San Jaun Island 2011

We left home loaded to the gills with provisions...It amazes me how much things you need to take to accommodate a 2, 5, 17 year old.  I had a list for everything, what to pack for clothes, menus, mobile kitchen, sleeping accommodations, and lists for my lists.  I did not miss anything, well almost anything.  The best thing about lists it that they evolve.  We left behind low 60's and cloudy skies and drove toward sunny blue skies and moderate temps of 70 degrees.  Took the ferry to the island and got to our camp site by mid day Friday.  Took about an hour and half to unload and set up camp, we were aided by our 17 yr old taking the younger kids on an expedition to explore our new "temporary home" as the 5 yr old calls it. 

 

 kids had sleeping bags and mats, the older generation( we know who we are) slept in the comfort of the Coleman queen air mattress and cotton sheets, complete with down pillows and a thick quilt.

 The forecast called for the nights to be about 50 degrees.  I thought not bad we should be fine.  The first night i apparently decided to generate heat by shivering all night long. I nestled into my husband to steal what warmth he had to offer, and in the process we both froze.  The second night I stole a pair of his socks, that was somewhat better but we still froze.  So the third day of our trip we decided to head into Friday harbor to purchase some sweats for us both to sleep in.  This became a mission, we are not made of money and the thought of spending 60 plus dollars on a pair of designer lounge wear pants was not happening, and that was just for me, that town had nothing for my husband.  So our search took us to Ace hardware, they didn't have what we were looking for but a friendly staffer showed us the way to the local, and only thrift store.  We hit the sweats jackpot.  For a mere $14.01 we got two bottoms and sweat shirts.  That made for warm nights the rest of the trip.
We were greeted every morning with the view from our campsite.  So tranquil

 

 Of course our days were filled with all sorts of fun activities.  We rode our bikes into Roche harbor and hiked up to afterglow.

The kids got lost in the countless tide pools

And no trip to the San Jaun's is complete without visiting Pelindaba lavender farm

Gavin getting lost in lavender....how yummy

Everyday was spent exploring the wonders of nature

If the goal of all this "go go go" was to make everyone famished...then I achieved my goal.  Our camp kitchen churned out some all time morning favorites, pancakes, sausage, bacon, eggs, vegetarian biscuits and  sausage gravy, cinnamon rolls and freshly grated hash browns.  Our dinners where anything but camp like, Roast paprika chicken and Spanish rice, Vegetarian chili and cornbread, Vegetarian lasagna and fresh garlic bread. I only wish I would have taken pictures of these dutch oven meals. No day would be complete without dessert, Smores are the quintessential campfire treat, we made campfire apple and peach crisps, cherry cobbler, fruit pies in our pie iron, and treated ourselves to an occasional ice cream at the camp store.  

What did 10 days with no electronics and no cell service taught me about my family.  Yes we can survive without our cells and that my 27 month old's favorite television show( I didn't know he had one) is Callou. 

Well the last few days have been spent scouring "craigslist", and thrift stores looking for all the items we will need to camp comfortably.  I don't have the patience to drive around all day searching for garage sells so I keep my bargain hunting to set locations.  We have just about everything thanks to some pretty generous people on "craigslist".  


The weekend here in western Washington has been wonderful, Saturday the high was around 73 and sunny and Sunday temperatures rose to about 85.  I say this knowing that most of the country has been struggling with the heat, but here we have had a chilly start to our summer.  The forecast last night DID NOT say anything about rain, so we put up the tents that we got to air them out.  8:00 this morning I bolt out of bed, hearing the thunderous sound of rain.....Agh half asleep in a t-shirt i run out to the back yard to frantically throw on the rain guards. 



Around 11 the rain stopped so I sloshed out there to take down the tents and hang them up in the garage....The garage isn't large enough to hang both tents, so i thought the dryer has an air dry setting...mmm, so I did a test on the rain guard and within 35 minutes it was dry....Yeah, so I threw in the tent and it took about an hour.. Well that worked great for the little tent but the large two room tent....Nope won't fit, shoot thought I could impress my husband with two completely dry and packed tents...

In planning for this trip I have found some pretty amazing cooking tips and I am looking forward to trying them all out.  Adapting meat recipes for a vegetarian, and that pretty much means everyone will be eating veg. I am planning on cooking mostly on the open fire with cast iron skillets and a dutch oven. 

The forecast, as of today, looks pretty promising.  After Wednesday the skies are suppose to be sunny and dry...Perfect camping weather, but in Washington we have come to expect anything. So packing will include all the usual summer attire with the added jeans and jackets and long socks.....

What happened to Summer?

According to the weather man, here in Western Washington we have had only 78 minutes of above 80 degree weather and 18 hours and 48 minutes of above 75 degree weather.  UGH!!! Typically summer arrives the day after the 4th of July. Not this year.  The garden I planted is doing good, well everything except the corn and tomatoes. Apparently those plants NEED sunshine...go figure. I have had a good crop of rhubarb and its still growing.  I planted two pots of carrots, and didn't divide them out so that I could harvest baby carrots for salads and whatever. And of course the lettuce, snap peas, and strawberries are loving this cooler weather. As far as the potatoes and onions only time will tell.  With all the rain that we have had and the unusually cool days I haven't had to water, which is good.

We have a family camping trip coming up at the end of July, I hope summer decides to return from its vacation.  I have been busy trying to find all the gear, except sleeping bags, as frugally as I can, thrift stores, Craigslist, and so on.  This will be the first annual family camping adventure.  It should be fun for our two year old son, we will also be taking our 5 year old grandson.  All boys...I did say this was going to be fun right?  It will be, we are taking the bikes to San Juan Island, how gorgeous is that..and the boys get to put food in the fire...I just hope that I have cell service so that I can still follow BB13...yeah I'm addicted and have been since season 1. 

Southern cooking

So I am trying to find interesting vegan recipes that my husband will find tasty.  I am not trying to recreate the texture of meat...that seems pointless to me.  

Dinner last night was vegan chik'n fried steak with a creamy gravy.  I made the steak with TVP(textured vegetable protein) that I reconstituted in boiling water seasoned with 'no chicken' chicken bullion, thyme, sage, and pepper. I let this set for a good hour before I added flour and bread crumbs.  The recipe called for an egg and I was ready to use enerG egg re-placer, however the tvp mixture was sticky enough so I didn't use a binder.  Reading the reviews of the recipe it seemed that the patties seemed to fall apart,  so I formed the patties in saran wrap and place in the fridge until I was ready to fry them up...A few hours.  In a non-stick pan I added just a smidge of oil and fried each patty about 4 min per side then put them in the oven to stay warm while I made the gravy. Using earth balance margarine I saute onions and added pepper and thyme and sage. Added some flour to make a rue.  I added enough water and soy milk to make a thick, creamy gravy. To make this southern meal complete I made thick homemade vegan biscuits.

The result...The house smelled amazing, my husband thought I was making real chicken fried steak.  It was a hit with everyone, my husband had two...my two year old opted for the biscuits and fruit (no surprise there), and my vegan son gorged himself.....

Now on to the next meal.....