the church campout wherein it rained

So Friday night we packed up the rental (another story for another day) and headed to Fort Stevens in Astoria, Oregon, for the East Vancouver Community Church annual campout. Shortly after we arrived, the rain did too. Notice the lovely tarps covering our tent and picnic cover. This picture was taken before we went and bought an even bigger bridal white one for the tent. White was all they had left. I'm thinking we should rent it out for weddings and make a few bucks off our investment.

Despite the rain, and losing a few who couldn't handle all the wetness, it was a good time. There were campfires and s'mores, dice games and bike rides, scrapbook magazines for the quiet times and trips to the scrapbook store (oh yes, we did) to see what was new, minute-to-win-it and the crowning of the new king and queen of the campout, and general fun with the body of Christ.

You'll also be surprised to know that I didn't take a shower until Sunday morning. People, I went a whole day without a shower. Write that one down and be proud of me! Hot showers are usually my prerequisites for camping, and I won't let Phil505 book a site unless they have them, but this weekend with all the rain I figured, what's the point? When I finally did get a shower, the water was so cold I could hardly stand under it. Somehow I did manage to wash my hair. And then the hypothermia set in.

Being that we were at the beach, of course we couldn't resist a drive out for a look. There were gobs of pelicans the first time (Saturday afternoon). Like hundreds and hundreds of them. I think they are some of the coolest birds in all creation. I loved watching them dive into the waves going after the little fishies.


Phil505 was the camp pastor. He spoke about trust. . . a timely topic in our lives, for sure. I thought he did a great job and I think they're expecting him to prepare another one for next year.

Once church was over and everyone else had left, we headed off into Astoria. (We always try to stay an extra night since he's usually off on Mondays.) We went to the Maritime Museum which was pretty neat. I know for a fact that I could never be on the elite team of the Coast Guard. That is some scary stuff. Where the Columbia River empties into the Pacific Ocean is one of the most dangerous bar crossings in the world. There are specially trained bar pilots who bring in the big ships. Another dangerous job I wouldn't want to have.

After that, we headed back to the beach and almost as soon as we drove down, we saw spouts. I counted 8 spouts at one point, one right after the other. Those whales put on a good show for us.
Monday was beautiful. Of course, it was time to go home! But we didn't rush it by any means. We spent some more time on the beach where I almost finished reading 90 Minutes in Heaven while watching another whale show. (These whales are my friends!) Before we left, we found a cool pub in Astoria on the water for our fish-n-chips lunch, and headed back to Vancouver. Then I got to do about 1,000 loads of laundry when we got home because everything was wet and smelled like campfire smoke. Yuck.