As you can tell, I've really been procrastinating on this post. For one, as you know, I've been posting a lot on Facebook. For another thing, I didn't take very many pictures, as my phone (which I use for a camera) was sucking up battery charge. And finally, there was something a little harder to explain.
We had the best camping trip I've ever been on in my life. And we also did almost nothing that was noteworthy. Part of me wanted to keep it to myself and those that were with me as a private, lovely memory. And part of me couldn't figure out how I could say something like "then we just lolled about on a rocky beach for five hours" and have it sound as wonderful as it was.
But someone has been bugging me to blog about it, so I'll do my best.
Our days followed a routine pretty closely. We woke, made breakfast, cleaned up, had a little quiet reading time or a hike, made a simple lunch, went to the river, came back, made dinner, had snacks and played games, and went to bed.
There were exceptions. The first two days we were there, Zadie and I went to Junior Rangers, a free program for kids seven and older. Of course, I didn't know that (and apparently, neither did many of the other parents), so I took Zadie, and after I realized it, I asked if it was okay, and the ranger assured me it was fine. That program is fantastic. The educators are great with kids, and the activities were lots of fun. One day, they made plaster molds of animal feet, and they studied tracks. Then we went for a walk down to the river and saw some tracks there. The next day was about the water table, so they learned a little song and dance about it, then did a project with paper, pens, and spray bottles to see if they could predict where water would run.
One day we went to Garberville, and that was a funny experience. I remembered it from my early teen years, and in my memory, it was a small throwback hippie town where I once found a beautiful, wrap-around raw silk skirt. And there were things that had changed, and there were things that hadn't, but I realized there were things I had forgotten, too. For example, I really only remembered the main drag, but the town itself was more than that, and I had completely forgotten that. It was still kind of a gift shop-laden tourist trap, but I still loved it, too. It has more than its tiny share of toy shops and places to get handmade jewelry. It reminds me in some ways of Santa Cruz' main drag, but smaller and with a smattering of bait shops run by hoarders.
On another day, we hiked across the river, farther than I remember going, and found an abandoned homestead in a sunny clearing filled with wildflowers and poison oak. It was marked only by a rusted bedframe and the stones of a fireplace.
We went to the nature center on one day, and I bought some postcards and books, plus a fun game Zadie and I like to play now. I saw from across the room a postcard of a fireplace, and I wondered if it was the one we'd discovered in the woods, so I asked about it, but it was actually something else -- a Julia Morgan designed monument only a mile away! Now, I am not exactly an architecture junkie, but there are certain architects whose work I enjoy, and Julia Morgan is one of them. I could not leave there knowing I'd missed a change to see something she had made, so Zadie and I drove there and took a few pictures on an afternoon when I'd had enough sun.
So what was our routine like? Well, we generally woke when the sun was up and the birds were chirping. Some sounded like an electronic alarm. Then we ate our cereal, danishes, coffee, and most importantly, whatever my dear sister-in-law made. Pancakes, French toast... Oh, she makes the BEST pancakes. If you're not a camper, you may not be aware that something about the fresh air and your hunger makes camping food taste better than the same food at home, but it does. Beyond that, though, M makes her pancakes in about half a pound of butter, so that the edges get crispy, and that fat salty flavor infuses the whole pancake. Delicious.
Doing dishes while camping can be a pain in the ass -- you have to boil water, be careful to not get the water too filthy, dump the water later -- but it wasn't on this trip. First, as there were a number of adults there (it's funny to think of my nephew as one, but he is), we easily took turns without even discussing it. And better, there was a big sink with hot water right next to our campsite.
Our quiet time was nice. Zadie often went exploring with her auntie, and they found a big tree and named it Fort Zamale. They went there almost every morning with the dog, and were sometimes gone for an hour. I read a thick book.
Lunch was a little haphazard. Sometimes we made sandwiches, and sometimes we just grabbed granola bars and apples and water and took them to the river. The walk through the woods to the river made me feel ashamed. When I was a kid, we rushed through it, eager to jump in the water. I didn't appreciate how utterly beautiful the landscape was -- tall redwoods, fallen trees covered in moss, light slanting through the trees, horsetail growing tall...
At the river. The river may have been the best part. It wasn't too cold, it didn't move fast, and there were swimming holes everywhere. Each day, we walked a little further and found an even better spot -- more private than the first day, more comfortable than the second, more fun than the third -- until we settled at a big tree with a rope swing. It was a terrible swing. To get there, you had to shinny two ways up a steep, wet log, and then, the rope was hanging almost vertically already, so all you could do was swing out a few feet before you hit the water, lost momentum, and went straight down. Nevertheless, it was great fun. We also ran into the same funny, toe-nibbling fish I remembered from 20 years ago. We found out they are called the Sacramento pike minnow, and they're the same invasive species they've been trying to eradicate near here. In fact, there's a bounty on their head! Fishers are encouraged to catch as many as they can, bash their brains out, and throw them onto the shore for the birds. This pursuit entertained much of our party for many hours.
Zadie did a little fishing and a lot of floating in a tube. I did no fishing, a tiny bit of floating, a bit of swimming, and hours and hours and hours of reading on the beach. The single drawback to the beaches there is that they are rocky and therefore not particularly comfortable. Sometimes you can find a sandy spot, but it's mostly closer to the plants, which means there are a lot more bugs. But it didn't really bother me. Other people I loved and trusted were watching my kid, and I got to read in peace, uninterrupted, in the sunshine, and with a soundtrack of laughter, for a long time. Basically, it was heaven.
When we got back, we started cooking dinner. We had pasta twice, chili once, "Yum bowls" once, lentil tacos once, and burgers once. My two favorites were the Yum bowls -- basically a rice bowl with avocado, cheese, tomatoes, and tahini sauce -- and the chili, which I made in a cast iron pot and which was perhaps the best chili I've ever made.
A few nights, we made either s'mores or popcorn. Sometimes we had time before bed to play a game called "Hiss" with Zadie.
In the evenings, we'd put Zadie to bed (Sweetie was reading her Fellowship of the Rings), then generally the grown-ups would play Uno or a game called Munchkin, which is both very silly and very fun.
And that is basically that. There were episodes that stood out, of course. One morning we got to watch a garter snake eat a fish. We saw a trio (I think) of otters in the river one day. We watched with bemusement as the campers across from us put their tent in a hollow tree. We let Zadie wake up our nephew, which is always funny.
And beyond that, there wasn't much. Weather was lovely, not too hot, and barely too cold at night (I was comfortable, but I had a nice sleeping bag, so Sweetie, who only had a blanket, was cold).
The game we got.
Sweetie grew a beard.
Zadie really enjoyed getting some auntie time.
Most ginormous banana slug I've ever seen.
Trees are tall.
The Julia Morgan monument in the Women's Grove, commonly referred to as the Four Fireplaces.
Z climbs a tree.
The beach at the river.
Sorry for the fuzzy picture, but it still captures perfectly Z's joy at getting to hang out with J and L.
Some people felt it was chilly in the mornings.
We did exactly one tourist stop on the way back from Garberville. I would have done more... I actually like driving through trees and buying postcards made of wood and junk like that.
One of the Junior Ranger programs.
At fort Zamale.