A (Heated) Room with a View

Kanaskat-Palmer State Park, site #35 Campground||Muckleshoot (Coast Salish) land

November 27-29th, 2025

FIRST DAY

Trying something different this time. We were way too chilly during our October camping trip, so this month I decided to spring for a site with partial amenities. This means electrical hook ups!

Since it’s cooler now, I opted to not bring the pop-up catio. I might make it a part of winter camping at some point (if it proves warmable with a space heater), but for now we’re rocking hanging out in Majel.

I have to say, this is the cosiest I can remember being while camping in a long time.

Sieh was a real trouper and only yelled a couple of times on the way there after we stopped at a red light. He prefers being on the freeway, or at least a long highway with no stops, and gets impatient if we stop. He’ll also yell if I get a phone call, so his grandma got a real earful when she called us when we were about 10 minutes out from the campground. Leeloo, as always, was an excellent traveler.

We left home around 2pm and arrived at the campground a little after 3pm. Because it’s the off season, the welcome hut was closed and we went straight to our campsite.

The past two times we’ve camped here we’ve been in the non-utilities loop, so this was a bit different. Our site wasn’t very private, but the view from inside Majel was nice, so no complaints here.

Once I got us parked, I checked out the power situation. On the website, it just says that they provide 30 amp hook-ups which we don’t have since Majel isn’t technically a motorhome, lol. I’d brought an adapter though, and was sincerely hoping that it would work. Imagine my surprise and delight when I found that alongside the 30 amp, there were also 15 amp outlets! No adapters necessary!

I quickly plugged in and tested the space heater to make sure that everything was all copacetic (in case we needed to head home), then wandered off to find the Iron Ranger so I could get us checked in.

We’re definitely farther from the bathrooms in this site, and unfortunately the trails are graveled instead of paved, so my rollator shakes like crazy on the way to and from. I could just go around the loop on the paved road, but then it’s farther. Getting the bejesus shaken out of me or walking further, what a conundrum.

Got us all checked in and headed back to our site. I had just started getting the tarp set up on top of Majel when it started raining. Got pretty wet because I was too lazy to put my poncho on, but I got the tarp all set. We now have a wee covered porch where my rollator can hang out, and also we won’t get water inside Majel from having the window cracked for the extension cord.

Tried things a bit differently so far as setting up Majel inside goes. I left the smaller side of the back bench seat up, and only folded down the seat on the wider side. This makes it much easier to get in and out, as well as providing a space for the water jug in the footwell. We also had to bring our own water this time because they shut down the water spigots for winter. I’ve got a pretty sweet set up for our jug and water pump.

I’ve still got the fantastic Coleman cooler in the ‘trunk’ section, but this time it’s behind the seat I left up. I can sit the space heater on either the cooler or the seat, which is nice. We’ll see how well the cooler can keep ice in a warm car for 2 full days!

The litterbox is in the passenger seat wheel well again, which has been working well for us.

I couldn’t find the cargo hammock ceiling thing while I was setting up, but it turns out that we functioned just fine without it, and its absence actually made maneuvering inside Majel a lot easier. I’m only 5’9”, but I can’t sit up straight inside her on my Hest mattress, I have to lean forward, and having something suspended in the ceiling would have further decreased the available head room. I like it, Picasso.

Since I knew I’d be hanging out in bed, I brought extra pillows from home so that I could be super comfy.

Once I had Majel mostly set up, I released the krakens…and Leeloo promptly climbed out of her Sleepypod and into her brother’s. I love how much snugglier they get while we’re camping, and how it translates into closeness at home as well. Starting camping again has been so good for their relationship, and their mental health overall. We all needed this.

I had brought some reflectix with me so that I could get started making some basic window insulation, and got the two back door windows and the two trunk side windows cut out before I ran out of reflectix. It really does make quite a difference! Once the Black Friday black out is over, I’ll order some more and finish the job, though I’ll probably just buy a sunshade from Daiso for the windshield.

Around 6:30, Sieh finally ventured out, and after using the facilities immediately parked himself directly in front of the space heater. Once he’d warmed up a bit, he climbed onto the bed and got all snuggly in the quilts. Leeloo remained in the pod.

A little after 7, I started prepping everyone’s dinner. Leeloo finally graced us with her presence and proceeded to inhale her dinner, little kitty backhoe style, standing on the back of the seat while I held her plate for her. It’s seriously so funny how she eats. Most cats lick up their food, but she takes these massive bites straight down into the food, just like a backhoe digging a hole, haha.

Another change for this camping trip: I switched to using paper plates for the kids. I don’t have any dishes to wash and I absolutely love it. Don’t worry, I at least got the biodegradable ones so they can be composted. Another concession to my low energy stores.

After eating, Leeloo returned to the pod for her bath, while Sieh performed his ablutions in front of the space heater.

I watched this week’s episode of Kakuriyo season two, filled out our camp info in our camping journal, and then read manga on Libby until bedtime. I turned the space heater to low and we all fell asleep.

DAY TWO

Woke up this morning to Leeloo climbing onto my chest and shoulder to warm up. Apparently the pod was a bit cold so she had a little shiver going on. She warmed up pretty quickly, though, and we had a nice snuggle. Sieh was…directly in front of the space heater again, lol.

Woke up and got breakfast started for everyone.

Decided I’d better start writing this entry before I forgot what we did, lol. While I was writing, Leeloo decided to honk Majel’s horn at the rest of the campers. Which made her nervous, so she had to go hide in her brother’s Sleepypod XD

After I finished catching up on my writing, it seemed like a good time to see if the kids wanted to go for their walks around the campsite. They both seemed really keen, but Sieh was ready first, so he got first dibs.

At first he was pretty nervous. Last night, our neighbour to the left was a motorhome, so we didn’t see them outside at all. Today, a little truck pulled in and two people were setting up one of those fancy cone tents. Remember how I said our site didn’t have a lot of privacy? Yeah, turns out it was actually a bit of an issue.

I held him in my arms for a minute or two, then walked over to the grass and set him down. Immediately, he forgot about our neighbours and got to work inspecting grass and sword ferns.

He was being very sweet, and kept coming over to stand with his little peets on my knee for head kissies and pets. Such a sweet brave boy.

After a while, Sieh decided that it was time to head back to Majel, so it became Leeloo’s turn.

Leeloo was extremely not thrilled about our neighbours. She was definitely nervous, but she calmed down when I let her onto my shoulder. Did not want to be put down, but also wasn’t trying to get back into Majel, so we hung around for a bit like that.

Decided we should get in our loop stroll while the kids were all dressed and kitted up. Hauled the square backpack out of the front seat and got the kids set up in it on my rollator, and off we went!

They seemed to really enjoy this, and they didn’t even duck down when we passed by people (even though someone dropped a trailer hitch on the pavement right as we walked past.) The backpacks really are a safe space for them, even after all this time. We ran into two of the camp hosts who stopped to chat when they saw the kids. Apparently they used to have a tabby who sat on their fluffy cat jut like how Leeloo sits on Sieh, haha.

Finished our loop, got the kids in and their harnesses and sweaters off, and updated this again. Leeloo went to chill in her pod instead of Sieh’s this time, while Sieh cuddled up by my knees in the copious amounts of bedding.

I had some lunch and read some more manga.

I got the kids’ raw food out to thaw and ate a slightly early dinner myself. Leeloo finally got out of her pod and climbed up onto the backpack (I put it on its side this time so it wouldn’t topple over and have her honking the horn again, haha.

The kids ate good dinners, and settled in for their post-feed baths. Sieh ended up scootching so close to the heater that it started smelling hot, so I made him move before he caught himself on fire or burnt out the space heater. He is so my child, lol.

Did some work on a fanfic I haven’t touched in about two years (I never post until they’re complete, so at least I wasn’t keeping anyone waiting), washed my face, and went to bed.

DAY THREE

Woke up a little after 8am to the sound of the garbage truck coming through for the campground dumpsters. Poor Leeloo, she shouldn’t have to put up with LOUD NOISE while camping.

Didn’t get the best sleep during the night because we were having big gusts of wind that were causing the tarp to make scary sounds (well, they were scary to Leeloo.) I was waking up every time she’d get tense on my upper chest and shoulder, and then I started anticipating her stress so I started waking up every time I heard the tarp start to make noise. Sigh.

Then I woke up because there was a weird smell in my dream so I immediately returned to the waking world to find Sieh lying directly against the space heater. I had it set on low, but his blocking the air flow wasn’t doing it any favours. I turned the space heater off and we just cuddled up under the blankets. From now on, I’ll put the space heater up against a ledge when we go to bed so he can’t sleep against it.

After being awoken by the garbage truck I got up and took the tarp down (no more rain in the forecast but lots of wind and we were all over it.) Then I prepped breakfast for everybody and tea for me. Gotta start my morning with my Barry’s.

Hung out and did my AM Duolingo (I’m trying to wrap up Japanese by the end of the year) until noon, then started getting Majel in order for the drive home. I was a bit lazy and just folded all the bedding and the mattress into the back.

Got Majel all situated and the kids in their Sleepypods, and we headed for home! This was such a cosy trip. Definitely going to be booking sites with utilities in the cold months from now on!

(Also, the Coleman cooler is so absolutely legit. It kept ice solid in a warm car for the entire trip, AND an extra day at home.)