Let's talk about God Bless America Tour 2008, also affectionately referred to as "GBAT 08", for those of you who are crazy for acronyms (like me).
The weekend was SO GREAT. First of all, I turned 26. The perfect age. No need to rehash that, but it has been a real joy to be blessed by and celebrate with the wonderful friends and family I am fortunate to be surrounded by. Thank you for your nice cards, gifts, wishes and sweet treats.
GBAT 08 started with a 9 am meeting of seven silly girls in West Seattle on the morning of the 4th of July. Makeup free and in grubby clothes, we packed coolers, packed cars, made a quick stop at Safeway for ice, beer and batteries and hit the road. A little more than 4 hours later, after one pit stop, one "check engine" light incident, and more than a couple "what the..?" drives through teeny tiny Eastern Washington towns, we arrived at our destination: Maryhill State Park, located on the Washington side of the Columbia River, 12 miles from Goldendale, WA. Maryhill is a beautiful green oasis in the middle of a very dry and expansive desert of brown nothing. It is difficult to fully capture natural beauty, even digitally, but I tried, so here is a glimpse:
Our campsite (#55!) was big and grassy and had lots of trees. We set up camp, which consisted of 3 tents, 5 coolers, 8 camp chairs, and bags and bags and bags and bags of food.
We spent three full days relaxing, eating, drinking, giggling, reading, laying in the sun, telling stories, sittin round the campfire, playin bocce, throwing frisbees, swimming and just enjoying some life.Highlights include (but are definitely not restricted to):
Fourth of July "fireworks" in Goldendale, WA. We had heard there would be fireworks there, so we drove into this little All-American town, asked for directions from a 13 year old girl with koolaid hair, found the park where the big show was to go down, and waited. And waited. And waited some more. We watched random people shoot off random fireworks at random times. And then we realized. That WAS the big show. Needless to say, we were confused.
Shortly thereafter, we got the heck out. People were shooting each other with roman candles and we did not want to get caught in the crossfire.
Squatters!! The second day of the trip, we noticed that someone had staked a tent at the campsite next to us. The park ranger/volunteer told us that whoever belonged to that tent had NOT checked in when they had arrived. Squatters!! Oh, it gets better. THEN a group of 4 people in their mid-20s showed up at that same site. Two guys, two girls and their dumb yappy chihuahua named Isabel. I wanted to kick that dumb dog into the fire. Anyway, that group of 4 insisted that they had reserved the site as well and were determined to stay. They were pretty pissed about the whole thing. In fact, the group set up their two tents, one on each side of the "squatter" tent. We knew that all of this meant one thing- SHOWDOWN! We were excited for what the evening might bring.
That evening, the group of 4 left for a concert and would not be back until late. The "squatters" were still nowhere to be seen! Later that night, it's dark. We girls were just sitting around the campfire, makin smores and just waiting for the big showdown. With every passing car, we would get excited thinking the squatters had finally arrived and then the car would pass. No squatters. We were in the middle of sharing our most embarrassing moments, when we heard motorcycles roar into the campground, and we JUST KNEW. The squatters had arrived.
Smores, stories, all was forgotten. As the motorcycles roared into the neighboring campsite, we seven girls were struck. It was like a scene from a movie. We were riveted. With eyes wide and mouths open, we watched the two motorcyclists park and turn off their engines. They exclaimed, "Where's our stuff?! What's going on!?" They were confused and angry. So Sarah and Natanya kindly went over and explained to them what had happened. The woman was loud and upset, and waved a receipt in their faces saying they had a confirmed reservation which they had booked weeks before. They sort of thanked Sarah and Nay. We went back to our chairs and slowly resumed smores and chatter, resolute to stay awake until the other group returned.
We did not have to wait too long. Soon, the now drunken group of four arrived! They were very loud and obnoxious. Again, we fell silent. What would happen next? Would there be a brawl? Would the small dog accidentally/hopefully be smashed in the process? Would we have to intervene? We braced ourselves. One of the drunken girls yelled something and interrogated the motorcycle couple. Motorcycle lady said something back. Voices were raised. There was confusion. Lots of explaining, lots of excuses. We listened as their heated conversation continued. THEN!
Then they all made friends! They apologized to each other. They all decided to stay. They even started a campfire together. It was okay, but we were a little disappointed. The End.
We ate. We ate GOOD. Incidentally, there were 7 girls on the trip and 7 meals needed to be prepared. So we each were responsible for a meal. Tasty meals included feta and garlic stuffed chicken burgers, marinated teriyaki chicken, quesadillas, pancakes and mimosas, delicious wraps, sandwiches, homemade pasta salad. And there was plenty of tasty beer and hard cider to wash it all down with!
In the end, it was one of the best camping trips I have ever been on! It all really went off without a hitch. No broken down cars, no nasty allergic reactions, no drama, no one got lost, no one got sick, no one went hungry. It was just seven slightly sunburnt friends having a lovely, fun time in the GREAT outdoors. We are already planning our next trip.... August or September, this time in western WA. Stay tuned!
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