Camping at The Gorge

Yakima Camping for Families

Yakima Camping for Families

The Gorge is a beautiful place to camp, and while you might not want to bring the kids to the Gorge during a concert, they have a greatl view of the river and shouldn’t be ignored for quick camping trips from Yakima.

Here are resources for camping at the Gorge

1. The first and second pages of a message board discussion from Yelp users about their experiences camping at the Gorge for concerts.  During rock concerts, visitors to the Gorge will camp there, saving thousands of lives apparently since many of them are inebriated and shouldn’t be driving home, which is likely pretty far since the area around the Gorge isn’t very populated, visitors come from far-off places like Portland, Spokane, Seattle and of course, Yakima.

2. An informative article about Camping at the Gorge, by the amazing Aurae Beidler of Suite 101

3.  Gorge Trailer Lodging, a place where you can rent a camper, because tent camping isn’t for everyone.

4. Timberlake Campground and RV Park, in case you have your own camper that you’re bringing or you want a private campground in the area.

5. River Drifters, a rafting company.  They have a camping comparison chart that lists several area campgrounds with contact information, hours of operatin, reservation information and amenities - fantastic resource!

6. The Gorge Official Website, specifically the camping page.

Leave the Carseat in the Car; hold your Baby

leave the car seat in the car

leave the car seat in the car

New mothers; are you having trouble sleeping?  Your baby’s car seat could be to blame.

I never thought infant carseat carriers were particularly detrimental.  I didn’t use them with all of of my kids, only the youngest.  I never considered their effects much until I read a recent Mothering magazine article entitled “Car seats are for cars”  The article focused on flat head syndrome (apparently a very serious issue) and also on the fact that infant carseat carriers prevent the baby from being stimulated by the outside world, a key to infant brain development.

In a restaurant recently, I once saw a couple enjoy about an hour’s worth of appetizer, dinner and dessert while the baby in the carseat stared at the gum under the table.  Additionally, infant car seat carriers must be held away from the woman’s body which puts abnormal strain on the back, neck, shoulders and arms of the person carrying it.  Every warehouse worker can tell you that heavy loads are supposed to be carried close to the body.  Some of the infant car seat carriers can weigh up to 12 pounds.  Imagine that- in addition to the weight of the baby inside.  Chiropractors aren’t too happy about this, I am sure!

As a busy mother, though- I know why I have used mine.  Sometimes it’s about the baby’s safety.  I don’t want the hot buckles to burn their skin, so I just bring the whole car seat inside.  Also, in the winter, I want the baby to stay warm and not freeze to death waiting for the car to warm (or worse- scream the whole ride) so I put the baby in her seat while we’re cozy in the living room and keep her covered on the way to the car.  Here’s the kicker, though.  Sometimes, and I know I am not the only one, I open up the back door of the car to bring my precious little one into the grocery store and can’t bear to wake her up because she’s such an adorable little angel when she’s sleeping.  Is that so bad?  Yes, I am thinking, definitely yes.

MayaWrap Baby Sling Carrier

MayaWrap Baby Sling Carrier

Keeping the baby in the carseat while running errands actually trains a baby to sleep the day away.  What do you think happens then, at night?  The baby has been asleep all day long, dozing around in his carseat with nothing to look at and can’t possibly go to sleep now that he’s home and you’re able to talk to him.  He wants to play, wants to interact, wants to be awake.

Newborns (for the first month or so) will sleep all day no matter what they’re doing, but as babies get older and they start to “wake up’ to the sounds and sights around them they should be exposed to as many things as their world has to offer.  Exposing babies to the natural hubbub of activity that distinguishes daytime from nighttime will invariably teach them how to sleep at night.

Holding a baby in a baby sling carrier, or a wrap, or a front pack or even a backpack as they get older can improve their IQ’s simply by exposing them to a different perspective.   It also encourages you to “talk” to the baby and listening to language (even if it’s someone else’s conversation) teaches babies how to communicate and helps them learn language.  Over use of infant carseat carriers can also delay a baby’s physical development because they aren’t able to even attempt to roll over, crawl or climb around in a carseat.

Moby Wrap Baby carrier

Moby Wrap Baby carrier

I am still using my infant seat.  I was never really “hooked” on it, but I am definitely more conscious now about my baby’s perspective.  When I go to the grocery store, I still sometimes remove the seat so the buckles don’t burn the baby, but now I’m sure to also remove the baby.  I use the carrier to hold my purse.  When the carrier is in the shopping cart without the baby I can stack more groceries in the cart (and with 5 kids you wouldn’t believe how much groceries we go through).

I got an adorable custom-made machine washable shopping cart cover from Tori, a Yakima mother who sews them up lickety split in fabric you choose from her inventory (or provide your own for a discount).  We also make heavy use of our Moby wrap and our Maya Wrap.  The Moby Wrap is seriously comfortable and can be worn several different ways.  It’s a bit complicated to learn and, for me at least, I had to use it a few times before I got the hang of it.  The Maya Wrap is a sling-type carrier that adjusts easily and is very portable.  It comes with an instructional DVD that I recommend you watch because I see people wearing them wrong all the time and it is so much more comfortable to wear it right.  I didn’t care for the Snugli or Baby Bjorn very much because it was hard to nurse a newborn in those carriers, and because they can only be worn in one position.  If you use these carriers from the beginning your strength will grow as the baby grows and you shouldn’t feel much muscle strain or soreness.  If you are starting to use these carriers with an older baby you just want to ease into it, increasing the duration steadily to avoid muscle trauma.  I use mine around the house, for hands-free housecleaning and to protect my tiny babies from my toddlers.

Enjoy your babies, they grow so very quickly.

Camping Near Yakima

A Total Camping Experience by Dori Harrell.

On our last camping trip, the sweet-tangy scent of the teriyaki chicken and shrimp shish kabobs on my husband’s Baby Q tempted a fellow camper driving by in a pickup. He poked his head out the window and asked, “Can we buy some of those?”

Another time, my innovative husband, Doug, surprised us and set steak and lobster on the picnic table.   For our active family, camping means the best meals, the most fun and unsurpassed relaxation.

We roast bratwurst and kielbasa over the fire—for dessert. For treats, we bake pies with fresh-picked huckleberries and scrounge every last square inch of campground for morel mushrooms, which we pan fry to a crisp, golden brown. We cut and stack firewood six feet high, fish all day, river surf, hike miles and miles, play new games, tell silly jokes and nap in a hammock.

The first time our family of six packed up and headed for the mountains, we brought a tent, hot dogs, hamburgers, each other and little else.

We sat on the ground. The kids hunted for sticks to roast chicken weenies over our meager fire—no roasting forks, newspapers or kindling.   Sympathetic campers in neighboring sites loaned us firewood. Conversations dwindled by mid-morning.

We picked a spot with no shade and toasted our bodies. The nearest river was a five-mile hike, and once there, we discovered poking fish eggs (or any bait) onto a hook led to a hefty fine.
We ran out of paper plates, food, water and Band-Aids after three days and were forced to depart four days early for the homestead, which was fine, because our rain-soaked tent wouldn’t have survived another night anyway. Anxiety replaced relaxation and Dad, Mom and kids wondered why anybody thought camping a worthwhile event.

But our family didn’t give up (we couldn’t afford to vacation anywhere but a campground), and over the last 10 years, we’ve developed a system to ensure a fun and relaxing time for the entire family. It’s more work up front, but well worth the effort. Here are our top 10 tips for an unforgettable campsite—whether for a weekend or an extended vacation, for tents or RVs (not intended for backpacking):

1. Plan meals in advance. Rather than just grab hot dogs on the run, make a menu. For one breakfast, cook French toast, eggs and bacon (turkey bacon for those watching their weight), biscuits and gravy for another (great sausage gravy recipe below). For dinner, shish kabobs one night, marinated flank steak with baked potatoes and sour cream dressing the next, and don’t forget the ever-popular barbecue spareribs (if your husband is anything like mine, make sure he gets his own rack of ribs). Because we consume a large breakfast and supper, our family forgoes lunch and sets out snacks for the afternoon. Write a checklist of ingredients and supplies needed (vegetable spray, barbecue, griddle, pie tins, biscuit pan). Decide early on who cooks what. For example, Dad barbecues, the boys fry bacon over an open fire, Grandpa breads and pan fries the fresh-caught trout filets (also over an open fire), Grandma bakes pies and the girls prepare salads. And mom? Well, uh, let’s see, she—well, see how well this advance planning works?
2. Learn some new games before you leave and teach the rest of the family while camping. The new challenges will consume kids and teens and occupy them for hours. Pack travel games for the ride up, such as electronic Outburst and Catch Phrase, in which the driver can answer questions without losing focus on the road. Also, an electronic joke machine saved just for the campfires helps end evenings on a happy note. Games we recommend: Mexican Train Wreck (a Domino game available at many toy stores and online); and Nerts (a card game)


3. Choose a location guaranteed to supply shade
and wilderness entertainment. No trees? No water? No trails? Forget it. Keep looking. Important note: Two trees stationed close enough to rig up a hammock are a must. Several spots within an hour of the Yakima Valley offer gorgeous sites by rivers. Campgrounds we suggest: Kaner Flat, up Chinook Pass and off the Little Naches River Road; Soda Springs, also up Chinook Pass, but off the Bumping River Road; and La Wis Wis, off Highway 12 near White Pass.


4. Stock up on fishing supplies
and bring a state fishing regulation guide. This may seem a given, but I’m amazed at how many campers run out of lures, line and bait, and fish with illegal equipment. Nothing kills a great camping experience like a citation from the game warden and watching him walk away with all your fish.
5. Wear in hiking boots before packing them. From personal experience, I can tell you blisters on the heels nine miles up a mountain mean relief won’t come for nine more miles and several hours limping back down the trail. Wear them in each year. Just because you broke in your $200 boots last summer does not mean you’ll skip blisters this year.


6. Choose your site and check the weather forecast
before you hit the road. We’ve canceled trips and rearranged schedules at the last second because of burn bans, expected downpours or constant fog, and we’ve almost always been rewarded with sun-drenched encounters accompanied by evening campfires. There’s nothing worse than stepping out of the tent or camper into a 12-inch deep puddle or sitting around a fire pit without any flames. Check the weather online before you head out.
7. Invite friends. Last summer, we were just getting to know a couple from our church, Bruce and Melissa Peart, and we invited them to go camping with us for a weekend. We fed them steak, ribs, teriyaki chicken and cheddar bratwurst. We hunted for new fishing holes and hiked familiar trails. Conversation flowed and our friendship flourished. They agreed to two more camping weekends, and our friendship was cemented. This year, we asked the Pearts and several others to join us for a week in the Wallowa mountains in eastern Oregon. The Pearts’ excellent ratings of the previous trips encouraged the others to commit.


8. When you’re able, haul some big toys and tools.
It took years before we could afford and accumulate elements such as bicycles, motorbikes, air pistols and a chainsaw. But now we don’t leave even for a weekend without them. We acquired many of these items just as our four kids turned into teenagers, and we’ve never once heard, “Do I have to go camping again? That’s all we ever do.” Instead, our children write poems about our camping trips for school assignments.


9. Record your memories.
Trips become a blur after years, so fill up journals with anecdotes and take lots of pictures (we’re totally digital and recommend digital cameras and digital video cameras). If you don’t snap photos, who’s going to believe you barbecued shish kabobs, body surfed the rapids, or hooked a 22-inch brown trout while fishing flat on your back on a rock surrounded by a fast-flowing river?


10. Chainsaw,
chainsaw, chainsaw. Camping without a fire is like driving on flat tires: you wouldn’t even try it. Most campsites permit the felling of dead trees. Stockpile enough firewood for a couple of days at a time, and if you have any to spare, send the kids to sell some to other campers.
As a final note, everyone participates in cleanup. We divvy up chores before pulling into the driveway. The girls wash the 25 loads of laundry. The boys empty the fridge and shake out the rugs. Dad scrubs the RV floors and windows. Mom, she, uh, she—see what advance planning does?

Gravy sausage recipe:
Brown one pound pork sausage (we prefer Jimmy Dean). Add three tablespoons flour, three cups milk and 1/8 teaspoon pepper. Heat on medium until hot. Scoop gravy onto hot biscuits. Serves four to six.