Summer Journal: Week 3

I camped this weekend! I haven't gone on a real-deal camping trip since 7th grade. A month or so ago, during a happy hour get-together, my gal pals and I started talking about how fun it would be to have a ladies' camping weekend, and I guess I must have had enough wine to enthusiastically agree that this would be awesome. A couple weeks ago, we settled on the weekend and the location. And then the dread set in. The temps last week had been 100+ degrees, and it had been a busy week at work. All I wanted to do that weekend was to veg out at home and sit in air conditioning. And I've never thought of myself as a camper - I don't have the gear, I don't know how to go two days without a shower (!), etc. But the more I came up with potential excuses, the more I heard a voice telling me that I needed to get over it and just do it (my mantra, you know). This camping trip was something we all needed for one reason or another, even if I didn't know what my reason was. So on Friday afternoon, I got home from work, loaded up the car, and as I drove away from town, I just trusted that I was doing something good for my soul.

After a gorgeous hour-long drive through the Palouse, I arrived at the campground where my friends had already set up camp and greeted me with hugs and a tin mug of rosé.

They knew of my camping apprehension, so my only job was to show up with beverages, bike and sleeping gear. They took care of all the food planning and other stuff that I don't know to think about in planning a camping trip.

We camped at Heyburn State Park in Idaho, at Chatcolet Lake.

Dinner the first night. No cooking involved! Mezze platter!

The trails and entire campground were covered with blossoming oceanspray. It was beautiful!

The lake, and our campsite, was right on the Trail of the Coeur d'Alenes, a picturesque rail-to-trail bike path. 

We had beautiful moons on both nights of the trip. The first night's moon was moody.

There's nothing quite like conversation by a fire pit, wine in hand.

And around 6 a.m., this is what I woke up to:

The birds started chirping around 4 a.m., and the sunrise was not long after.

On Saturday morning, we hopped on our bikes and rode to Harrison, Idaho, and a bit beyond. We saw lilypads, pelicans, cherry and apple trees, osprey and osprey nests, annoyed preteens on bike rides with their families, sweet peas, tansy, daisies, many more wildflowers we couldn't name, chipmunks, and glassy lake water. I raced a motor boat and won. In all, we biked about 20 miles that day. Not too shabby.

We got lunch in Harrison at The Landing, which allowed us to sit on a deck, in the shade, overlooking the lake, as we charged our phones, drank adult beverages and ate fries. 

Then we walked across the street, where this lovely woman led us in a tasting of fruit wines. It was fun to hear her story and learn more about this little lakeside community. Fruit wine is weird, but a couple of them were pretty good, and I have a feeling they'd be great for wine cocktails or making into wine spritzers. 

After a hot day on our bikes, we found a good spot for a swim.

Another gourmet dinner that night - veggie and noodle stirfry!

And that night featured a Millennial Pink full-moonrise.

I learned the addictive dice game called Blisters.

Where we sat for awhile, staring.

Another glorious view of the campground

Home sweet camp.

As suspected, I was so glad I did this. It was good for my soul in every way. We couldn't stop talking about what a perfect little trip it was at various points during the weekend. It was so good to get away, spend time together and explore the woods, trails and water. I know as adults it's really hard to make time for these kinds of things - it's hard enough to coordinate a happy-hour sometimes. But now we hope that this can be something we can plan each year. We know how important friendships are to our quality of life, and this weekend surely was a worthy investment into each of our lives as friends.