Sibling Assignment #91: Spring Break

Wow! Spring break. How far away is it? Raymond Pert gave us the simple assignment of writing about spring break. I will post my siblings' recounts of trips to exotic places when they are posted.

When I was a child we never had a whole week off for spring break. I think it was usually three days and it seemed like those times were spent spring cleaning or sitting in the house looking at the gray weather northern Idaho usually brought in late March and early April. Many years as an adult I used spring break as a catch-up time in the school year to begin gardening, organize house projects, and visit family.

In recent years we have tried to actually leave home for at least part of the week so I could really rest and not look around at what I should and could do. One year we had a marvelous time on a trip to Steamboat Rock State Park. It was before my digital camera, but I can't believe I couldn't find other pictures. I remember that trip because it had been so cold and wet and there along Banks Lake spring had arrived. People were out playing Frisbee, fishing, and hiking. It was a breath of fresh air after a long winter. It is a spectacular location for camping, walking, and hiking and even though the campground was full, it was quiet and relaxing.
My most memorable spring break was our trip last year to Lake Chelan. I know I have written about it numerous times, but it was a week to remember. When we started to leave that early April day a big snowstorm arrived and had to postpone the trip a day. Once we got over Sherman Pass heading west the next day, the snow left us. JEJ was eager to find a place he had lived as a child, so we found the road close to Chelan which led us to the land. The fence was still standing, but the area had really changed. He had lots of stories about people he remembered from the area. Of course, he never dreamed he would ever arrive in Chelan and see a WalMart!

The campground was serene, very picturesque,and almost void of other people. We found we had wireless so I could blog every day from our camp destination. We did a fun day trip to Cashmere and relived childhood memories of selling Aplets and Cotlets with Camp Fire mints to earn a trip to camp. Now there are numerous fruit candies to sample, which of course we couldn't turn down.We had made plans to stay in a hotel one night in Wenatchee, but decided we liked our quiet, rustic set-up at Lake Chelan so we stayed there the whole time. What a perfect place for capturing memorable photos, watching Annie develop a new obsession with squirrels, taking time to read and rest, and sit around a campfire in the late afternoon.As we plan our trip this year there is a part of me that wants to return to Lake Chelan, but we know there are more places we want to explore in the Inland Empire.