An Interesting Adventure

Kipp got an invitation from a co-worker to join him at his house on Case Inlet (down on Key Peninsula, south of Gig Harbor) for a clam-bake and a night on the beach. We haven't been big campers, and a lot of that is due to freezing. We've never had good sleeping bags, for us or the kids. But this sounded like fun, and the kids really want to go camping this summer. So we went to the store and bought 4 new, on-sale, warm sleeping bags. The kids have mummy-style bags, and Kipp and I got zip-together, rated to 0 deg F bags. Looking good. At least we won't be cold! So we headed out, with our 2 tents, 4 sleeping bags, cookies for the potluck, 2 suitcases with warm clothes for the night and the next day, 4 pillows, 1 air mattress, and a few flashlights & towels. We got there about 4 o'clock. In the parking area we saw a friend of Kipp's, whom he had told me about. He has kids a little younger than ours, but lives nearby. Great! Unfortunately, they were just leaving as the younger one was sick. OK. So we went to see what was what.

Well, it turns out, that you go down a bunch of steps, which puts you on a kind of platform, maybe 6 ft deep, and about 30 feet long, made of some kind of material over what seemed to be tires. The water was a few feet out from the platform, but coming in quickly. The sleeping beach was on the other side of a stream formed by the incoming water. The stream was only about 10-15 feet wide, but over waist deep on an adult, and flowing quite strong. No problem. There was a small row boat. So we loaded what we could, plus the kids, and Kipp rowed them across. Then he came back for me. OK. Not too bad. We looked around for the best spot to set up the tents. But there was no sand, only small rocks, and some weeds, which if you brushed against them got hard spiky burrs in you. The wind was picking up and someone else's large, overhead shelter started blowing down the beach. Kipp threw our pillows down in burrs and ran after the shelter. It took maybe 10 minutes to get the kids to help us to take the top off the shelter so it would stop blowing, and put it back where it was, with only 1 pole coming apart.
Back to our own stuff, and we finally picked a spot that seemed like it would stay dry. We got both tents set up, staked down, and our stuff inside. The rowboat almost got away, but Kipp was able to pull it up higher until we were ready. It was about 6:30 now, and the food wasn't supposed to start until 7. We got into the rowboat, but as Ilea sat down, a big wave splashed over the boat and got her soaked with COLD water! Back to the tents to change into her other set of clothes and underwear. Kipp had moved the boat and we tried again. Back across, but where to land now? The water is all the way up to the platform, and where we had taken the boat from was underwater, with strong waves. We picked a spot, tied it off, and went to investigate the dinner, which was in full swing.

Turns out that steamed clams seemed to be most of the dinner. Some cold bread, a little salad, and maybe some chips was all there was. The kids didn't like ANYTHING. Kipp tried a few clams, but they are not his favorite. I had some clams, which I loved, but that was about all there was to eat. So we tried to sneak away and leave to find some real food. Kyler shares with everyone we pass that there is no good food there, and nothing we want to eat! Embarrased, we drive away to look for food. We were a good 20 minutes from the nearest big town. We ended up getting a delicious pizza at a roadside place, and headed back. It was almost
dark, and the food was mostly done. The water was now slowly heading out. We sat around (Ilea tried to read until it got too dark). We had our coats now, but everything else was in the tents, which was on the other side of the water. There was an outhouse on the food side only. We were promised a bonfire, but it was really a shallow copper fire pit, which wasn't good for very many people around it. We got out our marshmallows and had s'mores. Finally, the water seemed shallow enough to cross without the boat. We took food stuff back to the car, made a last potty stop, and then went to the water. It was knee deep on adults, and still flowing pretty swiftly. Kipp carried both kids across and I came with the light. We made our way toward our tents, stopping for a while at another fire on our side. This one was more like a bonfire, with only 2 people at it. They were friendly, and we talked and enjoyed the fire for a little bit. We were about to head out to the tent when the music people came over. A man with a drum, a guitar, and a violin. Boy, a drum really carries at night over water! Until about midnight, I think.

By 10pm we were able to get the kids changed and settled in thier tents. We set Ilea's wet clothes out on a log to dry. Kipp and I got into our tent, pumped up the mattress a little more, and got settled in. The drum kept up it's beat. We were cozy though, which was great. By 2am, after dozing for maybe 2 or 3 hours, the mattress had lost enough air for us to be on the ground. We got out and pumped it up, and lay there listening to the pouring rain for the next hour. The wind blew. But we were warm!

Finally morning came. We were on the ground again. It had stopped raining. And we were warm and cozy. The kids woke up around 8am. So we started getting dressed and breaking down the tents. It all made quite a little pile. Kyler had left his jacket out on a log by Ilea's clothes. I couldn't figure it out, because his jacket was dry, but her clothes were soaking wet. I still don't get it. The ground was damp, and the tents were wet. It was weird. Luckily the tide was WAY out, and we could easily (well, all of us quite loaded down) walk back across to the platform side. The water was only about ankle deep. Kipp had to carry Kyler who had long pants on. By 8:50am we were in our car, with no one in sight. A number of tents had cropped up on the sleeping side of the water, but no one was out yet. There was supposed to be breakfast in the morning, but we weren't sticking around. We headed out, and about half an hour later pulled into a McDonalds. What great food! We headed home, instead of pursuing the letterboxes I was excited about. We had packed toiletries, but hadn't even opened the bags.

I can't say enough about a nice hot shower. It can literally make you feel fresh and new, ready for anything. Everyone cleaned up, brushed teeth, and became civilized again.

The kids really enjoyed the music and fires, and I must say we were warm during the night. It was an interesting adventure, but we may not join them next year....