My 60th birthday was a $150 weekend in a heavenly NW forest. After several backpacking trips in the mountains over the summer, I wanted to do a bit of car camping as a transition back to the grid.

Here’s a rough breakdown of the costs:<br><br>* Gas: $40<br><br>* Camping fee: $30<br><br>* Food, snacks and drinks: $50<br><br>* (1!) Beer: $5<br><br>* NW Forest Pass: $30<br><br>* (1!) dinner at a restaurant: $45<br><br>It was absolutely idyllic: 3 days of sun in the autumn forest, a trail run, a mountain hike to a lake, excellent reading weather, hiking with one of my favorite people, great food, a single wonderful beer, an easy float in the river, and a campfire. <br><br>Man, it was great.<br><br>We went old school camping and used a paper map to find a campsite. We’d heard that this area was hard to get a reservation in the summer, but we were able to drive in and get a site in early November. The spot was perfect and we could just walk to the river and pick up a few pieces of firewood. We’d been on a few backpacking trips over the summer and had all our gear. The fun part of car camping is that you can bring extra stuff. I brought a real pillow. I also brought a beer. It was yummy. It reminded me of when I was a kid and had root beer on special occasions. <br><br>Man, it was great.<br><br>We decided to hike a mountain on the first day and then do a trail run on the second. They’re just 5 miles apart, so we were able to stash our gear at site #2 and run there after the hike. We aren’t slick car campers who bring a second car to park at the finishing spot. We did have a good run down the mountain.<br><br>Man, it was great.<br><br>The first day of the trip was my birthday. We decided to celebrate with a restaurant dinner. But first we had the easy float in the river. We hadn’t been tubing in years. We had fun just laying back and looking up at the sun.<br><br>Man, it was great.<br><br>And the next day’s trail run was amazing. It started with 3 miles of straight up, then we just ran to another campground and had excellent snacks, then we ran back. But first we laid down in the shade and took a nap. It’s great to be 60. Or at least it was on this trip. <br><br>Man, it was great.