me to my Kramer-scout-camp-visitation report:

Negatives:

-You've got to be kidding me! They have this kind of view and don't even use it! Unbelievable!

-There is no dining hall. They have a kitchen next to an open air tin roofed structure with picnic tables.

-There is no central lodge or historical sites (that we saw) even though the camp has been around since the 30's.

-I can't say much about the program because I didn't witness it, but it seems to lack a certain amount of energy and tradition. (Again, we are spoiled.)

Positives:

-Beautiful, huge property with lots of potential

-They offer shotgun, high ropes, civics, and other things that not all camps (including Parsons) offer

-Property is surrounded by state forest so they don't risk development creeping in

-From what we heard, it seems the camp is making a turnaround and is trying to improve their reputation and recruit more troops

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I decided at the conclusion of the trip to make it a goal to visit every scout camp in western Washington and Oregon. So far I have been to three: Parsons, Pioneer, and Hahobas (Brinkley doesn't count because I haven't been there since the Pigott renovation). It's really the perfect day trip to make as a family or stop along the way of an overnight road trip. Also it's interesting as a former program director to see how how different camps run. When I told Anton I wanted to tackle the list of camps I asked if he thought I was nuts. He said something like "It's awesome. How many women would be excited about visiting even one Boy Scout camp, let alone ten!"

Lower Lena Lake: Monica's First Backpacking Trip

Last weekend we took Monica on her first backpacking trip to Lower Lena Lake along with our friends Scott and Kristine. Monica was SO excited for this adventure.

We started with lunch at the trailhead:

Monica carried her own clothes, water, toothbrush, toothpaste, and sunglasses.

Off we go!

It is 3 miles up to the lake, but well maintained and not steep. It was perfect for Monica. When she would start to get tired, Anton would just feed her berries and tell her she had "Huckleberry Power" and she zoomed ahead.

At the lake! We set up camp and then went for a swim before we made dinner. Monica was fearless. There was a huge rock that stood about 10 feet out of the water and she continuously climbed up, jumped off, and swam in.

Once nice thing about camping at a low altitude is that they allow campfires, which means smores, mmm!
Early the next morning, oatmeal before hiking down and heading back to camp.

"I did it!"
I have to say I have never been so proud of Monica. It was awesome to see the whole experience through her eyes. She did great on the hiking, loved sleeping and cooking in a campsite, and tackled the lake like a pro. She had a grin plastered on her face pretty much the whole time. Her final comment was that next year she wants to go for TWO nights.