Banks Lake camping, Take 31

Wipeout!  Daddy flips out whenever Grandpa Bo insists on driving the boat.

Upholding 31 years of family tradition, the Hamiltons made our annual trek to Banks Lake (link) last month.

The only problem to solve:  Which wheels could get us to eastern Washington?  Lena is still banned from riding in the Jeep Wrangler when the soft top is down, per Mommy.  And the Camry has seen better days.  On our way out of town, we gave in and rented a car at the airport.

Swapping cars at the PDX airport cell waiting area

Road trip:  Future world backpacker Lena takes a hiking break along the Columbia River Gorge

Dusk beat us to Coulee City.  My parents stayed awake long enough to make sure that we made it to the campground safely.  They were both excited to see Lena! 

Rather than setting up our tent in the dark, we spent the first night in my parents’ RV.  A pregnant Mommy was tuckered out from the long drive.  Lena, on the other hand, wouldn’t take “bed” for an answer.

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The next morning, commotion in the RV eliminated our chances of sleeping in.  This is how Daddy and Lena look first thing in the morning:

After setting up our tent, we untied the boat and jetted out onto Banks Lake!

Getting warmed up on the wakeboard

Prepping the brand new tube for its maiden wipeout

Not to worry, the best tubing action pics are coming to BlogSpot next week!

Mike and Summer were making the drive over to Coulee City from Vancouver, WA as we played on the boat.  Later that afternoon, our Banks Lake family gathering would be complete.  Our good times were about to get even better!

Coming next weekend on Garth’s Blog…

...Banks Lake heats up!

Intermission: Banks Lake, WA Wakeboarding (from the road)

DSC_0807_edited-1.JPG, a photo by gkhamilton on Flickr.

Catching a little air with my wakeboard at Banks Lake, WA.

Sorry for the delay, folks. The conclusion to my “Tokyo Drifting” blog miniseries will be posted after one last on-location interruption. I’ll add more pics from Japan on Sunday (or Monday)-- I promise!

From last Tuesday: Another year, another annual family boating/ camping trip to Banks Lake, Washington (link). Spread out over the last six days, this vacation is coming to a close as my mom gives me a ride back to my Jeep in Beaverton.


The Hamilton and Sorensen families have had a roller coaster ride of wild weather this week in Coulee City, but hot sunshine/wind/rain/lightning are all par for the course during any extended weekend in Eastern Washington. My solo ride over to Banks Lake was no less tumultuous:


Portland: A series of unrelated mishaps on the Portland MAX rails delayed me so much that I had to sprint across Chinatown to just barely catch my train to…

Seattle: During my train layover at Zeitgeist Coffee, I received some tragic news regarding the drowning of my friend Shawn's son, Caleb. I was so distraught that, back at the train station, I apparently blocked out the final boarding announcement for my train (it left Seattle 10 minutes ahead of schedule) to Ephrata. Out of options, I schemed with a couple of girls who also missed the train about bumming a car ride with three complete strangers to race the train to…

Everett: By recklessly weaving our way through Seattle’s rush hour traffic, my new friends and I managed to beat the train to Everett by eight minutes and climb onboard. My train car was the wildest, most out of control frat party on rails I’ve seen since our “Sound of Music” tour in Salzburg, Austria.

Ephrata: My brother-in-law Mike graciously picked me up that night and drove me the rest of the way to...

Coulee City:  The fam vacation was already in progress!

Sadly, I had to say goodbye to Kathy, Lena, Mike, and Summer when they left Coulee City on Sunday afternoon. It was also unfortunate that we had to miss our annual visit to the local First Presbyterian Church. One Sunday each year, we’ve always looked forward to mixing it up with the locals and hearing an inspired sermon from local Pastor Clifford Bresee. We’ll catch you guys next year!


Before most of the gang left us on Sunday, our 10 month old Lena had a couple of lifetime firsts:

Lena looked stiff as a board (and oddly disabled, in some of the other shots from that day) when trying on her very first life jacket.


Lena giggled uncontrollably as she played on a swing set for the very first time.



Summer had a few good runs on the wakeboard before heading home with most of the gang...… leaving me the water toys all to myself for the rest of the vacation.  My dad drove the boat, my mom spotted from the back seat, and I played.




I wakeboarded to my heart’s content.



I went old school with the slalom waterski.



I even dusted off the old knee board!

Miles of glassy smooth lake water, solitude, hot temperatures, and the friendly community of Coulee City all add up to make each Banks Lake vacation worth the long, dusty drive.

Let’s do it again next year!