Saddlebag Island

Last week, my family went to Saddlebag Island up in the San Juans. Saddlebag Island is a small island, about 20 acres, that is all a state park. There is nothing on the island, except for trees and dirt, with the exception of a really nasty old outhouse that gets cleaned...never. You have to boat in to get to Saddlebag, and you have to pack in, then back out everything that you want to use. Tents, water, food, firewood, chairs, camp stoves, etc etc etc. My parents and a couple siblings went up Tuesday so that we could make sure to get the best campsite on the island. (There are only 4 campsites total.) The rest of us came up on Wednesday. Over the 4 days we were there we caught 85 crabs. We cleaned, cooked, and shelled all of them, and ate probably about 60 of them while on the island. Brayden loved it! I'm glad that he is getting introduced to fresh crab so young. The first time I had it I was 19 and I didn't like it so much. Now I can eat it if it is fresh and hot, but once it cools down, count me out!

Anyway, we all slept in tents (Kyle and William slept on the boat) and Brayden did surprisingly well for being in a tent with lots of people when he's used to dark silence. I'm sure my family didn't like it when he woke up at 5:30 but no one complained which I was grateful for. The weather was nice, except for one night it rained. It wasn't too hot either.

Overall, we had a blast. We went hiking (if you can call it that) around the island, my brothers rowed around the island in the rowboat, we went crabbing, ate crab, ate tons of junk food, roasted smores, read, laughed, and had a blast spending time together. I realize that I am lucky to live in a family where we can be on a deserted island for 4 days and be sad that we have to pack up and leave. I know a lot of families would be anxious to get back home because of the fights or arguments that come about when you're so close to so many people without a break for so long. But, I LOVED every second of it. I love that my family is so close, and that we can do things like this. Thank you so much Mom and Dad for allowing us this opportunity! We really appreciate all that you guys do for us. Thank you for the memories!!

Here are some pictures, in no particular order, from our trip. Enjoy!