Monday, August 22, 2011

Steamboat Rock Camping Trip - Part 1

Every summer we are lucky enough to get invited along on Stewart’s friend Brett’s family camping trips to a couple different locations across the state. Most recently we spent the weekend at Steamboat Rock State Park on Banks Lake in Eastern Washington. The drive takes just over four hours from our house, so I took some time off on Friday and we made it to the campground by early afternoon. We didn’t even pause to unpack our car before throwing on bathing suits and heading out in the boat for the rest of the day.


One of our absolute FAVORITE summer activities is wakesurfing. We tried it when it first started to get popular about four or five years ago and got completely hooked. It’s similar to wakeboarding but much easier (in my opinion) and lots more fun. When wakesurfing, the person follows behind an inboard ski boat, surfing the boat’s wake without being directly attached to the boat, and if you get the weight just right, the wake from the boat exactly mimics an actual ocean wave. Except because you’re creating the wave artificially, it never runs out and you can surf forever… or until you lose control and wipe out. Because there are no bindings on the surf board and you’re not holding onto a rope after you get up, nothing is jerking you around so you’re less likely to have a bad fall or be sore the next day. And because you surf close enough to the boat to talk to people on the back (and even have them hand you beers!) it’s a lot more social and entertaining. 
Our attempt to surf with two people on the board...


The weather last weekend was absolutely gorgeous… high 80s to low 90s every day with clear blue skies. Perfect for hours and hours of sunbathing and beach games followed by marathon wakesurfing sessions. And every evening we headed back to camp for delicious dinners and chit chat around the campfire until late into the night. I realize camping is a little weird (I mean, why would you pretend to be homeless?) but I absolutely love it. There’s nothing like getting out of the city and away from day to day life for a while, and spending time outside in the sun, water and fresh air. Plus food just tastes better when it’s cooked on a barbecue.
Home Run Derby Tournament
Boys can make anything into an adventure...
We did have some epic battles with mosquitos, and ran into some nasty traffic on the way home, but other than that our trip couldn’t have been more perfect. And ironically, we’re actually headed back to the same campground next weekend with my parents!

2 comments :

  1. Looks like you had fun!! Now I'm really craving some grilled food...

    ReplyDelete
  2. We had a blast! Too bad you gave up meat, that's what's delicious on the BBQ. ;-)

    ReplyDelete

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