Camping with the Lesbians

Camping with lesbians is not like camping with straight people. To start, there’s jello wrestling. At least there was at the PDX Lesbian Network campout last weekend at Milo McIver State Park.

When she heard I was coming off the road due to Olive’s health, Danielle del Prado, the PDX Lesbian Network campout organizer reached out to me to ask if I wanted to attend. She had an open spot from a cancelation to this year’s sold-out event. I jumped at the chance.

The lesbian campout was just 45 minutes from Portland on the Clackamas River. Danielle did a wonderful job organizing. Each of the 53 sites coordinated an event for the weekend. I invited my friend Claire and her cute golden retriever puppy Honeybee.

Camping with Lesbian Friends

It was so great to be around people after a year of avoiding them. Camping comes in many forms. Sometimes you sneak off way in the woods to get away from it all. Sometimes you bring all your friends and family along and sometimes you head out to meet up with a bunch of people you’ve never met.

I offered to do a workshop for solo women travelers. Danielle added on a tour of Squeaky. Good thing I cleaned before I headed out. Jello wrestling was by far the most popular event. How fun to see laughing lesbians, rolling around in a baby pool of bright red jello, competing for a Home Depot gift certificate. It was slippery and raucous and just what we needed after being cooped up for almost a year due to Covid.

I missed the corn hole tournament because I was out kayaking on Estacada Lake, which was just a few steps from our campsite. I did play Wine-O. A bingo game that involved wine. I won a bottle. Each night we danced in the dusty dusk.

I took Claire’s dog to the Talent Show while she went off to visit with friends. The organizer was quite persistent trying to get me to sign up for some sort of talent, but I declined. So imagine my surprise, when the emcee called my name. “Up next, Kathy with dog tricks.” I was a little flummoxed but decided to be a good sport and went up on stage with Honeybee, who is only about 7 months old and tried to get her to at least sit. When she finally did, I was met with loud applause. I took a bow and took my seat, wondering, who did this to me? Who signed me up? Just as I was getting seated, another woman stood up with her very talented Corgi who actually performed tricks. Whoops. Another Kathy in the mix. Ha. I had a good story to share the rest of the weekend.

My campsite was great. It was large with full shade and electric and water. There’s a dump station in the park. I’d highly recommend Milo McIver as a place to camp whether overrun with lesbians or not. There’s the river for floats, the lake for kayaking and stand-up paddle boarding. There’s hiking and horse trails and a full disc golf course.

A few days after the event, Danielle let us know that she secured the campground again for next year and it’s already 85% sold out. I can’t wait!