Camp and Camping

During the past seven days we have gone from Family Camp at Aldersgate to camping at Detroit Lake State Park. Family Camp has been a tradition in our family since the girls were babies. This is an annual event sponsored by the Oregon Conference of Free Methodist Churches at Aldersgate Conference and Retreat Center near Salem. The dates have varied, the length has changed, the focus has shifted, but it has always been there. We have lived in tents, borrowed RVs, an A-frame cabin, our own 15 foot trailer, a newer trailer and finally our fifth wheel. Years and years ago we made a little enclave with our trailer and Harper's trailer parked door to door with a tarp strung between (remember the name Harper; it will come up later in this blog). People from the church would gravitate to our RVs and it became a hangout at camp. Years pass, kids grow up and move away. Jana had not been at Family Camp since she lived with us about 17 years ago (wow! that sounds like a long time). She wanted to attend again and give Josiah and Lilly the chance to be there.


So we did. It began Thursday evening and ended Sunday afternoon. She actually met some friends she knew from years ago and the kids loved the experience. Josiah loved the slip n slide but best of all, he learned to ride his bike without training wheels. The only negative to the event was the heat -- temperatures hovered around 100 and just sucked the energy out of you. Fortunately our RV's air conditioner worked great which made sleeping bearable but the tabernacle where the evening service was held was not -- just a bunch of big fans. Well, better than nothing. We survived.


Sunday afternoon we traveled about 40 miles up the Santiam River to Detroit Lake State Park Campground. We had a great site right on the lake -- but far enough away that we didn't have to worry about the kids. There was an old root on the beach that made a great setting for pictures -- as you can tell. Joyce posed Lilly and she became quite the model.


On the Wednesday and Thursday before Family Camp began, we moved Ginger into her new (new to her) mobile home. It all went well and everything was moved in about 5 hours. We used the rest of the time to help her unpack and do some maintenance things on the house. While we were at Detroit Lake we wanted to see her one more time so we decided to meet at a fun little restaurant not far from where we were camped. It has a display of live birds right next to where the patrons sit -- separated by glass of course. But alas, the restaurant was closed and the only other place we could find was Pappa Al's, a little mom-n-pop cafe that apparently has had some semi-famous people eat there -- as attested to by their signatures on the wall. Well, the food was good and we enjoyed getting together again. Auntie Ginger is really good with the kids.

Anyway, our camping was great. Probably the highlight was Josiah's tube ride. Remember the Harper I mentioned earlier? Our family and their family were really good friends and our kids grew up together -- at least while we were in Newberg. Harpers have two children, a daughter Rhonda who is a missionary in Japan and Brian who lives near Salem and has a cabin on Detroit Lake. He came over with his boat (and family) to take us for a ride. His kids like to ride a large inner tube-like thing that he tows behind his boat. He asked Josiah if he wanted to ride. Of course, the answer was of course! After some instructions he got on and the smile never left his face. He even smiled when the thing flipped and he went into the lake. His mom and I were a little worried but the life vest bobbed him to the surface and he wanted back on. I think this kid is having too much fun!!!
We came home today (Wednesday). Last night it began to rain and this morning we broke camp in the rain. Not too pleasant but we certainly need the moisture. We drove to Belnap Hot Springs and swam in the warm waters for awhile -- in the rain. Kinda fun to be in nice warm water with little, cold drops falling on your head. Here at home it is not raining yet but there are clouds and they might produce something wet. We need it here, too. Hope your summer is going great. See you in the next blog.