Friday, September 5, 2014

labor day weekend

Kinda per our tradition, we headed to the coast for the weekend. We found out Thursday night that Phil's aunt and uncle had an extra camp site at Fort Stevens and so at the last minute, I grabbed hot dogs and brats and packed the cooler and off we went. We couldn't leave until later on Saturday afternoon (I had a very important hair appointment), so by the time we got to the beach the sun was already setting. It was a pretty sunset, but putting the tent up in the dark is a pain in the rear.
I was thrilled to find a bunch of wild coastal huckleberries this year. We had four or five bushes right on our site. I picked half of a gallon sized ziploc bag. These things are pretty small and annoying to clean. I need to get on those tonight and whip up some jam or something.
 
Just around our loop was Coffenbury Lake. We took Wilson and Baker (Paul and Jackie's husky) over so they could go swimming. Then they got there and made another new friend. Wilson is pretty funny about water. He likes moving water and not calm water so much. Weirdo.

On Sunday we went to Astoria and checked out the farmer's market. We bought some huckleberry pepper jam. It reminds me of that raspberry chipotle sauce from Costco. Pour some of that goodness over a brick of cream cheese and serve with some tasty crackers. Yum.
We played a few rounds of Mexican train. Always fun.
Phil's Uncle Paul. . . champion Mexican train-er.
Wilson resumed his spot in one of the chairs. He's not a 'camping on the ground' kind of dog. He'd much rather be snuggled up in a chair he barely fits in.
And Sunday night we celebrated Phil505's birthday with a chocolate cake complete with a citronella candle. You make do while you're camping.
It's nice to end the summer at the beach. It was also nice that the weather was cooperative and didn't rain on us.

My only complaint was the showers. One building had no hot water. I did not do the ice buckt challenge and I wasn't going to stand under freezing cold water to take a shower. Another building had scalding water. I had to keep turning the water off because it was so stinkin' hot. Then there was no fan or exhaust system so the shower had so much steam I could barely see.

Dear Fort Stevens Shower Managers, there should be a dial that lets you set a certain water temperature on your water heater. Find it and use it.
Thanks,
a not-so-happy-camp-shower-er

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