Glamping!

My girlfriend Kelly emailed me the other day raving about a little family vacation she took. She described it so sweetly I couldn't resist asking her to send pics so I could post it here. Here's Kelly's report.

"We had a great time on San Juan Island. We went "glamping" (glamour camping) at Lakedale Resort. We stayed in a canvas cabin.

It was furnished with a queen bed and a futon covered with down comforters that were oh so cozy. It was so nice with a table, chairs, side table, mirror, etc. It was clean and new looking. No electricity or water in the cabin, but we didn't miss it.

There were nice bathrooms a short walk away. The Lodge looked wonderful, but didn't allow children under 12 or 15, I can't remember.

We played Yahtzee,

watched dragonflies spread their wings,

went out on a rowboat on the lake.

Around the island we visited an Alpaca farm and saw the babies, Way cute.

It was a very relaxing and fun vacation."

Nice review Kel! Sounds just about perfect to me...and I LOVE the San Juans. Thanks so much for the info :-)

-jen

Museum of Death!

That's what the boys are calling it.
Gramma and Papa took them to the Painted Hills and the John Day Fossil beds over Memorial day weekend, and when we asked them how they liked it, the answer was, "That was the best day EVER."

I'm not kidding. That really was their answer. So...either we've really deprived our kids of some good experiences or the place is really interesting and fun! And since we've done Disneyland and Yellowstone and go swimming and biking and cook ethnic foods and play Candamir from time to time, I'm inclined to think it's the latter!

It's a great, inexpensive family day-trip. Our boys are 8 and 10 and they're still talking about it 2 weeks later. They just asked me this morning to download their pictures. Let's see if I can find them...

Here's the website for more info!

John Day Fossil Beds & Museum

Disneyland...Should we Fly or Drive?

One of the advantages of being on the west coast is that driving to Disneyland is sometimes a viable option. Our family did the comparison the other day just to see if it might be worthwhile. Thought you might be interested in seeing our numbers!

There are 4 of us. We drive a Ford Explorer that gets about 19 mpg and we would go sometime in June after the kids get out of school. These are approximate numbers, of course.

The Drive:
Length of trip: 14 hours (843m each way)
Gas one way: about $115 (and rising...)
Extra meal stops on trip: about $55
A night at travel hotel each way: $89
Total Travel: $518

To Fly:
Length of trip: 4 or less hours (each way)
Airfare 2 adults (RDM to LAX): $766 ($383 each)
Airfare Kids: Free (until Sept if we book by 5/30/08)
Airport snacks: $35 (each way)
Total Travel: $836

For us it makes sense to spend the extra $318 and save the time, not to mention the car, the sanity and the extra day of vacation time so we can use it at Christmas! We did notice that the airfare prices went up by $40-$50 in July and August though.
But...if you drive straight through with no hotel stay and take grandma and grandpa in the same car...driving starts to make lot more sense. A California roadtrip...You could end up with some great stories to tell!

Pike Street Market in March!

I couldn't decide if I was more taken with the buckets and buckets of fresh tulips or the entire street of bakeries tempting us with delicacies from 25 countries! I think you can guess what my boys liked the most (although Jordan claims his highlight was the stacks of artwork displayed right there on the street! "Now this is what I came for, Mom!" he said to me enthralled.)
We got a little black gospel jazz and some washtub bluegrass (seriously...he played a broken, tin washtub and a string!), and some more of that precious treasure, Seattle sunshine!

Such a fantastic place!!!

Belknap Hot Springs

For 11 years our family has spent a weekend at Belknap Hot Springs just before Christmas. We've grown to the point that we take up the whole lodge and all the cabins for the weekend. It's an amazing time with family and friends we wouldn't otherwise see. Belknap is the perfect spot for it, because we come from all directions...Bend, Medford, Portland, Eugene, etc. They always decorate it beautifully for the holidays, and we feel like it's home when we're there. The pool is fantastic for kiddos and adults alike, because it's like a giant hot tub.

Belknap did a huge remodel and added a bunch of rooms to the lodge a number of years ago. They also added a fantastic "secret garden" across the river that is always fun to take a little walk to. We really love it there...

It's getting a little run down though. The remodels are great...the pool looks to have been resurfaced this year, but sometimes the rooms are starting to feel a little grungy. It's definitely a nice little getaway, though not 5 star by any means.

You can read more about our little family gathering on Jen's blog...