Camping at Timothy Lake

The past two summers we had reservations to go camping at Timothy Lake, which is near Mt. Hood in the Government Camp area.  Two years ago we had terrible stormy weather the weekend we were going to go (it rained and thundered and there was lightening) so we ended up canceling our reservation and Brandon and Logan camped in our backyard in a tent with Sean and Taylor nearby.  This last year we were going to go camping in early August but Sean’s Grandma ended up needing to have surgery and we had a family get together that weekend that we were going to go camping.  We canceled that reservation and then ended up making a reservation with the Mowery family to go camping at Memaloose State Park since it was one of the only camping spots still available Labor Day weekend.  So I was determined to go camping at Timothy Lake this summer.  I booked all the way back 6 months before when we wanted to go (the earliest I could) and little did I know that I was booking a camping spot the weekend of the Total Eclipse and that Timothy Lake was in the path of complete totality (one of the most desired spots in Oregon and the US).  I booked Thursday, Friday, and Saturday night (the totality was to occur Monday morning) so we were leaving the day before the Eclipse was to happen.  I also did not realize that Timothy Lake was in the path of totality until the day before we were leaving to go camping and the car was 80% packed up.  The media had been all over the Eclipse and the coverage was crazy.  They were calling that the traffic was going to be terrible all around Portland and on the way to Eastern Oregon.  

We left early on Friday (we decided to just go Friday morning instead of late in the day Thursday) and stopped off at our favorite brewery, Mt. Hood Brewery on the way in Government Camp for lunch.  It was a beautiful sunny day but a bit chillier up in the mountain area and not in the 90s and 100s like it had been the last several weeks before.  I believe it was in the high 70s to low 80s.  We all had a great lunch and then the kids were excited to get to our camp ground to get our tent set up.  We purchased a Coleman 10 person Instant Tent a few years ago after Olivia was born and we love how easy it is to set it up.  We brought the kids bikes and the kids loved riding near the campground.  The kids loved playing in the tent and getting their sleeping bags out and their beds ready.

Beer sampler at Mt. Hood Brewery (Sean and I split it!)

All ready for some campfires!

Getting the bikes down

Lounging around the tent

"sleeping"

Olivia loves her bed!

After we got our tent set up, the kids got into their bathing suits and I got into my bathing suit and we blew up their inner tubes and headed down to the lake.  The views of Mt. Hood from the lake were beautiful. The water was a bit cold when we first got in but wasn’t too bad once you got used to it.  The kids loved swimming in the lake and swam for quite some time.  Then we got out and went back to the campground and got the kids into their jammies as it was starting to get cool with the mountain cold air as the sun went down.  We got the camp fire going and Sean started making our camp fire stew (hamburger meat with various veggies that we put in tin foil in the fire).  We had a yummy dinner by the camp fire and then we got the S’mores out.  After the S’mores we brushed teeth and then read stories in the tent and then Olivia fell asleep before we finished our story. Brandon was still wide awake so him and I went down to the lake and watched the beautiful stars that were very bright (I feel in preparation for the Eclipse).  We then headed back to the tent and went to bed.  

All ready to swim outside our tent

Beautiful Timothy Lake 

Mt. Hood in the background

Standing by the shore 

Brandon tubing it

Going into the lake-it was cold at first but we got used to it

Brandon loved the inner tube

View from our walk to the lake

Making campfire stew

The kids enjoying dinner

Campfire stew on the campfire

Olivia warming up by the fire 

Daddy telling a story and snuggling with Olivia in the tent

Brandon getting ready for bed

Everyone slept great and we all woke up around 8:00 AM.  We lounged in the tent for a bit because it was chilly outside.  Then we built a fire and got breakfast going.  The kids ate little cereal boxes and Sean and I had eggs, hash browns, and bacon.  After we had breakfast we went on a walk around the camp site and explored.  Then we came back to the campground and hung out and Olivia took a nap.  We woke Olivia up from her nap and then I packed a picnic lunch and we headed down to the lake.  Brandon and I had explored around the lake together and found several cool picnic tables near the lake where we decided to have a picnic.  We had a yummy picnic lunch and then we got into our swim suits and went into the lake.  It was a bit warmer this afternoon and we had a blast swimming in the lake for couple hours.  The kids had a ton of fun and the views were so pretty!

Morning snuggles with Olivia 

Olivia and Sean snuggling 

Daddy tickles in the tent

Eating breakfast

Sean making breakfast

Walking down to the lake with inner tubes in tow

Eating lunch near the lake

Picnic time for lunch

Brandon lounging near our campsite

After we were done swimming the kids were quite cold as the sun was going down.  They got into their fleece feety PJs and we got the campfire going.  We did a simple hot dog dinner with fresh corn on the cob and watermelon.  We had S’mores for dessert again which the kids loved.  After the sun went down we were all excited to go check out the beautiful stars that Brandon and I had seen the night before.  This time we brought a blanket to lie down and watch the stars.  It was so beautiful.  Then we headed back and all went to bed. 

Beautiful sunset on the lake

It was so peaceful watching the sunset 

Marshmallow time

The next day we had to be out of the campsite that morning.  We made the decision after following the traffic for the past few days (and seeing that the media had scared people into not traveling anywhere) to go down to Corvallis as soon as we can drop off all our camping gear to watch the total Eclipse (as Corvallis was 100% in the path of totality).  We thought it would be amazing to experience with my parents.  We packed up quickly and raced towards our house.  We were pretty quick in dropping and putting away our stuff.  We were so quick and there was such light traffic that we stopped at our winery Sokol Blosser on the way down.  We were in Corvallis by dinner time and the kids were so excited to get to see the Eclipse and to see Cici and Baba.  We had such a fun time camping and Timothy Lake was so beautiful.  I am already planning another camping trip there next year.