I love it! I need to go chair shopping, though I can get away with using one of the dining room chairs for now.
This is all the packaging that came with it. I already called the UPS store just down the street and they can take the Styrofoam blocks off my hands to reuse. The rest can go in the recycle bin.
We snuck back a night early after camping one night in the rain (which wasn’t bad, just wet) and hiking 7 miles. The idea of sleeping another night there knowing how sore we were going to be was enough to get us to pack up and head home. Now it feels like we have an extra day of the weekend! Anyway, we had a fantastic time. Here’s the story:
We attempted to head up to Middle Fork/Tailor River (we have camped here before, and hiked the trail twice before), but about 100 yards from our spot, we ran into this:
Hm, doesn’t look *too* impassable…
Oh yeah, about 1/4 of the bridge washed out. 
So we traveled back downriver a ways and stumbled on a fantastic campsite. Here’s the view:
Pitched the tent:
Set up the rain shelter (which we needed):
Had a few beers.
Ran the dog.
Built a fire to cook sausages and smores. Unfortunately the people who used this site before left a ton of trash scattered around the site as well as buried in the fire pit. I pulled out a bag’s worth of trash and Ronan ended up finding discarded hot dogs *shakes fist*.
Homemade marshmallows
Hehehe
Quite a few kayaks and rafts went by.
Self-pic. Check out the scar between my eyes. Don’t jump on the bed kids. You’ll split your face open.
It did rain on us Friday night. We got wet cooking dinner.
So instead of hiking the Taylor River Trail, we hiked the Middle Fork Trail. It’s listed as easy for hikers, and it was…mostly.
There’s a really awesome bridge over the river.
Tons of fungus.
Tons of slugs.
Flowers everywhere.
Look at all of those oyster mushrooms!
The trail is very well maintained, with a lot of little wood bridges and steps.
Until you hit the washouts. We crossed 4 of these huge swathes of destruction. The power that was used to move huge chunks of the hillside along with decades-old trees and boulders the size of our apartment was staggering to comprehend.
One trail bridge that was washed out…
Side view of bridge.
This stretch was likely just regular woods with dirt and shrubs. Now, it’s all rocks and splintered trees.
Smiley face!
Carl crossing a few boards above a section of trail that had been swallowed by the river.
I attempted to go around that section and this is the thanks I got.
The trail drops back down to the river, so we ate our bananas and trail mix here, then went back to camp.
*shakes head*
If you look close, you’ll see little pink ribbons that mark the temporary trail.
I hiked back with only one sock on after stepping in that muddy spot.
Sausage and mustard
We had chili for dinner before packing up and heading home.
Full set here.
I made my first batch of homemade marshmallows. Later tonight, I’ll pull them out of the pan, cut them into squares, and take more pics. The plan is to take them camping this weekend.
Lauren’s tattoo outline
3.6 in English, 3.5 in Sociology! *self hi5* I passed my other two classes, and though I am disappointed in those two grades, overall I am pleased that I managed to survive 20 credits.
I now have 50 UW credits, a total of 136 college credits (I need 180 to graduate), and I am now listed as a Senior on my unofficial transcript.
Cooked up 5 flats of strawberries. 2 more are in the freezer.
The only bad spot in the entire 7 flats I went through.
Ever see a 20-sided strawberry?
Linguine seasoned with a little butter, salt and pepper, topped with Parmesan cheese, sugar snap peas, garlic spears, bacon, red bell pepper, and cherries.
Recipe
Figures that I would post this right at the tail end of our local asparagus season. Oh well.
