2015 Camping Trip - Day 1

Sometime over the summer my brother asked me if we could watch Naomi for a week in September, even though we'd have started homeschooling.  Well, as long as we know ahead of time, we can plan around it - right?  And as long as we aren't going to be getting much done in the way of schooling, we might as well do something fun...

like go camping!

Too bad Wyatt and Tate are both in school and couldn't get away.

Gunnar and I are more flexible, and - good news! - Grandpa Grasshopper came too :D

September in our part of the Pacific Northwest can be gorgeous,

or it can look like this...

so I planned for us to travel over the mountains to the dry side- Eastern Washington.

So glad I did!

At our first stop (still on the west side) in Newhalem - above - it was pouring down rain.

We stopped at the Visitor's Center (potty stop) and because we wanted to see where the fires had been.  

Well.  It wasn't hard to tell - right by the town.  We could still smell it, like a damp campfire ring.  Since the weather was yucky, we moved along.

Last year, Kerry and I stopped at the amazingly beautiful Gorge Creek lookout and bridge.  I was so impressed, I wanted to stop again.  We did, but with the rain still pouring down we passed on the trail to the overlook and just walked over the bridge with Naomi.

I was pleased (surprised) that she wasn't fearful or reluctant to go out on it.

Even though you can look right down between your feet...

... waaaaaay down, to the bottom of the gorge.

I had also told Gunnar how impressed we were (last year) by the Washington Pass Overlook and he was really looking forward to seeing it.  As the rain kept pelting down and we kept getting higher (and closer to the clouds), things didn't look good.  Even if we stopped in the rain, we might be right in the middle of the clouds and unable to see anything.  But we pulled off and drove up to the trailhead anyway.  I think it started to rain harder as we parked!  I suggested we wait a few minutes to see if it would change, and started praying... and about five minutes later it quit raining.

Coincidence, right?  (/sarcasm)

There's a paved trail through the woods to the overlook.

And - bonus! - the clouds were high enough that we could see the mountains :D

Not raining, but quite windy.

Again, Naomi wasn't the least bit concerned about the sheer drop-off beyond the safety rail.

Well back from the edge, she decided to try out her rock-climbing skills.

So brave ;D

Having a really fun time with Grandpa :D

Yep.  Fun.

From there, we went on to Winthrop to camp for the next couple nights.

Consider this your fair warning:

I took so many photos, I'm doing a separate post for each day.

If that exceeds your interest in our vacation,

feel free to look away ;D