14 Days of Camping--DONE!!!

There is a crowd of eager convention attenders stalking this computer so I will be quick and to the point. The camping marathon is over, and we are safely tucked into the clean sheets of the Best Western Hotel on San juan Island outside of Seattle. Last night's hotel in downtown Seattle proved less safe than camping in the woods with bears, after a gas leak filled the hotel with fumes and we had to checkout and find a new hotel. Glacier National Park was without a doubt the most beautiful place I have ever seen...we took a number of hikes including the 12 mile Highland Trail which was successful in that only two of the kids cried and only one for longer than 20 minutes.We took so many pictures because I kept saying, "Now THIS is the most beautiful thing I have ever seen!" Then we would go around a corner and it would happen again.
The weather was perfect except for the night of the windstorm--We were camped in a canyon that was advertised as "breezy"-- which to me meant soft, warm summer breezes to keep you cool in August. Apparently when a cool front moves in, that same canyon is a wind tunnel and we ALMOST lost the whole tent. It was shaking in on us for hours and we had a few stakes pop out that we had to go replace at 3:00AM...We heard the murmur of expletives that were floating over from other tenters who seemed to have lost more than a stake.
An elderly lady is looking at me with hope in her eyes so I will wrap up with the most repeated quotes of the week:

Matthew: "Can I pee over there?" (Strict bear rules limited Matthew's marking territory.)

Bryan: "I miss Basso...." (Endless refrain from the boy who we knew would be homesick first.)

Michael: "I need chicken nuggets...." (Poor kid continuously searching for a break from spaghetti and mac-n-cheese.)

Me: "Look boys, isn't that pretty!" (I was called out on this and changed the comment to just 'Look!'"

Andy: "Would you guys just cut it out--I mean it." (He means it!)

And the quote of the week which was a one time comment from Christopher that had us laughing, "I know. We can check the weather and if it looks bad then we can get a hotel.....and if it looks good--we can get a hotel!" Poor kid, we slept in a tent--AGAIN.

Off to Kayak for today and then a cottage in Olympia, WA to recover from post traumatic camping syndrome. It really wasn't that bad.