We’ve done very little camping these past four years, because of COVID, then pregnancy, then having a baby, but I decided earlier this year that come summer 2024, we’d be ready. I spent a January evening making a handful of reservations, knowing not all of them would pan out but wanting to give ourselves some options before everything filled up. Our first option rolled around in mid-June and while I almost cancelled due to the fact that Juliette had a soccer tournament that same weekend, I decided instead that Isaac and I would give it a go on our own. Bring on the mother-son time!
I loaded up the car with our two-person tent and a pile of snacks, picked up Isaac early from daycare on a Friday afternoon, and we hit the long, traffic-filled road to Deception Pass. We listened to Life is a Highway by Rascal Flatts 14 times over (“More Lightning McQueen song, Mommy!”), burned through the iPad’s battery, stopped at McD’s for a potty break and chocolate milk, and made it to our site with no tears and plenty of remaining daylight. Victory #1.
We set up camp in no time and Isaac was very excited by the tent, zipping and unzipping the door, poking his head out each time to flash a big grin and say, “I see you!”.
Camp chairs were also a big hit.
Once we were settled, we headed out to do some exploring. I let Isaac set the pace – if he wanted to stop to climb up and jump off off a rock or pick a handful of daisies or wave to his shadow, I let him. No rush.
We found the beach at the end of the road and my goodness. The driftwood to climb on and the endless supply of rocks to throw and the early-evening sunshine. Best playground ever.
Who was I kidding with those rolled-up pants? Just ditch ’em altogether, Buddy. Be free.
The luxury of having nowhere else to be… I suggested that we look for a special rock to take home to Juliette and we both sifted through the smooth stones, Isaac exclaiming all the while, “I’m looking, too! That’s special, Mommy! Ohhhh…so special!” SO SPECIAL.
Eventually, Isaac’s legs did get cold and we both got a little hungry, so we walked back to our site for a campfire and an easy dinner.
Isaac’s first s’more! He dug it. Obviously.
We felt the first rain drops fall as we were finishing our dessert and hustled to put our things away and get ready for bed. We zipped ourselves into our sleeping bags just as it really started to come down outside. Cue cozy-time!
Cozy-time does not necessarily equate to sleepy-time, however. Isaac was buzzed, with new-adventure excitement and a side of marshmallow wiggles. I let him play with the flashlight and do his somersaults and sing his silly songs until he eventually conked out at 10 pm.
Buddy slept great, snoozing through the downpour that kept me up much of the night, and woke up with a fresh boost of energy on Saturday morning.
I felt less than bright-eyed and very much needed a few minutes to savor my morning coffee by our smoky fire while Isaac sipped his warm milk from the paper to-go cup I snagged from the car (add sippy cups to the packing list).
This kid most definitely gets moody, but he’s often so delightfully goofy.
A few camp chair snuggles while the fire petered out…
And then we set out for some more exploring. We made the short drive up to the Deception Pass Bridge, but it was too windy to enjoy the view for long from up there.
Instead, we hiked.
Our ‘hike’ was more of a slow stroll / faux bear hunt, but Isaac had fun. Give a boy a long stick…
We didn’t make it far, but we played several rounds of raucous hide and seek and found many interesting things. “A rainbow, Mommy!”
It was a short(ish) walk down to the north beach from the parking lot, so we detoured before heading back to camp.
I was feeling pretty kaput by this point, between the sleepless, stormy night and the cold I seemed to be coming down with, so I was thankful that Isaac just let me chill on the warm rocks while he hunted for treasure (that boy loves popping those kelp bubbles).
The trip down to the beach felt short, but the trek back to the car felt long. Thank goodness for the emergency Dum-Dum I keep in my fanny pack.
We ate lunch in our tent, too tired even to unfold the camp chairs I had stowed in the car in case of more rain. Naptime came easily and we both dozed to the sound of the wind whooshing through the pines. One of my best-ever naps – so sweet, so cozy, so needed.
Rested and refreshed, we drove into Oak Harbor in the afternoon to grab a chai and a vanilla steamer and to play at a nearby playground.
This two-person swing was fun, but I think we’d both still take driftwood and rocks any day.
We moseyed on back toward camp in the late afternoon, but got sidetracked by a farmstand advertising cherries and ice cream. Dinner, Schminner…
Given our ice cream appetizer, we were in no rush to prep dinner once we got back to camp, so…to the beach!
We found a sunny place to perch over the water and threw rocks for a bit.
A park ranger stopped us as we were walking back to our site and asked Isaac if he’d like to earn his Junior Ranger Garbage Collector Badge by picking up 15 pieces of garbage and turning them in at the ranger station. Challenge accepted.
I got us a little turned around as we were walking back to our site and we ended up needing to do quite a bit of back-tracking. Isaac was a good sport.
But man, it felt good to put our feet up at the end of the day!
I feel ya, Bud.
We had hot dogs for dinner and another round of s’mores. Sleep came easier that night.
And on Sunday morning, we broke down camp in 20 minutes flat and high-tailed back to Seattle to spend the day with Shane and Juliette. We’d missed them. But also, we had rocked Isaac’s first camp experience. So proud of us. So thankful. So tired.