What a great weekend. This was our first time out camping all summer and it was well worth waiting for. The weather could not have been more perfect. The company we kept was the sweetest and the hiking wasn't bad either.
It took 4 solid hours to get ready to go. That's the part of camping that makes it less than fun for me. I've come to dislike camping for that reason alone. Once I get out there, I'm so glad I made the effort but as the years go by I am less and less thrilled about the preparation time.
Once we got to Eagle Creek, which is exit 41 on I-84 if you are coming from Portland, it took less than 10 minutes to set up the tent. We staked our claim to some temporary real estate ($15 per site, per night) and waited for the rest of our party to show up. It took them probably 10 minutes to get their tents up and then we enjoyed waiting for the sun to go down so we could build a fire and enjoy stories and s'mores.
Saturday, after breakfast, we made sandwiches and headed down the trail to the falls. The trail is 3.8 miles roundtrip from the trailhead but there was an added mile to get to and from our campsite. We were definitely worn out by the end of the hike. The grandkids and their dad took a dip in the frigid water. I took my shoes and socks off to cool my feet in the water. In my younger days, I like to think I may have gone for a dip in the crisp, clear water. 
Before dinner, hubby and his daughter & son-in-law and the oldest grandson decided to hike a different trail. Boy howdy, am I glad I stayed behind with the younger grandkids. They picked a trail that switch-backed straight up a hill and my hubby said he felt those old stabbing heart attack pains in his neck. I played two games of Sorry and read a couple chapters on my Kindle. Before the sun went down, the two younger ones, their mom and I took a stroll down to the river to throw rocks for a bit. I got to tell them I how met their grandpa. It made me smile that they were actually interested. Love those kids.Saturday night, our son-in-law bbq'd some big fat juicy burgers and later on we toasted marshmallows to put on top of brownies. This lead to a great conversation about Voo Doo Donuts (a Portland must-do which I've never done) and a great idea our 10-year old grandson had to open up a "brownies only" shop. We thought of every variety of brownie until we ran out of ideas and it was time to hit the pillows.
Such is camping. There never seems to be a moment of boredom or lack of things to talk about. I'm glad we went. I look forward to the next trip in September to the beach.
love, susan
