Camping in the Great Pacific Northwest, or Why I Love My New Sleeping Bag...

This past weekend saw an expedition to the Washington coast, just south of Westport. I went with my lunchtime knitting buddies (the fiberphiles) and our respective significant others. Rachel doesn't have a tent, so her and Paul borrowed mine and Dave and I slept in his little backpacking tent, which was fine for sleeping but a bit cramped (vertically) for much of anything else, including sitting up straight or changing clothes. But, we made due. The initial plan was that we would all go surfing, or do something at the beach. In my case, I planned to sit on the beach with my knitting and a book. What we did, because it was overcast and a bit chilly, was sit around the campfire all day, which was lovely, although my almost finished ivory tank top is still just almost finished. We roasted meat and marshmellows on sticks and much beer was consumed. Sunday saw Paul, Rachel, and Kristen actually playing gleefully (what, I ask, is wrong with them? That water is freezing) in the Pacific. Dave and I left early, but we understand that Pam was in the water sans wetsuit and gave herself a nice case of mild hypothermia, which she was bragging copiously about this afternoon...plans are in progress for another trip to the coast, and next time I intend to suck it up and go in the water (hahaha).
An aside - It gets cold at night in Seattle and its environs. Not just a little chilly, but more of a good drop from, say 80 to 50 when the sun goes down. Not that we experienced the sun this past camping expedition, but in general. I remember camping in Wisconsin and Illinois as being more of a struggle to keep cool; now I figure out how many layers I can wear inside my nice new +10F sleeping bag (thank you Dad).
In other news, Dave and I picked 2.5 gallons (yes, gallons) of blueberries yesterday at a secret abandoned patch near Rem's house in Olympia. It was great fun, but how we'll eat all those berries I have no idea. Yes, of course they can be frozen, but they're SO much better fresh...