Warning: there are lots of photos.

We had longed plan a trip to the cabin my maternal great-grandfather built in Central Washington.  But what William didn’t know was that Tom had secretly bought him a motorcycle to replace the one he outgrew.  His mom brought him over with the expectation that we will travel to the cabin together, but then he noticed an additional motorcycle on the trailer.

He was thrilled.  The surprise worked.  And then we headed out with the dogs and quite a few machines Monday morning.

 

When we arrived, Piper wanted a drawer in the bedroom of the cabin for her clothes.  So I cleared out the sheets and found this interesting paper on the bottom.  I don’t remember seeing this before.  That’s one thing about the cabin.  I have been going since I was a baby and still find things I hadn’t noticed before.

We took the dogs on a walk, and Steve immediately jumped in the river.  He loves it!

Then I made Old Fashioneds for everyone including non-alcoholic ones for the kids, like my grampa used to do.

Tom and Piper seem to be having a serious conversation on the back porch.

Then the electricity went out.  We found some lamp oil and lit two of the oil lamps.  The cabin had been electricity free initially with these lamps used.  Most were converted to electricity when the change happened, but these hadn’t.  There was one more oil lamp that I hadn’t noticed.  Tom made hot dogs on the grill, and we were fine.

The evening sunlight on Edgar Rock was beautiful.

Piper had picked some wildflowers and decorated a couple of pine cones with them.

Tuesday morning William and I took the dogs for their first walk of the day.  Steve jumped in the river again.

Ryeleigh will drink out of it if her toenails do not get too wet.

Piper chose to wear a shirt that I thought was perfect for a trip to the cabin.

I used out vintage electric oven to make breakfast.  I was thinking about all the amazing meals that have been made with this appliance.

I made a Dutch Baby using our fresh blueberries and eggs.  It was a recipe that I had saved from Cairnspring Mills but is no longer available online.  The adults seemed to like it, but the kids not so much.

Then we headed out riding.  We went to the end of Spring Creek Road which was a nice trip.

There were some views of Mount Rainier.

When we got to the top, I was looking for a place to pee in private.  But I found some views and then a rock formation to climb for more views.  There was a memorial on top as well.  Then I returned to the waiting riders.

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I was noticing some elderflowers blooming along the way.  Unfortunately I didn’t have the means to harvest any.

For lunch we had grampa Tom’s famous (to the grandkids anyway) grilled cheese sandwiches.  We had stop at the Black Diamond Bakery on the way to the cabin and had purchased some Crystal Mountain bread (like my grampa used to).  It makes great grilled cheese sandwiches.

The kids then found the window between the back bedroom and the back porch.  They had great fun with it.

There was more dog walking.

And then a trip to the spot on the river we use to goof around in.  Everyone seemed to have fun, and the dogs seemed to like relaxing there.

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William even briefly jumped in.

 

There were many trip to the Whistlin’ Jack’s store.  This trip involved huckleberry ice cream, which was really good.

Then it was time to hang out in the front of the cabin and the river there.

Piper was picking more wildflowers.

And William was enjoying ice cream.

But then we saw a couple of mountain goats on the mountain.  You could really see them with the binoculars.  After a while they headed up over the mountain to the other side.  It was fun to watch them.

Wednesday morning was a drizzling day.  Here are the wildflower arrangements that Piper made.

I watched a chipmunk just outside the porch.

I walked the dogs a little ways up Spring Creek Road.  There was a vintage forest fire sign.

And views of Whistlin’ Jack’s from above.

Tom and William did some riding.  William was really enjoying his new bike.

Then it was time for the grandkid measurements.

Piper grew about 3 inches since last year.

William grew a little less than 2 inches.

Jaylene had to head back home, but the kids stayed.  This was her first trip to the cabin, and I believe she enjoyed it  We had grilled peanut butter and banana sandwiches for lunch, another hit with the kids.

Then there were more walks.

While Tom went to Naches to pick some apples.

The river was really clear and pretty.

 

Then that evening while listening to the Mariners game on the front porch, we noticed the moon coming up at the base of the mountain.

Then we went out back and saw it over the cabin.

It almost looked like a fire.  And you could really see the outline of the trees on the mountain’s edge.  It was impressive.

Thursday morning, on the morning dog walk, I got a nice view of the sunrise on Edgar Rock.

Piper and William did puppet shows through the back porch window.

Then it was riding time.  We headed back up Spring Creek Road but checked out some side trails on it.

Unfortunately in my haste to leave, I did not put on the correct footwear.  When we stopped to check out a washout, I fell and twisted my ankle.  So we limped back, and I hung out on the front porch with an ace wrap and ice pack.

Ryeleigh hung out with me but wished she was out hunting chipmunks.

I read this really interesting kindle book and am plotting making some of the recipes from it.

I also got some knitting done with some company,

Piper and William found this piece of wood that reminds them of a city.  They are calling it Seattle, and the tallest “building” on the right is the space needle.  They told me about all of the other buildings as well.

That evening, I was trying to make homemade ice cream and we were listening to the Seahawks preseason game when the full moon came up over the river.  It was really pretty.

Unfortunately I learned that the freezer in the vintage refrigerator at the cabin does not freeze well enough for my ice cream maker.  So I put the mix in the freezer overnight, and it was ready finally this morning.  So we had ice cream for breakfast.  The kids had purchased items from Whistlin’ Jack’s to put in their ice cream.  There were M&Ms, Reeces, gummy worms, as well as fresh blueberries and a cherry on top.

They were creative.  Then we packed up and headed home.  Piper slept with her stuffies part of the way.

The view on Chinook Pass was spectacular again.

I was able to get home and assess my ankle.  It is pretty swollen.  It appears I also tweaked my left knee in the fall as well. So now it will be recovery time.

Just it seems everyone had a great time at the cabin.  The riding and hanging out by the river were the highlights per the kids.