Tepee camping

My plan was to set up a camping weekend for Father's Day, but I got behind the 8 ball and didn't get a camp site in time. So, we camped for the 4th of July instead, which was actually a nice break from our insane neighborhood where fireworks run all day on the 4th until about 1 am ... and not just a few ... it sounds like the center of Baghdad during a bombing campaign. We were able to watch fireworks in the nearby town and then go back to our nice quiet tepee afterwards.

We camped at Ensign Ranch, which is a church property near Cle Elum, WA. For those from WA who probably attended many Girls' camps there it's probably not that the first place you would want to go camping, but we had a great time! Also, a big positive for me were the flush toilets and showers.

We chose to stay in a Tepee, which was nice because we didn't have to set much up and it was fun for Ethan. The cars couldn't drive all the way to the tepee sites so they had hand carts available to pack in your belongings, which was just another fun thing for Ethan.

We had plenty of activities to keep us busy ... horse back riding, canoeing, giant slip and slide, hiking, playing at the river, etc. And, except for the horses, everything else was free. Love free entertainment!

We also found a train museum in Cle Eleum that had a train for Ethan to play on. A boy can never get enough about trains! Near the train museum there was the cutest train themed bed and breakfast. The main house of the bed and breakfast was originally an old bunk house for men who worked on the railroad. Adjacent to the house are 4 Caboose cars that have been renovated for sleeping ... super cute!

We also took a drive to the town of Roslyn which is about 15 minutes from where we camped. For those who watched the show Northern Exposure back in the 90's (I'm feeling old here) this photo below should look familiar. This building was shown in the opening credits of the show and the show was filmed in this town.

All of the playing and late nights took their toll on Ethan. He was asleep within literally 2 minutes of leaving the camp to head home. We may try and make it up there again before the summer's over ... but I may need my own bed just for me and my belly.