Most UN-Traditional

Well, folks, I could report on the campout in just two short words: Rained Out.
This was the first time in lo these many years that we have actually, factually given in to Mother Nature's wrath...it rained so hard I thought I was inside the world's biggest popcorn popper during the night...the rain slapped and pounded our tent top like a brazillion fire crackers exploding all night long...but let me backtrack a bit....
Mark and I were the first campers to arrive on Thursday around 1:00...check in isn't really until 4:00, but the rangers never say anything if you are moving into an empty campsite....it drizzled as we were leaving Beaverton, but just as we rounded the curve to head north to Seaside on Hwy 101, the sky broke clear and blue and cloudless...we had a beautiful afternoon to set up our camp...and when other folks started to arrive, we drove into town (Warrenton) to buy our groceries...one of our stalwart traditions is to shop at the Warrenton Fred Meyer any number of times...boy, they stock up on the camping goods, so it's actually fun to peruse the aisles to see what exactly we can't live without....
Thursday evening's activity was a bonfire on the beach, and a ceremony to retire some American flags which were no longer in service...our good freind, Austin Maxwell's Eagle Scout project is collecting and retiring flags, as well as teaching local Troops the proper procedure to respectfully retire a flag...it was nice weather, the ceremony was incredibly moving...
But the rain began in the early hours Friday morning.....and monsooned until we left early Saturday.....we had to modify our games and activities, with the exception of the Annual Talent Show/Campfire on Friday night...our very own Chanel single handedly delighted the group with sing-a-long songs...everyone enjoyed it...and the rest of the "skits" were really cute, too.....
Unfortunately, we had to cancel Saturday's beach day...everyone was pretty soggy by then, and there weren't too many tears shed over the decision to get the heck out of camp! The Ward provided the fixin's for sack lunches, which everyboyd made, bagged and then hit the road...it rained all the way home, and all day Sunday.....
And guess what?!?!?!? It is clear and warmer today.....and the rest of the week at the beach is forecast for clear skies, temperatures in the 70's...purt near perfection! And we won't be there......sigh.......since there was very little to remind of our earlier trips, we didn't feel like Geoff would have missed a whole lot.....so we start thinking of the future....there's always next year, right??????