Hot Undies

HOT UNDIES:  we're talking roasted over the fire, NOT seductive or sultry.  My sweet little niece, Abigail,  only had one pair of undies for our Shi Shi Beach hike last August.    Well, she came into a little trouble while peeing in the woods and so my sister Kirsten, being the resourceful mom that she is, rinsed out the undies in the stream and then hung them over the fire on a stick.    

I have been meaning to post these pictures for a long time.  This summer hike has to be one of my favorite memories of 2010.   Shi Shi Beach is a spectacular undevoloped shore on the Northwest coast of Washington.   We backpacked in for 3 miles to reach the beach and then set up camp right in front of the rumbling surf.  

Sweet Abigail with dry undies :).  

Mike had been on this hike previsouly with our boys.  They raved and raved about the awesome driftwood fire they built the first time. This time Mike brought along me and the girls, my parents,  my brother (Jake), and my sister (Kirsten)  and her family.   The goal was to build an even bigger fire than before.  The boys did not disappoint.  

Soon the kids were enjoying the yummiest fire-roasted hot dogs ever.  At least it seemed that way since they were sitting on a giant log at the beach with their cousins.   

Another fond memory:  fighting over the final and  recently released  (August 2010)  Hunger Games   book  by Suzanne Collins.  We only had one copy on the hike and at least 4 eager readers.    One could not put down the book, not just because it was a page turner.  It might go missing in action or become  mysteriously BOOKnapped! 

Like I said before, SPECTACULAR! 

OK besides Abigail's hot undies and several BOOKnappings , this is the most memorable part of all:  it rained BUCKETS on us. I mean a torrential downpour! The rainstorm hit at night while we were sleeping and by the morning we were almost floating in the puddles of water inside the tent. We peeked out of our tent flap and saw dark and menacing clouds; there was no sign of the rain letting up anytime soon.  So we quickly broke camp and began the 3-mile trek back to our cars.   We felt like salmon swimming up the roaring stream that had once been a trail.  By the time we reached our cars, we had squishy hiking boots and soggy underwear.  We were extremely cold and wet.  I could have gone for a pair of roasted undies myself!