Camping Adventures

Camping, you may say, with a new baby??? Yep, it can be done. This year we went to Stub Stewart State Park for a 4 night adventure. The baby was actually the most well behaved of the group. He barely cried, and overall slept really well. The weather was a bit obnoxious while we were there. The first day was super hot, then just hot, then freezing by Sat/Sun, and then warmed up again on Monday. Although there were a few sprinkles in the night, we stayed dry the entire time. Thank heavens for that!

The kids had a blast! There was dirt everywhere to play in, woods to explore, bikes to ride, bubbles to blow, craft projects to make, and plenty of other kids to play with. On Friday we drove them into Vernonia to check out the local swimming hole, which was just a dammed off portion of the Nehalem River. It didn't look very appealing, but fortunately they had a kiddie area too, which was a hit. They really liked walking through the river and exploring the banks. The other activity that the kids really enjoyed was our trip to the trout playground. There is this pond with tons of trout and steelhead in it. You can catch up to 2 fish each. It seemed like a great plan, until we saw the pricing. There was no catch and release. You had to buy what you caught. You pay by the inch of the fish. It was the one time we were hoping for some small ones. All of the kids loved it though! They all were able to catch their fish, and we paid about $30 for 6 fish. A few of them were really big. I couldn't snap many pictures because I was too busy trying to keep kids from falling in the pond, baiting hooks, and helping net the fish. It was worth it though. We all had a lot of fun. There was a really fun treehouse playground as well.

The most popular activity for the adults was biking. The park is located along the Banks-Vernonia trail, and I never realized how great this was. Chris and I borrowed some bikes and rode the trail all the way to banks, which I believe was about 10 miles. It was gorgeous! Thankfully, it was downhill for most of the way, and we called someone to come drive us back to camp at the end. Others in our group made the long ride to Vernonia on another day, but I am too novice for this. I recommend the trail though for a great hike/ride. It was really nice.

Overall, this camping trip turned out really well with lots of good food and fun conversations. I also need to make note that Chris finally achieved his goal of making sure that I was warm while sleeping. He bought me a new goose down 4 season sleeping bag...and it made a world of difference. I was actually hot! I looked forward to bedtime to crawl into the comfy warmness. I can no longer complain about freezing while camping. :) Thanks honey!