What I do on my Summer Vacation

“If you're not beside a real river, close your eyes, and sit down beside an imaginary one, a river where you feel comfortable and safe. Know that the water has wisdom, in its motion through the world, as much wisdom as any of us have. Picture yourself as the water. We are liquid; we innately share waters wisdom.”  Eric Alan

Our cabin

We have a cabin in Washington state. The land has belonged to our family for several generations. When I was a kid we had a small one room cabin with a deck and an out house. That cabin was jointly owned by my mom and her 2 brothers, so there were a lot of people using it. Then they split the property up and my mom had a deck and a shed built on our part of the property, and she pulled a travel trailer up next to the deck. It had a flushing toilet, at least, which was hooked into a septic tank, but we didn't have running water, so we hauled jugs of water up from the river to flush the toilet with. That worked okay, because during those years we were using it for day use only, as my mom lived only a half hour away and she had guest rooms for when we were there. 

Our river below the cabin

But now my sister and I jointly own the property, and we decided a few years ago to make it a more permanent structure that we could use for longer periods. We didn't have much land space so the cabin is small, but quite comfortable. In fact the footprint of the actual cabin is 250 square feet, but it is 2 stories and we still have the shed and the deck. The upstairs is reached by ladder. We still don't have running water as of now, but the well is in, and we are in the process of getting that hooked up. That will be a nice improvement. Last year we stayed there for 3 weeks, and the neighbors allowed us to run a hose from a cabin up the road, so that was our running water. It was more like camping out than I would have liked. But the river is right there, so you really don't need to shower too often, besides we were roughing it. But when the water is hooked up it will make washing dishes and taking showers a little easier.  

The river below the cabin

So, why am I putting this in a travel blog? Because for us, our yearly trip to Washington and our cabin is part of our travels. It's a 2 day car trip from here, although quite often, now that we are retired, we take longer to get there and detour to see sights we have missed in the past. Last year we were gone 6 weeks total – 3 weeks at our cabin, one week on the Washington coast visiting my husband's family, and one week up in Canada, then a side trip on the way home through Glacier National Park in Montana. It was quite a trip, and the dogs were very glad to get home at the end of it. 

For me, the river where our cabin is happens to be a place where I can go and feel completely at peace. It is one of the prettiest places, I think, in the whole world. Our river is a small river that flows into the Columbia River. It is in the woods, but only about 5 miles from a town. There are other cabins along the road. In fact, quite a few of the owners of those cabins have owned them since I was a kid. Now some of the kids I played with when I was young have taken over their cabins, the same as my sister and I have.

 

 

Field by our cabin

There is a field between us and the road, where there have always been horses, and at one time donkeys.   We quite often see deer. They come right up the path by the cabin. And one night we were sitting on the deck and we saw an osprey (a large bird that looks quite like an eagle) fly by and land at the top of a tree straight across from us. It sat there for awhile and then suddenly dived down to the river and came up with a fish in its talons. The fish tail was swinging back and forth. The osprey flew downstream with the fish, probably to feed its young. Quite a sight, I wished I'd had a movie camera handy. We also have had whole flocks of Canadian Geese that have landed there, probably on their way back to Canada, and families of ducks.

rope swing across from us

I think about the movie "On Golden Pond" and Katherine Hepburn talking about the loons on the lake and she would go off and pick berries.  I feel kind of like that sitting on our deck at night. We keep track of what birds we have seen and I make blackberry cobbler from the berries I picked that morning.  Only ours is a river and not a lake, and not nearly as peaceful during the day. We have the best swimming hole on the river right in front of our deck, so all the local kids come to swim. They have to trespass on private property to get in, but most of them are good kids just having fun. And you have lots of people who go up river and then float back down on their inner tubes and they all stop at our swimming hole to swim. 

Local kids on the cliffs across from us

There is a rope hanging from a tree straight across from us, where everyone has to stop and  swing out on, and a rock cliff to jump off of. There is also a waterfall across from us, which is quite pretty. Just below us are some rapids that are fun to go over in the inner tubes. So we have all the background noises, which to me are happy noises. The sound of water flowing, the screams of the kids as they swing out on the ropes, and jump off the rocks. It is fun to watch them, also.  

Baxter and Sadie on our deck

For me, this is a chance to reconnect with nature, to relax and just be myself. I take walks everyday, usually with the dogs. I pick berries, read, swim or float down the river on my inner tube. We have friends and family nearby, so its a chance to see people we don't get to see the rest of the year, and in the nearby town there are cute shops, restaurants and a farmers market to pick up fresh produce. We mostly eat at the cabin, with occasional meals out. But its simple fare, salads and casseroles, quiches and such. Its a pleasant getaway.

  "What makes a river so restful to people is that it doesn't have any doubt – it is sure to get where it is going, and it doesn't want to go anywhere else.” Hal Boyle