Day: July 13, 2019

Leaving Newhalem

On Saturday morning we packed up the tent, ate breakfast with the Grants, took a picture, and left Newhalem to drive to Portland.

Oh my goodness, the Grants were SO good to us!! They fed us every meal, let us use their kayak, took us on the good hikes, and were endlessly patient with how ill equipped we were for this camping trip. (Since the van was full of a month’s worth of stuff, we only had room in our van for the BARE essentials, like the tent, sleeping bags, and tarps.) Also, all of our kids got along so beautifully. It was so fun to see them all play together.

On our way home we stopped by the Cascadian Farms roadside stand. It is a tiny little store, but we had to stop because I get their granola and cereal, and it felt a little like meeting a celebrity. I bought two smoothies with fresh berries from their farm.

Then we headed to Clark and Swathi’s for a little lunch and visit. Clarissa walked around naked and then, while we were visiting, squatted behind their bench and pooped a GIANT poop. We were all in awe that such a specimen could emerge from her body. We hosed her down, and Clark and Swathi put the poop in their compost. They are SUCH troopers.

Then we drove to Beaverton, which is a suburb of Portland. We stayed in an adorable house with lots of toys for the kids. They played for hours in the house and the yard while Abe and I had a rather intense discussion.