Finishing the Circle

As always, I slept soundly. My kids say that I could take home the gold if there were a napping Olympics and that skill extends to overnight sleeping. I took a lovely mid-night walk under clear, clear skies to the bathroom. (At Ozette Campground the bathrooms are pretty posh; they flush and there’s soap available at the sinks. They are a little bit of a hike though…outside the small campground and a short way down the road toward the trailhead.) The stars were out in all their glory and it wasn’t cold, just crisp and clear and beautiful.

Back in my nest, I curled back to sleep. I heard Sarah open the door at what I thought was still the middle of the night and the next thing I knew there was a knock at my door. I couldn’t figure out how Sarah managed to lock herself out. The doors lock from the outside unless you shoot the deadbolt, which I hadn’t done.

There was Sarah holding out a steaming cup of coffee!

Coffee in bed makes me smile

Sarah has Raynauds. Pretty severe Raynauds. She was pretty pleased to have been able to make that coffee. I was pretty pleased to be on the receiving end.

Sarah had also started a beautiful campfire. We ate a last breakfast of bacon, eggs, and polenta; lazed around gathering bits and bobs slowly; and generally enjoyed the morning.

We managed to hoist the kayaks onto Freya and get them snugged down. Sarah learned to work Brave Horatio’s cunning locks. Brave Horatio’s marvelous theft prevention technology consists of a removeable hitch (attached to about 30 inches of tongue). We just take out the locking pin and toss the hitch in Freya. Our locking pins (hitch latch and removeable tongue) share a common key. I think they’re amazing. You put the key in and turn it like a screwdriver until the pin separates into two pieces. Neat!

Headed Home

We chose to head home via the top of the peninsula–highway 112 through Seiku, Port Angeles, and Sequim. Port Angeles offered gas and some pretty nice lattes. Sarah napped, I drove, and we got home safe and sound.

Back to Hunkering Down

Grandparenting is fun and this weekend much too short.

One last splash in the creek. One last barefoot in the mud. One last speed-crawl across the dusty grass. Then homeward.

Bill and I explored a little on the way home. We walked some of the Theler Wetlands Preserve trails and made plans to return to kayak the Union River (which we did several weeks later. We had a lovely, lazy paddle, pole, and drag. The tide was pretty low, but the sandy bottom was nice.)

We’re looking forward to our next grandparenting outing!

Not one bit of buyers remorse

Heading home from our Shakedown Cruise

Bruce made a great good-bye breakfast and we packed up and headed home, very pleased with Brave Horatio. No buyer’s remorse at all.

We stopped in Portland to show Dave and Amy our new digs.

It rained. Rained hard and continuously. We got safely home and tucked Brave Horatio away in the garage.

So nice not to be faced with a sopping tent and damp sleeping bags.