Kalaloch has been on our list for years, but it is a pretty popular spot so this year was the first time we got reservations. Unfortunately, I got the reservations on January 5th.
So much has happened since January 5th.
Not only did we not foresee the foot drama that would shortly ensue, but we also didn't know at the time when Jason's DC trip would be. In hindsight, we chose poorly. My foot is still in early days of recovery and Jason's DC trip turned out to be too close to the camping dates for him to come.
Oh, and Josh and Michael ended up taking summer school classes.
By the time July 5th came around, it was just me and the two younger boys going on the trip. Which definitely makes the packing situation much easier, but made some things harder. Luckily, no burn bans in the park, so we were to make as many FIRES as we wanted.
Our trip dates had been selected to coincide with the lowest tides of July. Low tides = tidepool fun! This being the PNW, it meant cloudy tidepool fun but that still worked for us.
Shortly after I took the picture above I was walking up the beach when the sand liquified under my heal and I wrenched my ankle. And by my ankle I mean the one encased in a brace with all sorts of muscles weakened by atrophy. It was not excellent. So we took a break on some driftwood and ate gummies. As one does.
Ben decided to bring out his inner Frankenstein and created a hideous gummy bear hybrid.
Isaac worked on his optical illusions.
And then it was back to the campground for more fire. Between my long covid pain from campfire smoke and my wrenched ankle, I made the tough decision to end our trip early. The boys were a bit disappointed but I promised them one last fire after we packed up our gear. We were trying out a new kind of marshmallow this year and decided to make the last fire a memorable one by using up the whole bag.
Our first experimenter was disappointed that the chocolate in the middle did not get melty even as the outside started to burn.
Subsequent attempts lead to slightly disturbing outcomes.
And this is when I decided that these marshmallows do not count as "food". The outside would blacken and enlarge and then start shedding from the main marshmallow not unlike a snake shedding its skin.
It was a gross but amusing end to our trip.
My brain must have been disconnected on this trip. We have been camping for years and I always do the prep and planning. And yet, we found ourselves at Kalaloch without flashlights, blankets (to go under my sleeping back on the cot), and a pot to boil water for our last dinner. Oh, and I managed to leave my glasses in the tent as we rolled it up and packed it away.
For. The. Win.
