When Dave is on leave, he likes to lounge around the house because (as most guys and certainly all service members can attest) they don’t get to do that much. Since I’m a stay-outside-mom, I enjoy adventures while on leave. It’s a difficult balancing act. I try to get Dave out of the house in the morning, then compromise in the afternoon and hang out during naptime and in the evening. I’ve gotten very stir-crazy lately (more so than usual!) because we’ve been checking the space-a flight list daily hoping to grab a quick trip to Washington. I really miss the cool air, and we’d love to see Gramma and Pete. Alas, no flights during our window of opportunity despite the relatively frequent flights to McChord over the last few weeks. Bummer! So we’ve had to group and regroup our plans a million times – are we packing for WA? For another neighbor island? For camping out? Yesterday I’d just had it so Sam and I took off to Bellows Air Force Base campground for the afternoon and possibly even the night. We didn’t have a specific plan. I had dry underwear, a pillow, a snack, water and a couple towels. We don’t need more than that. We’re pretty simple. (Dave was like “You can’t just go from zero to Bellows in 5 minutes! What are you doing? You’re like mental about getting away!” Yes, indeed.)

We found a little log cabin available (I’m a total sucker for tiny homes, and if they’re log that’s even better!) So we grabbed it for $35 not even sure if we were going to stay over for the night (that would depend on Dave’s interest in rounding up whatever else we needed, like my lens cleaner and other odds and ends). Sam really enjoyed the log cabin and especially the BUNK BEDS where he took his nap! So fun. Hearing the sound of the waves and feeling the breezes in the trees is so relaxing. I read about the Northwest (one of the magazines mom sent) while Sammy slept. When Dave pulled up later in the little VW I was actually happy to see him! He sat out and read under the trees while Sammy and I went to the beach and found some new tide pools and some new friends. We went back home to grill out on our little Weber (as if we were camping) and even had s’mores in the back yard 🙂 We’ll camp out next week when we have more than a few hasty minutes to put together our stuff. The gear is all packed away nicely, so it will be fun to load up the truck and head out for a family campout. Sam absolutely loves it and I like going off the grid – it’s the only way to keep me from working…

I do feel a bit weird about paying $35 for naptime in a log cabin, but hey – it’s cheaper than a hair cut or pedicure which is what many (normal) women would do under such circumstances 🙂 If you look at this picture carefully (click on it to blow it up) you can see all the way to Maui (I think – or is it Molokai?), basically in the center of the shot on the horizon).