Cedar Ridge

Rather than focus on the electrical stuff this weekend, the family and I took a couple of days off on a church retreat to a place called Cedar Ridge in Vernonia, Oregon. I'll about that today and give you a break from the near-constant bus-content.

Unusual Weather
Our weather this spring has been a-typical: unseasonably cold with lots of rain. If you aren't in the Pacific NorthWest, and you haven't been watching the weather for this area, we have had record-setting monthly rain falls since March. This made for epic spring skiing at the area resorts, but misery in the valley. Our average daily temperatures have been up to 10*F below average as well. Usually, the month of May is highlighted with multiple full-sun days with temps in the upper 70's to low 80's. In recent years, May has become a dry month, giving us a respite from the spring rains before June hits. This year, I don't think we got above 75* once all month and had measurable rain almost every day. Usually, our June is a rough re-entry into rain before July arrives to dry us out. This year, we didn't get the break, and tempers are starting to show it. All the more reason to get out of town and have some fun (albeit wet).

Cedar Ridge
This camp is located just outside Vernonia on Bridge Rd above Rock Creek. The creek runs along the western border, and the site is a long rolling hillside that probably drops close to 500 feet in elevation top to bottom. They house many sports camps and Outdoor School events over a typical year, as well as spiritual retreats (including yoga camps). Unlike many other similar locations, Cedar Ridge only houses one group at a time, which makes for a much deeper community-building opportunity.

It should be noted that Cedar Ridge is the best maintained camp I've ever been to. Usually, you'll go to one of these types of places and something will be closed for repairs or the cabins have leaks or some toilet doesn't flush right, etc. I couldn't find anything like that. In fact, it became kind of a game trying to find something broken. With all the rain we've had and the steep pitch of the hillside, you would think there would be muddy ruts all over the place. Nope. Not one. In fact, the ground was practically dry between showers. Pretty amazing.

When our church has these family camps, it is a very casual affair. Folks arrive as their schedules allow on Saturday and we have our first meal at dinner. Dinner is followed by a campfire. Sunday morning, we have a brief service after breakfast, and then its off to play. With all the sports camp facilities and open outdoors, it isn't hard to find something that fits your taste. My kids usually spend nearly all of their time at the creek-side skipping stones and wading to "the islands"or exploring the forest. This year my wife led a yoga class, and I visited with friends while the boys ran around. The afternoon was dominated by the 300-foot water-slide / slip 'n' slide.

Out of respect to my fellow parishioners, I won't publish any of the pictures, but it is fun, fast and the adults usually outlast the kids. By the end, there were about 20 die-hard sliders, including maybe 5 kids. Way fun. After sliding, the kids grouped at the heated outdoor pool or joined my wife and I in a service project of pulling weeds in the labyrinth. Before dinner, we had a hillside happy hour, and after dinner we put on a no-talent show (my wife sang beautifully and I bumbled my way through a skit). Monday morning, a new group was arriving, so we enjoyed a breakfast, cleaned up and checked out. The kids, of course, needed one last visit to the creek.

I have heard that Cedar Ridge is up for sale, and that the current owners spend so much time out of the country now that they can't give it the attention they would like. This makes me sad. I sincerely hope they are able to find a buyer who really understands how unique and special Cedar Ridge really is. Our church group starts planning in February and the level of anticipation starts growing immediately. We've only been going there for a couple of years, but the level of participation and enjoyment far exceeds our prior location.

That's all I have for today. I will be getting the rest of the pop-top stuff this afternoon with my friend Gr8fulEd. My wife and I spent Monday afternoon clearing the garage, so I'll blab about that and our inevitable sale items next time.