So, we have not camped since my 15 year old son was about 4. Every year since then we have gone to North Dakota to see family. This year, we decided to take a camp trip with the kids here in our own state.
We headed up highway 20, one of our favorite drives, on the bike, or in the car. This is a gorgeous area, and is packed with history. Newhalem, one of my favorite little towns, has a history going back to the early 20's and is run by Seattle city light. This is where Employees live and work on Ross Dam, and Diablo Dam. (Diablo is my absolute favorite place. The water there is as green and brilliant as an emerald.
On the website for the campground we choose, it said not to bring your own wood. So we didn't. We Stayed at Colonial creek campground, and all the wood, ice and amenities should have been there but were not.
We left Antony in the campsite as we registered. Paul had given the boys knives for whittling, and Antony had already broken the tip on his knife. We showed him how to make it dull on the rocks so he would not cut himself with the broken edges. While we were down registering, Antony took Jake's knife and was throwing it at the tree. Well apparently, for some reason he kept his hand on it, and the blade collapsed.......... on his KNUCKLE! (A real nice slice that should have had a couple of butterfly stitches.) We had to head back down the mountain to Newhalem anyway for wood and ice, so since we had FORGOTEN a 1st aid kit, we decided to grab one of those also. I did however have packing tape and feminine napkins in the Jeep, but the boy freaked out! "NO WAY" he says!
The rest of the day was spent driving back down the mountain to Newhalem, and then to Marblemount, because Newhalem was out of wood. (WHY? they are in the middle of a forest! How could they possibly be out of wood?) Oh, and NOBODY carry's a 1st aid kit in the area. Apparently the broken down fire truck we passed on the way to Marblemount is the ONLY emergency services around there. (we did pick up pack of band aids)
After getting back to the campsite, and oh, picking up band aids for the boy, we settled in for the evening. Paul had a beer, and I had a cooler, and my son say's, Hey mom, I am only funny with alcohol! Ha ha... good one, but NO. The site had a cool granite rock in it, and the littler kids played on that while we sat up the tents and made a fire and dinner. It did rain the 1st night up, but was not a lot, and we were pretty well covered.
The second day out, we actually switched campsites to one by the tributary that feeds from Ross Dam into Diablo Dam. A gorgeous site, and we were the only ones in that area of the campground. The wood we picked up, for 5.00 a bundle, (we ARE bringing our own the next time) (I think they don't want foreign wood. Well tough, mine does not have french bugs, OK? Anyway, the wood was green. PFFFFFFTTTTTT!! GREEN! Who does this? Do they not know how to season the wood? Sheesh.. so it was hard to cut, and also smoked a whole lot. A LOT! Speaking of cutting, back to injury #2. Paul was making kindling.... or trying to, and the hatchet was dull, and he got a bit miffed at the piece of wood he was hacking on, so he took a good whack at it, and the axe bounced and slammed back into his knee. GOOD ONE! Again, no 1st aid kit, but the cut was not as bad as Antony's which was still open and bleeding periodically, the hatchet was dull. THANK GOD!
That evening a ranger dropped down to our camp to let us know there was a slide show in the amphitheater. After he left, my funny boy says, hey mom, "I was going to yell", "hide the weed!" OMG.. thank god he refrained from that little joke. I don't think the guy would have been amused.
The trip over all was awesome, and the scenery was beautiful. They did a few slide shows in the amphitheater, and the kids enjoyed that. The weather was great, and there was some wildlife. Mostly birds that annoyed us at the butt-crack of dawn, but hey, that's camping.
We did take a few hikes, thunderhead trail and the gorge trail. There are pictures on my facebook page, and if you ever make it to Washington, this area is a must see.
So for all you peeps out there who have camped, or are intending to camp. Please bring a 1st aid kit. I have never done a list, and have always forgotten at least one thing that should have made it with us, but never have I forgotten a 1st aid kit.
An aside to my good friend Brenda Ford, We had taken the kids to get their Junior ranger badges, and I was chatting with Ranger Katie. I brought up wolves, and apparently we do have a pack in this particular part of the forest that meandered down here from Canada. It would have been awesome to see them, but we did not get to. Only chipmunks.
Sunday, August 29, 2010
Tuesday, August 3, 2010
Ending a friendship
Knowing when to end a friendship can be difficult, especially if the one you had was a strong one.
There are lot's of different types of friendships out there. Close friends, acquaintances that become friends, and friends that are like family. It all depends on how they fit into your life and the value you provide each other.
I have done this twice in my life. The 1st time it broke my heart. This time, I am just stunned that the whole premise of the friendship was not based on what I thought it was based on.
10 years ago, I told my girlfriend that I could no longer be friends with her and it hurt me terribly. I needed her in my life. She was as close as a beloved sister. At the time, there was an event that changed things for the both of us, and I could no longer in good conscience keep the friendship. About 4 years after ending it, a close friend of ours passed away, and I called her. It happened to be on her birthday and although it was a difficult call, we ended up reconnecting. She is still in my life, and we are still very close.
The friendship I ended yesterday, came down to pretty much the same thing. An event took place, and I had to decide which was more important. What was taking place in my life, or the friendship. My personal life is the priority here.
Instead of just cutting off the friendship abruptly, I decided to give this friend the benefit of the doubt, and let her know why I was ending it, secretly hoping that we would not have to. This actually goes back to September of last year, but to bring you up to speed, I only just found about about this in April of this year. So I emailed her in April, and never received a response. I emailed her last week, after she had contact with one of my family members, but not with me. (I was still trying to work this out) She did email me back this time, although the email, was twisted and full of anger and accusations, that justified to her, actions that took place in September of last year.
Whoa... so reading this, I thought, wow, why would you turn this around. What is the motivation? So without going into all the personal details, I quickly wrote back, that I needed the contact to stop and would she also please remove the family member from her contact list also. I received 2 more angry and nasty notes, saying she would not Jump to my requests, and that she would do it when she got around to it.
To make a long story short here, I see that she has lied to me, and so I wonder about the motivation again. I not written back to her, and have removed all contacts for her. I have also had my family do the same.
The bottom line is this. I am still friends with the woman that I stopped being friends with 10 years ago, because we were both mature enough to know that things at the time had to be the way they were, and we accepted it. There was no accusations, or angry letters, calls, ect, and no contact until our mutual friend passed away. This is the type of friendship that goes long and deep. The ones that can handle that you need to make personal decisions based on your life at the time, usually will stick around threw thick and thin. The ones who can't don't and are not worth the effort. Sad but true. This second friendship will not be one that I pick back up in the future. It is time to move on.
There are lot's of different types of friendships out there. Close friends, acquaintances that become friends, and friends that are like family. It all depends on how they fit into your life and the value you provide each other.
I have done this twice in my life. The 1st time it broke my heart. This time, I am just stunned that the whole premise of the friendship was not based on what I thought it was based on.
10 years ago, I told my girlfriend that I could no longer be friends with her and it hurt me terribly. I needed her in my life. She was as close as a beloved sister. At the time, there was an event that changed things for the both of us, and I could no longer in good conscience keep the friendship. About 4 years after ending it, a close friend of ours passed away, and I called her. It happened to be on her birthday and although it was a difficult call, we ended up reconnecting. She is still in my life, and we are still very close.
The friendship I ended yesterday, came down to pretty much the same thing. An event took place, and I had to decide which was more important. What was taking place in my life, or the friendship. My personal life is the priority here.
Instead of just cutting off the friendship abruptly, I decided to give this friend the benefit of the doubt, and let her know why I was ending it, secretly hoping that we would not have to. This actually goes back to September of last year, but to bring you up to speed, I only just found about about this in April of this year. So I emailed her in April, and never received a response. I emailed her last week, after she had contact with one of my family members, but not with me. (I was still trying to work this out) She did email me back this time, although the email, was twisted and full of anger and accusations, that justified to her, actions that took place in September of last year.
Whoa... so reading this, I thought, wow, why would you turn this around. What is the motivation? So without going into all the personal details, I quickly wrote back, that I needed the contact to stop and would she also please remove the family member from her contact list also. I received 2 more angry and nasty notes, saying she would not Jump to my requests, and that she would do it when she got around to it.
To make a long story short here, I see that she has lied to me, and so I wonder about the motivation again. I not written back to her, and have removed all contacts for her. I have also had my family do the same.
The bottom line is this. I am still friends with the woman that I stopped being friends with 10 years ago, because we were both mature enough to know that things at the time had to be the way they were, and we accepted it. There was no accusations, or angry letters, calls, ect, and no contact until our mutual friend passed away. This is the type of friendship that goes long and deep. The ones that can handle that you need to make personal decisions based on your life at the time, usually will stick around threw thick and thin. The ones who can't don't and are not worth the effort. Sad but true. This second friendship will not be one that I pick back up in the future. It is time to move on.
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