1st Camping Trip of the Summer

It's been a pretty eventful summer.  It actually started in late Spring, with moving and graduation.  Then there was our trip across the country and James started working.  I think we're getting settled now and used to life in the "real world."

So the other weekend was our first opportunity to go camping this summer.  We decided to go somewhere we've never been before, to explore the area around where we now live.  

So we drove about 2 hours before we found a campground we liked, that wasn't full.  We set up camp, ate a nutritious lunch of hot dogs and Pringles.  Then we headed off to find a hike we'd never done before either.

After driving for another hour, this time all on a gravel road, we came to a deep ditch across the road.  James managed to get us across it.  We'd already been skirting potholes and sections of washed out road.  

But a few minutes later we came to another ditch across the road that we just weren't willing to attempt.  We were all alone in the middle of nowhere, with two kids.  The last thing we needed to do was get stuck.  

So we started hoofing it.  We figured the trailhead couldn't be too far.  

We had glimpses of amazing views, through the trees.  

I found myself wishing there weren't quite so many trees, they were hindering my views.  

It was warmer than we are now used to, living right on the coast as we are.  Just a few miles inland is usually much warmer.  

So Taylor used her "magic" grass wand to turn this pinecone into an ice cream cone.  It didn't work though, no matter how many times she tried.  Hearing the word, "ice cream cone" over and over again, did make me wish we had one though.  

We walked for over a mile before we came to the trailhead.  And then it didn't immediately turn into a trail, it stayed gravel road for awhile longer.  

The trail finally started.  It was very rocky.  We just walked for a mile or less before turning around.  We hiked over 4 miles total though.

We made it back to the car and munched on chocolate/chocolate chip cookies that Logan had made the day before.  They were the most delicious cookies ever!  It was such a treat to have homemade goodies out in the middle of nowhere.

This view is the best one we got.  It was on our drive back to camp.  It was just amazing to see mountain, after mountain, after mountain.  And all covered in dark evergreens.  

This area is so much more vast than we ever suspected.

Back at camp, the kids found a shallow river.  

 So, of course, they had to throw rocks into it.

 Ker-plunk!

Ker-sploosh!

"I could do this for hours."

Taylor started putting sticks in the water and then prodding them along.  She said she was like the Holy Ghost, helping the stick in the journey downriver.

"Ooh, here it comes." 

After dinner, the kids wanted to get in the tent.  I think they wanted to get away from the mosquitoes, and they just like being in the tent.  It was late evening, but not dark yet.

We'd been serenaded by our camping neighbors all afternoon & evening.  They were playing their car radio loud enough for the entire campground to hear.  Granted, it was a small campground and there's no barriers, except a few trees, between us.  

At first they were listening to mellow, country music.  We came back from our hike to classic rock playing.  Then they switched to rap.  We went into our tent, but it doesn't have any sound blocking abilities, so we put a movie on James' iPad.  That helped... until the movie ended and our neighbors were still playing their rap music and shouting in a drunken sort of way. 

We tried to ignore it.  None of us were comfortable or able to sleep.  Finally, Logan spoke up.  He told us he felt very uncomfortable, hearing that music.  So we decided to leave. 

We hurriedly packed up, threw everything into the car and left at 11pm.  We got home around 1am, Sunday morning.  

I went to church Sunday at 10am, only because I was being sustained & set apart for my new calling as a counselor in Relief Society.  The rest of the family stayed home and slept in.  It had been a long, rough night. 

We had had a great day, the day before though, setting up camp, hiking, eating outdoors, throwing rocks in the river and hanging out in the tent.  

Maybe we'll think about camping again this summer, but not until we stop itching from all the mosquito bites we endured.