Kathy Brilliance: Belknap

I made it to week 30!!! Yikes, time is flying by fast and I feel like I hardly have anything ready!

Last weekend my mom, sister and I went on our (usually) annual camping getaway to Belknap Hotsprings. Last year the dates we had booked ended being the same time as our church's young girls retreat, Women of HOPE, which Masha, Mom and I were all involved in. We canceled our reservations with Belknap and could not reschedule due to the camp being booked for the rest of the summer (usually you have to make reservations a year in advance for the summer season). Unfortunately, Women of HOPE also got canceled. We had tried to get our reservations back, but it was too late. :( I was pretty disappointed so I made reservations for this year.
I really should distinguish that this is not a typical camping site that you might picture. It's actually a resort that has everything from a lodge to housing rentals to RV and tent sites. Most of the tent sites are located across the river and you have to walk your stuff across a bridge. There are a few that you are able to drive to and those are the ones we opt for. :) It's locations is actually a natural hotspring, so the their pools are naturally heated (in fact they have to actually put cold water in them to keep them from getting to hot). The grounds are full of beautifully manicured gardens and hidden trails. It may not be a favorite for people who want to go "camping." :)
This year my mom and I went on ahead and my sister was going to follow us the next day. There was a wedding that same weekend so the entire camp was booked! The site I had reserved did not have electricity or water (I thought it did), so we asked our next site neighbors if we could use their electricity and they agreed graciously. When we got to the camp it was 90 degrees and HUMID! We set up our tent and kitchenette area rather quickly, but it just seemed so long because of the weather. These past few weeks I've finally began to feel pregnant and notice my limitations more, so that didn't help either. :) It started to cool down about an hour after we arrived and we treated ourselves to an ice cream bar at the lodge and walked around the gardens. The river looked absolutely gorgeous this year. I wanted to go rafting so badly! (Which they offer there.) Mom decided to go swimming and I went with her, but since the water was so warm I only put my legs in the water.
That night I had the tent all to myself (Mom slept in her SUV) which was nice except my air mattress sprung a leak and I basically slept on the hard ground. We ended up going into Eugene the next day to buy a new one.
The next morning Masha arrived early. I had asked her if she wouldn't mid taking some "Preggo Pics" of me since the area was so scenic. We got started on that, but the sun was so bright that it was hard to get the lighting right and I could barely get my eyes to open. :) We got a few good ones (It helps that Masha is kind of an expert at Photoshop ;D):

We spent the rest of the weekend relaxing and just resting up. It was really nice to not have to worry about any kind of agenda to get done. The other two nights were not so easy though. The second night it was a bit of an adjustment to share a mattress with my sister and it was really cold! The night after we could hear animals (I'm pretty sure it was a raccoon) outside our test so that kept me up for awhile.
Overall I had a really good time and I'm looking forward to going next year (though I'll have a 9 month old, so that will be a new experience all on it's own).
I thought I would post some pictures of years past at Belknap for your enjoyment.

2007 (These ones are actually Masha's pictures):