"Haven't been looking forward to this trip", I said, while purchasing soft brown garden gloves. "These gloves are for wearing at night, if it gets down to 45 degrees."
It was our fifth camping trip to Katy Lake, near the Columbia Wildlife Refuge.
We consider this area our favorite, for its exquisite vistas, the marvelous hiking, and close proximity to a variety of seep lakes offering wonderful canoeing. The seep lake areas were jammed with campers and recreationists over the holiday weekend. Lots of activity and noise.
Only a few people bother to visit Katy Lake - usually we are the only ones camping there. 
All gear has to be carried down-slope to a little plateau over-looking the lake. We love it - the privacy, the views, the bird songs.We set up camp anticipating cold weather at night - we brought plenty of bedding, pillows and down comforters.
No sleeping bags here - I make little walls of rolled bedding to buffer against the cold. If George rolls over and takes the covers with him this bedding blocks any cold air that could enter inside the covers. Saturday was George's birthday, so I made a flaxmeal cake for our lunch.
It was served with a variety of salads: Curried Garbanzo; macaroni salad with salmon; Boston baked beans; cottage cheese and fruit; and a tossed salad. I also brought Rasam soup and crockpot beef stew - substantial hearty food for cold evenings.
Ruhiyyih and Matt joined us on Sunday - they dressed for cold, rainy weather, too! I prepared tiny east-Indian fried doughnuts right before they arrived, and offered some cherries. 
Dosi, a snack made from fermented Urad lentil flour, are served with mango chutney.
Setting up their tent, they discovered that the rain-guard for their tent was missing, so we offered a tarp. At bedtime it began it sprinkle just a little - a wonderful sound at night out on the prairie.Sunday night all of us slept poorly - the wind was the worst part, rattling the tent throughout the night.
I got up early the next morning, made coffee, Spanish potatoes, sausage and eggs, and blueberry-banana pancakes.Mid-morning, Ruhiyyih and Matt returned home and George and I spent the day hiking and canoeing.
We enjoyed two long paddles over the weekend - glorious sunshine, warm temps. George took over 600 photos.
I'll select a few for a set on Flickr.We had such a good time, had moderate weather, sunshine, and family to share it all with - so I'm a happy camper!
