Blogs from Washington, United States, North America - page 194

Last night Russ, the man who started this camp 50 years ago, came to our Bible study to talk to us about the history of the camp. Both the other couples have been here before, and Russ used to lead the weekly Bible study, so they know the story behind all this. Russ now has a bad heart, and it’s difficult to for him to talk. He would be telling a story, and he'd hit on a topic~~or pperson~~and say, "That's another story." We wanted to hear more of the stories, but it was a lot for him. It was enlightening to learn about the area, and all they went through to get this camp where it is today. Today we went to Fort Columbia, on the south end of the peninsula. It was the fort ... read more

Obfuscator writes: We woke up fairly early again, and hit the road, since we rarely have compelling reasons to stay in a designated campground area. Our gear had stayed nicely dry, and the night had been a lot warmer than we had anticipated. We had become rather accustomed to the mountains being very cold and windy, but for whatever reason, it wasn't that way here. Could be the tree density. It certainly cut down on wind. We stopped at all sorts of turn-offs and snapped an awful lot of pictures on our way out of the park. The morning mist was pretty spectacular in a lot of the areas, and the weather patterns floating across the peaks was pretty amazing in others. Some of the coolest sights we saw were unfortunately the hardest to get because ... read more

We had a very social weekend~~the camp directors here had a wedding for their oldest daughter, right here at the camp. It began at 2:00, and ended at 10:00 with fireworks! It was a beautiful ceremony, and we didn’t stay there the whole time~~another good thing about having your home with you! We did show up again for the fireworks on the beach. Sunday was the birthday party for the camp director of the lake camp. That’s a lot of hours of being nice, and I almost think it’s harder for me than Bob!! On another entirely different note, we found some slugs in the lawn that were as big as my thumb. I’m not kidding. Bob said they’re as big as the carp back home!! It had rained the night before, and that must bring ... read more

Posted by Onaxthiel: Our drive out of Troy revealed something to us about the attitudes of the inhabitants of northwestern Montana and northern Idahos' panhandle. Namely that they hate waterfalls. Everywhere we went that had a falls in its' name or a sign for falls or rapids would then, upon closer inspection, have a dam and a sign telling us about how the residence had decided between the 1920's and the 1960's, that they liked electric lights more than scenic views. I can't say I really blame them. In my opinion, daily convenience often trumps aesthetics. It did make for a largely boring drive through the region though, as each and every anticipated beautiful vista turned out to be hydroelectric in nature. There were a few exceptions. Lake Pend Oreilly in Idaho for instance. We detoured ... read more

Today we watched cranberries being harvested. (Oregon is one of the largest producers of cranberries, and that’s the second industry on the peninsula, with tourism being first.) We went through the museum (and gift store~~there’s always a gift store!) and learned the processes, and then walked out to the field to see the growing stages, which was all very interesting, BUT we found a cranberry farm that was actually harvesting their crop. They’re ready about two weeks earlier this year than usual. It was fun to see the kids helping, and it all reminded me so much of the excitement of beet harvest. I’ll try to tell the story through the pictures…. ... read more