Summer camping

After finding in August that Jeremiah would be laid off from work, we decided to finally purchase the tent trailer we'd been dreaming about for a couple of years. So the day after his last day at work, off we went into the woods to go camping with our new-to-us 1997 Jayco 8D (8') tent trailer. We found ourselves up the South Santiam river just over the Tombstone summit in a little campground called Lost Prairie. It was a little too close to the road for us so the following morning we decided to head East just a little further. Just a couple more miles up the road, we turned off onto the Old Santiam Wagon Road and found the perfect site next to the creek and away from the road.

The kids had so much fun being right next to the creek. Finn and Papa got to fish whenever they wanted, and little Jeremiah got to throw rocks in the water at will. One late afternoon, we all decided to walk along a stretch of the old wagon road. We daydreamed of finding old stuff discarded along the trail by pioneers, made up stories from years gone by, and picked wild strawberries and both red and blue huckleberries for pancakes the following morning. On the twilight walk back, Papa stopped and and asked everyone if they heard those sounds, too. Sounded to him like a man talking to his horse, then telling it to "Whoa!". We all waited along the road for a spell but when nobody came along, chalked it up to just hearing things. Still, it was spooky-cool to think that the voices of settlers from a bygone era might still be hanging around...

Sense of wonder

Finn and Mompba Ty at the coast

Finn and little Jeremiah on the trail

Finn at Heceta Head lighthouse

Jeremiah at Heceta Head lighthouse

Red mountain huckleberries

Finn bathing in an old ceramic tub by the fire...

The family game of checkers

Finn's well-loved tenny-runners

Anyway, we had a wonderful time and spent 10 of the next 14 days camping and spending time together as a family. So much fun and an incredible way to touch base with each other again. We even got to meet up with one set of Jeremiah's parents over at the coast. Wonderful memories.