Our first successful adventure

The week looked like any other, until I got it in my head to try and take my son camping again. Having just received a Kayak for my birthday the previous weekend, he and I were really excited to try it out. I found a spot at Mayfield Lake for us to camp at for Sunday May 24th, we would only be a one night quick trip but that was ok with us. We loaded up Saturday afternoon which took some time as we had to adjust the kayak several times to get it just right and Nathan had grand ideas of everything we should take. He and I hit the road at the crack of 9:30 (he slept late) and started on our hour long journey to the lake. After several stops to see odd stuff along the way and to get snacks we arrived at Mayfield about 11:00 to see it was really busy, that didn't phase us at all. We could not set up camp for 4 hours so we decided to explore the lake in our kayak. We both got our life preserves on and hit the water with vigor.
After a bit of frustration we found our cadence and glided across the water with ease, mostly sticking to the shoreline to avoid the power boats but also to explore the shoreline for the lost beauty of nature that so many the visit Mayfield Lake ignore. We saw 1 small raccoon washing it's hands before scurrying away. It was very relaxing.
After four hours of paddling we decided to set up camp. We quickly loaded the kayak back on the truck and went to our camp site. It took only thirty minutes to have a fully functional well organized camp. We sat on the bench together and at lunch marveling at our well put together camp, Nathan turned to me and said "your the great dad in the universe". The trip was well worth it at that point no matter what!
We spent the next three hours paddling and fishing along the brush lined shores, not catching much but having a great time, laughing and goofing off. As the sun began to set we decided to head back to camp. We cooked our buffalo dogs over the camp fire and laughed. What fun, it was hard getting up the next morning knowing we would have to pack up and go home. While a quick trip, oh what fun we had.....


Nathan's first time out on the Kayak

Nate thought this looked like a sea monster from a distance.

Yes I really let him do some paddling! He was good at it!

Fishing on Offut Lake

With the downfall of our camping trip it was important to me to make sure Nathan had an fun weekend. I set my alarm for 6 am last night, although it was not nessesary. Nathan came to the bedroom door just as the alarm began going off. I could see the sun shining so I jumped out of bed and told Nathan to get dressed, we were going fishing. He quickly dressed, faster than I had ever seen and waited for me to finish getting ready. We grabbed out poles from the garage, filled our little cooler with root beer and jerky and hit the road. We now had a decision to make, where to fish...
I left this to Nathan giving him the choice of renting a boat at Offut Lake or going to Black Lake and trying our luck there. Suprise of suprises he chose to rent a boat. Within 20 minutes we were at the office at Offut Lake Resort signing for a boat rental. Nathan and I made our way down to the boat that was being bailed out from the rain the night before. We quickly loaded our gear and quitely traversed the lake hearing only the sounds of the local geese and the hum from the electric motor. We spent the next hour trying different bait and locations before getting our first fish of the day, a 12 inch rainbow trout caught on pink glitter power bait. This was a bit of a low point for Nathan as he wanted to catch the first fish, although his mood quickly shifted as he determinedly overtook me in the fishing department by landing the next three fish, all about 10 inches long. With our rental time quickly running out we decided that we would call it a day and head into the docks.
This short outing renewed Nathan's desire to get outside as he was asking about when we could go camping and fishing again. I promised it would not be long.


As we pulled away from our parking stall at the lake, Nathan commented that something smelled. I said "Us". He said "It smells like snake pee!" A giggling and laughing trip home followed. What a great day!!!

The First Camping Trip

Early Friday morning, while sitting at work I got it in my head that it would be fun to get out in the woods and do a bit of camping. I called Beth and let her know of my plan, initially the plan was for me to go alone but after some though I decided to take Nathan on his first ever camping trip. Rain was on the forecast, although I was determined to have a good time of it. With some quick scrambling during my lunch hour I was able to put together some essentials. After work I picked up the kids and took them shopping with me to get the other needed items such as food and some missing camping gear. As we began getting gear and food together the excitement began to build, Nathan was nearly crawling out of his skin by the end of the evening.
Saturday morning came quickly with the whole family getting up and getting dressed as Beth got ready for work. I loaded the kids to go shopping for the last couple of necessities, with the highest priority set on getting a new camping coffee pot. The kids and I proceeded home to complete the packing of the truck.
On Saturday afternoon Nathan, Avery and I headed to Beth's office to drop Avery off. Nathan's excitement climbed as he and I left Beth's work at 2:20 having dropped of Avery. We proceeded west on Hwy 101 to Hwy 8 then Hwy 12 towards Montesano. On our way down Hwy 12 I pointed out to Nathan a lake Beth and I had taken him to when he was about a baby and told him how he had pooped in the lake. His giggling lasted for about 20 minutes. Our final destination was to be Lake Sylvia, a small lake mid way between Olympia and the Westport.
At about 3:30 we pulled into Lake Sylvia State Park and quickly found our reserved spot #23. Nathan and I met the park Ranger shortly after pulling in and he checked us into our spot.
Now the real work began, setting up camp! The rain was falling lightly which was a pleasant surprise as the weather had predicted steady rain for the area. We quickly assessed our camp site and determined the best spot for the ten. Nathan began unloading the fire wood and getting the chairs set up near the lake. After quickly getting the tent up, I lit the fire as the rain began to fall a bit harder. I moved to the next task which was to establish some cover for us to sit under. Nathan and I unfolded an old brown tarp and lashed it to four trees so we could have a nice dry spot to sit, fish and eat under.
The rain continued to fall steadily but that didn't deter Nathan and I we were in great spirits.




We began fishing with the camp all set up, about an hour went by with nothing to show. Just then the wind began to kick up and the rain changed from steady to torrential. Our camp site began to flood, we looked to see if there was a high spot to move our tent to, with no options in sight. We toured the camp to see if there were any other available camp sites that would provide a spot to place our tent that would not be in a puddle. No high ground to be found, the best spots were all taken by RV campers....
Nathan and I decided to quickly break camp and head home. Good thing we did as I closed the back of the truck the rain came down harder and I saw the spot our tent had been flood over with run off.
This trip would conclude with the promise of another weekend being planned in the very near future. We hoped to head our fishing at a local lake on Sunday weather permitting.