Weensy Little Vacation

Do you ever get the feeling that days off aren't really "off'"?  I noticed some time back that to really be "off" I have to leave.  Any parent can tell you that there are no more days off, but there are days "away".  So that is just what we did.  We left.  We didn't go far, and truthfully it wouldn't have mattered if we had just stayed in the backyard, the key is to get out of the house.  
Yesterday we set off for Nevada City to a camping resort called Harmony Ridge.  It is so pretty up there!  The weather was mild, breezy perfection.  ~Insert large exhale here~  Not only that, it smelled like hiking. 
I used to hike with my dad.  He'd load up a big pack for himself and a smaller pack for me and we'd set off from his front porch.  As soon as our hiking boots hit the highway, up went our thumbs.  Soon enough someone would pick us up.  Once it was a lady driving a mini van with three kids in the back.  Another time it was a mountain resort worker driving his VW van with the full bed and kitchen in the back.  Oregon is a different kind of place than California.  Anyhow, we'd hike in 4-5 miles and set up camp near a lake.  It was quiet.  So lovely quiet.  Just the wind in the trees and the mellow lapping of water on the lake shore.   I vividly remember balancing on a tree trunk that had fallen over the water, watching the spastic water bugs and tiny camouflage frogs while using the water purifier hand pump to get water to refill our bottles. 
The smell out there took me back to hiking with my pops.  It's a sweet kind of smell, piney, earthy and a bit sticky. 
Our cabin was perfect, with a little kitchen and it's own toilet (score!).  Although this is hardly the camping of my younger days, it sure works out well with a baby in tow.

We wandered a bit, lounged a bit and even took a drive into Nevada City where we looked into closed shop windows.  Quiet foothill towns don't have much reason to stay open past 4 or 5 on a Tuesday afternoon, so we were spared any unnecessary spending.  We cooked dinner on the stove top and in the oven and Rosanna entertained herself with the new environment and the trash we created.  Everyone is aware that non-toy items make much better baby toys than anything that is labeled as a "toy", right??

We had a few 'firsts'.  One was riding on my shoulders.  She thought it was the coolest thing, she had me in her grips!  No really, she did.  All my hair, right at her finger tips.  By the time the walk was over, my hair follicles were screaming for mercy.  At least it made for cute pictures:

Another first, hanging out with bears!!!

 First time on the swings!!

We were only gone overnight, and it was perfect.  Ethan and I got a kick out of how truly dark it was when the lights went out, gives new meaning to the phrase "pitch black".  It reminds me of the time I was spelunking with my dad......