June 10, 2014

We’ve been eager for a while to take Thea out camping. For all of our own adventures and time spent living out of tents, it’s amazing that it could still come with such apprehension. I like to think that we’re easy-going, adventure-ready parents, but the idea of camping with an 11-month old still puts that to the test a bit. Not quite sure what to do with eating dirt all the time, or whether she’d sleep in the tent, or what all to prepare, we just decided to bring everything and go for it. Backpacking this would not be, and I was really hoping that if things went well, we’d go for two nights. At least two nights might help justify the sheer volume of stuff that we brought with us! We took off early Friday afternoon, packed up the car and Thea, and were the last car pulling onto the ferry across the sound, watching them pull the gate closed just behind us. Mini-vacation time was on! Paolo, Amanda, and Jaclyn met us Friday evening at Clallam County Campground outside of Sequim, and we had a great weekend exploring Dungeness Spit and the surrounding trails.

In the end, it all worked out easily. Thea taste-tested a lot of the rocks, but we kept her out of the firepit and didn’t worry about the dirt. She was a great camper, loved crawling all over the ground, ate with us out in the open, and slept great in the tent. Three days later, we had a camper on our hands, and an exhausted baby that slept really, really soundly Sunday night after all the excitement at the end of the weekend. More adventures to come!

All smiles for a sunny Friday on Puget Sound.

Thea, super happy in her outdoor dining perch.

First night’s sunset over the Strait of Juan de Fuca, with the Olympic Mountains on the left.

Beautiful evening on the trails.

Ready to play in the dirt and taste-test all the rocks.

Pine-fresh baby.

Thea’s buddy Greta.

A delicious spread for breakfast Saturday morning.

Dungeness Spit, sticking 5 miles out into the Strait with a tenuous hold against the seas.

Loving the baby backpack.

Picking up someone’s left-behind frisbee.

Ready to slackline already.

Out on the bluff trails for another sunset.

Happy little explorer, happy dad.


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