We love to host a party, and Christmas Eve is the biggest party of the year for us. For our shrinking little family it’s the one time a year we all get together. After the second time that a tent was requested as a holiday gift, I thought we should try another family gathering and put together a camping trip.

So we chose our favorite local spot (Salt Creek) and on January 1st scored reservations for a couple of sites, figuring we could double up tents on one site and have Nonnie’s Diner on another site. As the camping date got closer and we had confirmation of how many tents would be there, we looked a little closer at the two sites we had booked and knew it would be hard to fit everyone into the space.

All of the weekend summer sites that are reservable at Salt Creek are booked long before summer starts. But the park leaves a big section out on the tongue available for first come first served. Those sites include two right on the bluff, that happen to be adjacent to the ones we had reserved. Rob and I packed up the trailer and headed out very early Thursday morning, and those two bluff sites were empty. Campground policy states that as long as they look occupied and are paid for, they’re yours. So we put up Buddy’s tent and our shelter and paid for the night and kept the sites until others started arriving the next morning.

Part of my fun when hosting is discovering new recipes. And the family is quite used to me experimenting on them with interesting appetizers on Christmas Eve. So I googled up a bunch of camping food ideas and put together the menu for the weekend. I did all the prep and had everything ready, so it was all just assembly.

One of the features that makes Salt Creek so interesting is the opportunity to explore tide pools at low tide. And this weekend the timing of the tides was perfect, with a low tide early afternoon.

Everyone spent quality time scrambling over and around the rocks at the point.

It was also a low enough tide to get to the island. Britt & Buddy and the boys climbed up to the top, but we chose to not make the last bit of that climb. Murphy had just finished his soccer season that morning and was still proudly sporting the medal.

Even brother John made the trip out, and this is my favorite shot from the weekend.

True to Pacific NW weather, we did have some rain come in on Saturday. But that doesn’t slow us down. We put up the rain awnings and played some games of Yard Yachtzee and Yard Farkle.

All in all it was a great weekend with family, food and fun. Can’t wait for next year’s adventure, hopefully this is the first of an annual trip.

Pix from the trip are here