Miscelaney

It’s finally summer and time to capitalize on the reason why we suffer the winters here year after year. Washington State still takes me breathe away, even after 11 years. There is SO much to do outdoors.

Thus, our inaugural summer camping trip was going to take us to places afar and anew. Decided to try out Maryhill State Park.

Sounded fantastic: sun, fun, water activities, the Maryhill Museum of Art (which apparently has some choice pieces), and not to mention the partial full-scale replica of Stonehenge. Bring it on. And, I figured a stop or three at some of the wineries somewhere along the way might be doable if I were a good girl. It is pretty much a four-hour drive from Seattle to the Goldendale area on a good day and you can imagine one gets a little parched along the way.

But Maryhill wasn’t in the cards this past weekend. A state-wide turn in the weather and a late start time was call for Plan B (I for one am not the girl who puts her tent up in the dark, and particularly not in the rain and the dark). So we scrapped the original plan and fell back on Old Faithful: Wish-Poosh, just outside of Roslyn.

Why do we love Wish-Poosh so much? Located in the Northern Cascade Range it’s close, less than two hours away. It’s easy, always can find a spot on Friday (well, that is until I’ve shared this as one of my favorite campsites to date…but who am I kidding…you people don’t camp). It is close to Salmon-la-Sac and we LOVE to go bust our balls hiking the never-ending mountain range of easily-accessible trails. It makes the consumption of more-beers-than-I’d-like-to-mention a wash for our waistlines. And of course Cooper Lake. An easy Sunday hike out and around the lake fills our senses and cleanses our souls. Literally. Plus, we aren’t that organized of campers, so a twilight-zone inspired run into the Ronald General Store and a burger dash to The Brick always fully completes our weekend escape with rare oddities (this past weekend we were able to experience a Lithuanian Festival).

There are an amazing amount of killer camping areas around here. I’d definitely like to experience several more this summer (including Maryhill State Park). But for you, you don’t even have to camp to take a mini “get-the-monkey-off-my-back” break and enjoy the rest of this state. Grab a cheap hotel room somewhere close to some fantastic outdoor activities and get off your ass and go do them. Doesn’t have to be expensive. It just re-starts your quality of life button and it is a great way to kick off summer.