Saturday, September 13, 2008

Lake Chelan State Park

We love, love, love this campground! I went for the first time the summer before Mike and I met, on a last-minute trip because a spot opened at the campground. This year, a big end of summer bash was planned with a lot of my high school and college friends, and extended friends of theirs. In total, six campsites along the waterfront were reserved for a late September trip.

The greatest thing about Lake Chelan State Park is that a lot of the campgrounds are directly on the water, and private! You have to walk down to the sites, but there are paths, and it's not too bad. Then, your campsite is basically in front of the water, like your own private lake! It's the next best thing to owning your own cabin on Lake Chelan. Both times we've gone, we've had an anchored raft in front of the campsite or parked jet skis and just come and go as we please.

Lake Chelan is also SUPER hot, which allows for a lot of water fun and makes it a great place to go in late September. The park is super popular and usually booked all summer - we had to prebook last March for a late September trip - to September might be the only time you can snag a spot on the beach loop.

To reserve a beachfront site, be sure you book sites 36 - 71. Site 36 is the best, in our opinion, because it's on the end, large and private. The only problem with the campground is that the park rangers tend to be really strict, even when music is on rather low. We were told on a number of times to turn down the music or to keep our voices down.

The campground also has a little store with ice cream, shaved ice and other camping necessities if you forgot something. The campground is a little bit out of the town of Chelan - 30 minutes or so - so it's not quite as easy to pick something up if you forgot it. The town has a lot of surrounding wineries, which we've yet to check out, but it's on our list!
Final Verdict: Most definitely go back. It's hard to beat the heat coupled with a campsite right on the water. Plus, this kind of privacy and seclusion is rare in a Washington State Park. I wouldn't be so inclined to camp there if we couldn't get a waterfront spot. But next time we go back, we'll hopefully explore Chelan Wine Country!

Wednesday, September 3, 2008

West Beach Resort on Orcas Island

Mike and I spend Labor Day weekend in the most lovely, relaxing way - on an Orcas Island camping trip. I've had an itch to ride the ferry and camp in the San Juan's; it's been approximately 13 years since I've been to Orcas Island, specifically. So, I Googled "camping Orcas Island," discovered the cutest little place called West Beach Resort and reserved a spot for Labor Day weekend. From Seattle, we drove north to exit 230 (almost clear the way to Bellingham, my old college stomping grounds!) to catch the ferry to Orcas Island.

After an hour and a half ferry ride, we pulled into the campground around 7 p.m. and were met with a sign that pretty much summed up the weekend:

Slow Down You're on West Beach Time

From there, our weekend followed their recommended leisurely time schedule. It's amazing what you can fit into a day when you don't have errands to run, haircuts to get, laundry to wash, birthday and grad parties to attend, work to finish, cars to wash and oil to change, groceries to purchase and meals to cook...We spent our first evening with drinks, a sunset on the beach and an evening dip in the hot tub that had a view of the water. How great is it to go camping somewhere that has a hot tub! And it wasn't crowded either! West Beach Resort also has a private beach and a looong dock that has a place to moor boats and picnic tables with umbrellas for playing games or watching the sunset. (You can rent games from the little store, which also features homemade waffle cones and ice cream, espresso, grocery items, and crab pots and fishing rentals and purchases.)

The campground has regular, tent camping, or you can also reserve a canvas tent or a cabin on the beach... it's also a very family friendly place and had a neat bonfire pit off the dock, with benches for everyone at the campsite to enjoy. We saw some people playing guitar there the second night.

Saturday we woke up bright and early (hard to avoid when sleeping in a tent), ordered lattes at the little dockside store and bought a crab pot to throw over the side of the dock. Mike was like a kid in a candy store with his crab pot. I swear he checked it every hour, on the hour, all weekend long. One night, he checked his crab pots and the crabs that was there earlier were gone! We talked to some people that said to beware of people who rob crab pots, so there's a word of caution.


From there, we explored Orcas Island, which is so beautiful! I'm amazed at how underdeveloped it is - tons of trees, parks, dirt roads, waterfront views and funky beach houses with property. The weather was perfect, sunny and crisp...Orcas Island doesn't get as hot as Eastern Washington, but we do recommend going in the heart of summer so you get some sun and warmth. The island is actually quite large, with a number of small little port towns. We drove through Moran State Park, hiked a little through the woods, then up to Mt. Constitution to the stone tower built there sometime in the 1930s. The views are amazing, and definitely worth a picture op.

You can also camp in Moran State Park, which is amazing in of itself - most of it was built by the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) and features approximately 5,000 acres, with 30 miles of hiking trails. The CCC was formed by Franklin D. Roosevelt during The Depression to put men back to work, improve the economy and preserve the nation's parks. There are really neat pictures and a detailed history of this time period to read inside the stone tower.

From Moran State Park, we drove to Deer Harbor and ate lunch at the Deer Harbor Cafe before we headed to Obstruction Pass State Park to hike some more, walk on the beach and look through tide pools. The Deer Harbor Cafe was super yummy and quaint. They had homemade items such as lasagna and potato salad, and a little outdoor patio. It is also right next to a small park and a dock, so you can take your lunch and enjoy it next to the water.

We then spent the rest of our Sunday night with a couple games of Battleship and Yahtzee and another hot tub swim before heading out the next day. Unfortunately, Labor Day weekend is one of the more popular weekends to head to Orcas Island, so we were warned that sometimes you have to wait eight hours for a ferry - and might not get back until the next day. Yikes. We did have to wait four hours in line, but luckily you can sit out in the park next to the ferry and there are a lot of places to eat, shop and explore while you're waiting.
Final Verdict: Most definitely go back. We absolutely loved this private
campground, and it's features - hot tub, store, crabbing, kayaking - and the
natural beauty of Orcas Island and it's laidback style. The island is perfect
for bike riding, so we'll probably take our bikes next time. In fact, we love
this place so much, we're thinking of making it a yearly tradition. It's that
highly recommended!

Monday, August 11, 2008

Yakima Wine Country & Yakima Sportsman State Park

Mike and I toured the Yakima Valley wine country a little bit this weekend while camping at the Yakima Sportsman State Park. Again, it was a last-minute trip, and since no other campgrounds were available, we settled on camping in Yakima and immediately planned our wine touring route...Yakima has an average of 300 days of sun! 300 DAYS OF SUN! We figured wine and sun couldn't be all that bad.

We set up camp late Friday night at the state park. When we arrived, we were a little shocked to discover that the campground is basically in the middle of town! And it's not next to a body of water! Not impressed. Most of the campsites were open, with very little privacy and very little to keep yourself entertained. We had to venture way outside the campground to find entertainment. It felt really weird cause it was like we were visiting Yakima, but in a campground, not in a hotel. And Yakima isn't the nicest town to visit - the town is really small, and mostly run down. But, after a little breakfast the next morning and swimming at the Yakima public pool (with a huge water slide), we headed down Highway 82 at last to the clusters of wineries located on the Rattlesnake Hills Wine Trail. (The real attraction to Yakima, in my opinion).

Our first stop, Maison de Padgett Winery, had tacky labels and extremely sweet wines, however, I was most impressed by the winemaker's story... after working in the Costco warehouse for 15 years, he decided to purchase a small winery in Yakima and learned in five months how to make wine. (See! It is possible!) We cringed a bit at the coffee-flavored sweet port, decided against buying any bottles, took some pictures in their beautiful gardens and headed on our way...

The next stop was nothing more than a little house, but by far my favorite place--Paradisos de Sol. Their wine philosophy was "Sip, sip, bite, dump." The "bite" included a small snack they had to accompany their wines... artichoke and crab dip to accompany two white wines, bleu ribbon dip to accompany three of their reds, flaming pears to accompany a dessert wine and my favorite--a pairing of roasted marshmallow with Botrytis Riesling, the rarest form of wine in the world!

Next we moved on to SilverLake Winery (also located in Woodinville), where the gentlemen pouring our wine did us well. We ended up sampling at least 10 different wines. Because we told him we were new, he let us try the differences between a red - the same wine made in a barrel and a steel cast, and a white - same wine, but one made in a barrel and a steel cast. Then he also used a "smelling kit" to teach us how to pick the flavors out of a wine, which is my new goal. I struggled with picking blueberry out of a Chenin Blanc, but I just about flew to the moon when I finally smelled the "apricot" listed in a riesling at the next winery...
Final Verdict: Won't go back. We loved the wine tasting, and would stop there again, but the state park was one of the worst we've seen. We'd rather camp somewhere with a little more privacy and a lake or river to swim in!

Sunday, June 1, 2008

About the authors

Mike and Jeanna started dating in late 2007, before Mike took off on his very last fishing trip to the Bering Sea. He was gone for three lonely months as Jeanna pined and suffered alone in Seattle, realizing that she really enjoyed his company and wanted him around all the time. Luckily, there isn't a woman to be had (with hair and teeth) in Dutch Harbor, Alaska, so Mike came willingly and faithfully back to Jeanna without risk of an Eskimo snagging his affection. (Phew)

Their first summer together, they discovered they both really liked to camp. Every weekend was a whirlwind - to Yakima, Sunland, Chelan, Mason Lake, Orcas Island - they perfected packing up the car in an efficient manner and leaving the city for a weekend of sun and relaxation. Mike became really good at long, extended drives and making bacon on the camp stove. Jeanna became really good at reading US Weekly with her feet up in the window, napping while Mike drove the extended distances, and eating his bacon from the camp stove. (What a pair).

In the grey Seattle winters, Mike and Jeanna love to hit-up local, Seattle restaurants, always in search of the best sushi or happy hour and the tastiest glass of white wine. When they're home, they're grilling on Jeanna's all-time awesome $25 Craigslist-special, George Foreman electric grill (a girl's dream grill - no propane or charcoal), picking up something to make for dinner at Trader Joe's or sipping a wine they purchased from Metropolitan Market.

If you asked Jeanna what she loves best about her boyfriend, she'd tell you his blue eyes and his easy-going demeanor. If you asked Mike what he loves best about his girlfriend, he'd tell you she's fun to be around and she has a "great smile." They'd both say they love how the other likes to go anywhere, do anything and experience new things. (The adventure, if you will).

They're here to review some of their adventures for you...

Jeanna will be doing all the writing for the site, but the experiences, comments and photos are those from both Mike and Jeanna. This site will have only the most recent review posted on the home page, but you can read through more reviews by clicking Older Post at the bottom of the site, or by searching through the categories listed in the sidebar. You can read all restaurant reviews by clicking Caviar, or all campground reviews by clicking Campfires. You can also search by rating or type of cuisine.

Thanks for reading!

About this blog

It came about on a raft. A raft floating Osoyoos Lake on a camping trip, Memorial Day weekend 2009.

Jeanna: I like this place a lot. Way better than Yakima Sportsman State park.
Mike: Me too. Good job on the find, babe.
Jeanna: Thanks. (Sips Miller Lite from cooler, feels really cool herself).
Mike: You know what we should do?
Jeanna: No...what?
Mike: We should start our own Web site - Mike and Jeanna's Great Adventures. And we could review all the campgrounds we go to...post pictures...and recommendations, like the best campsite to reserve - like those ones over there, in the shade, that we wish we were staying in.
Jeanna: (Slowly melting in the 85-degree sunshine) And all the restaurants we're always going to!
Mike: Yeah.
Jeanna: We're always reviewing every place we go to... what a great idea! We need a jazzier blog title though.
Mike: Like what?
Jeanna: Hrm. What about Crudettes & Campfires. You know, sort of like a play on the fancier side of the restaurants we go to in Seattle, and then the campgrounds we travel to in the spring and summer.
Mike: What's a crudette?
Jeanna: You don't know what a crudette is?! It's like a crispy cracker or bread thing. Kinda fancy. I think it's French.
Mike: Never heard of it.
(Turns out Jeanna had never heard of it either cause it's actually crudité, which is a traditional French appetizers comprised of slices or whole raw vegetables, which are dipped).
Jeanna: Well, what's something that starts with C, kinda fancy food-related?
Mike: ???

*Later that day, at a wine tasting shop, looking through the trinkets for sale...*

Jeanna: Look. This is super neat. It's a wheel that pairs every kind of food you eat, with a wine. I need one of these... (Reads through wheel) Pork, lamb, fish... looks like Sauv Blanc goes with a lot. Sweet. There's even sides... sushi! mashed potatoes! ... and caviar. Wait CAVIAR! Caviar and Campfires!
Mike: There it is - Caviar & Campfires

And so our amateur review blog on the Pacific Northwest's restaurants, wines and campgrounds was born.
 
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