A Dorothy Moment

If you could close your eyes, click your heels three times and magically appear somewhere else, where would you go? I think I might find myself on the bow of a boat on Lake Chelan with a Corona in hand. Chelan is the definition of relaxation. (Or I might go here!)

Campfire Peach Cobbler

How I forgot to tell you about the delectable dutch oven campfire peach cobbler, I don't know. But without further adieu, I present to you our dessert experiment of Chelanigans 2K11.

The ingredients are simple: 2 cans of peaches, a box of white cake and butter. The magic happens in the dutch oven.

First, butter up the dutch oven. Then pour in the peaches. Resist the urge to eat one now. You have to remember they will taste even better in a half hour.

Pour on the cake mix. No need to stir.

Double check your instructions because this seems too easy to be right. But it's right.

Put the extra butter on the top with whatever you can find. A plastic spoon or pocket knife will do. Make sure you have a friend smiling over your shoulder. This is important, people. Without a friend, the magic might not work.

Get really, really excited about the soon-to-be delicious dessert.

Place on scorching hot coals in the fire as everyone looks on, hoping you don't catch on fire.

Place more burning hot coals on top of the dutch oven. Wait for 30 minutes or so. In the meantime, make s'mores because there is nothing better than camping gluttony. Note: Do not forget when you put it on and just guess or else...

... Or else you get some burnt, steaming cobbler.

But have no fear, ladies and gentleman, we are troopers and no amount of burnt crust will get in the way of our cobbler-induced happiness. Eat and enjoy. (But be sure to blow on it before eating because it's like lava hot.)

Lessons learned: Time how long you have it on the fire. And it doesn't hurt to do a mid-point check. And leave room in your stomach for seconds.

Chelanigans: On land

Yes, we spend a lot of time on the water, but we do have a lot of fun back on land. Most notably, sitting around the campfire, making delicious rib and sausage dinners, eating s'mores, making campfire peach cobbler (more to come!), hitting up the local wineries and even having "let's empty the cooler and eat all of our leftovers" picnics. Yep, pretty darn fun. See you next year, Chelan!

Chelanigans: On the Water

Every 24.6 minutes at work, I close my eyes and imagine myself floating on Lake Chelan. It's really what is getting me through this week. In fact, it'll probably be the source of energy that gets me through the next two weeks.

This year, we were blessed with a new water toy: The Relaxation Station. (Thanks for Stepher's Joe for letting us borrow it!) We managed to fit 8 people on it at once, but I've been told that 12 is the current record. It's basically a recliner on water - doesn't get much better than that!

Our time spent on the water involved the usual floating, sitting on the bow, drinking some drinkies (which are sometimes tossed from the boat as seen below), eating snackies and listening to Sweet Beats for Petes. (Oh how I miss my namesake mixed CDs from the Madster.) It's heaven on water!

Camp Classy

Things everyone needs when camping:

• Trader Joe's boxed wine. Four bottles in one box. Can you believe that?!
• REI's stainless steel camping wine glasses
• Autumn. Because she's wonderful.

Chelanigans did not disappoint, my friends. Details to come, but I will say this: I honestly don't know how it gets better every year. It really is pure bliss.

Chelanigans: Floating

And now I present you with my favorite part of our annual trip to Lake Chelan: Floating! I'd say that we spend approximately 80% of our time floating. Followed by 10% eating and drinking, 5% on the boat, 5% at campfires, 5% wine tasting and 5% in tents. Apparently when you go to Chelan, you magically have 10% more time in your day. It's a proven fact.

As you can see in some of these photos, we have a long rope tow to hook onto so you don't float too far from the boat. Normal people probably wouldn't be floating long enough to float off into the distance, but since we're out there for HOURS at a time, it's a necessity.

(Also, I'm not the only one stoked for this trip. So are Maddie and Stephanie! Maddie even shares her special Chelan recipe.)

Chelanigans: Bow of the Boat

I cannot fully express the awesomeness of Chelanigans. I try to explain it to people and end up sounding like a 5-year-old girl talking about Santa Claus on Christmas Eve. It's that magical.

Last year, I went on record saying that it was THEBESTCHELANTRIPEVER, but I have a funny feeling that this year might take the cake.

So in honor of my favorite annual trip, I'm posting twice today. (Partially because I couldn't choose just a few photos) As you see, this edition is called, "relax on bow of boat." It's my second favorite Chelan activity. Any guesses on my fave activity?

Dreaming of summer

As I look outside my office window, I can't help but get excited for summer and all of the fun it brings! The sun is out in full force today and there are several sailboats floating aimlessly on the lake. What I would give to be laying out on one of them right now...

(Polaroid from Chelanigans 2K10)

Road Trip: Crater Lake

We're in the process of planning our road trip down the west coast at the end of the month, which is quickly approaching. What? I haven't told you about our road trip? Forgive me, I've been too busy daydreaming at my desk about it.

I've done similar trips before - once with Stephanie as our high school graduation trip. Our parents weren't keen on the whole Mexico trip that everyone else went on, so we made our own fun and had a blast. A second time as a Spring Break trip in college with Mads, Autumn and Lizzie. It too, was a blast, even if I cringe at the pictures of us in sweats and no make-up for the entire trip. We took camping grunge to the max.

For sake of not boring you with every little detail of my latest road trip endeavor at once, I'll give you little insights about a couple stops along the way.

One stop: Camping at Crater Lake, the deepest lake in the United States. (Which would mean that we will have gone to 2 of the 3 deepest lakes in the US, Chelan and Crater. I guess Tahoe (#2) will have to wait.)

From all the pictures I've seen, it looks gorgeous! Impeccably blue and almost like a mirror to the landscape. Any recommendations on hikes or particular places to see at Crater Lake?

both pics by my masterful dad

Finally, Chelanigans 2k10

In a word, it was THEBESTCHELANTRIPEVER.

Last year was great, this year was greater. To prove this, I present you with the trip in pics:

Hours upon hours of floating and it never got old.

The jello shots were plentiful and flavorful. (Matt thinks they are finger-lickin' good.)

The company was grand. We were even blessed by Lizzie's presence all the way from Redding, CA. Holla back, Redding.

It took courage to jump.

Finally, I made the leap.

And froze my derriere.

We laughed. (Did I mention I love laughing photos?)

RyRy, James, Autumn and Maddie CLIFF JUMPED.

There were polaroids galore. (Hopefully will post once I scan)

And there were also hats galore.

And campfires to top it off. A luxury we never experienced in Chelan before since there were alway burning bans. Do you know what campfires mean? S'MORES! Yum.

Until next year...