PEARRYGIN LAKE STATE PARK, WA :: This weekend we car-camped at Pearrygin Lake State Park with a large group of friends, including Kristie’s brother and his buddy, Justin. Our gang of 12 adults, 4 dogs and 1 toddler divided ourselves amongst three campsites that were conveniently connected and located in a less-trafficked section of the park. I don’t think we could have chosen a better arrangement of spots. The weather, however, left much to be desired.
Multiple forecasts predicted a 0% probability of rain, yet it drizzled on and off all day. During our taco bar dinner, the skies around us cracked open with thunderstorms and dropped at least an inch of rain within an hour. If Matt and Becky hadn’t brought along their large canopy, our meal would have been a disaster.
The lightning was pretty cool, and you just gotta love it when the thunder pounds so hard you feel your internal organs jostle against each other. It was quite a show! Yet just as suddenly as it had arrived, it cleared away to give us an absolutely clear view of the stars at night. We woke up at around 3AM to visit the bathroom, and the blanket of stars was dazzling. I wanted to get the camera out of the car to see if I could capture it on film, but the entire campground was so deathly quiet, I thought the slight noise might wake everyone up for miles around. The silence was very strange.
As is the entire notion of car-camping, but it’s still a lot of fun. Kristie really appreciated the running water in the bathrooms, and it was great to just throw piles of stuff in the car without having to worry about how it will feel five miles later on my back. You could instantly discern the backpackers from the car-campers based on the size of their tents and cooking gear. I’m sure each group thinks of the other as equally silly. Why is their tent so tiny? Why is their tent so huge?
During a couple nicer breaks in the weather, Kristie and I played badminton and then joined David and Justin out on the lake in our inflatable raft. I almost dunked myself in muddy water as I was trying to board, and quickly discovered I couldn’t paddle in a straight line for 20′ to save my life. We had a great time, but after paddling in circles for about an hour, I gave up, and Kristie yelled for her brother across the lake with an electric motor to tow us back in. Just in time to avoid another downpour.
Multiple forecasts predicted a 0% probability of rain, yet it drizzled on and off all day. During our taco bar dinner, the skies around us cracked open with thunderstorms and dropped at least an inch of rain within an hour. If Matt and Becky hadn’t brought along their large canopy, our meal would have been a disaster.
The lightning was pretty cool, and you just gotta love it when the thunder pounds so hard you feel your internal organs jostle against each other. It was quite a show! Yet just as suddenly as it had arrived, it cleared away to give us an absolutely clear view of the stars at night. We woke up at around 3AM to visit the bathroom, and the blanket of stars was dazzling. I wanted to get the camera out of the car to see if I could capture it on film, but the entire campground was so deathly quiet, I thought the slight noise might wake everyone up for miles around. The silence was very strange.
As is the entire notion of car-camping, but it’s still a lot of fun. Kristie really appreciated the running water in the bathrooms, and it was great to just throw piles of stuff in the car without having to worry about how it will feel five miles later on my back. You could instantly discern the backpackers from the car-campers based on the size of their tents and cooking gear. I’m sure each group thinks of the other as equally silly. Why is their tent so tiny? Why is their tent so huge?
During a couple nicer breaks in the weather, Kristie and I played badminton and then joined David and Justin out on the lake in our inflatable raft. I almost dunked myself in muddy water as I was trying to board, and quickly discovered I couldn’t paddle in a straight line for 20′ to save my life. We had a great time, but after paddling in circles for about an hour, I gave up, and Kristie yelled for her brother across the lake with an electric motor to tow us back in. Just in time to avoid another downpour.
