The weekend after the 4th we headed out to go camping. I posted a couple of early morning pics from my phone last month, but I took a ton more.
Like anything I do in life, I turned our camping trip into an adventure that (I'm pretty sure) left Nels rolling his eyes, but we had a good time regardless. :)
For starters, we didn't get out of town as early as we'd planned and I didn't really know where we were going. We made a couple of detours along the way (because I just HAD to check out other campsites as well) and instead of choosing somewhere simple up in the mountains, I decided we should camp by the beach --- which had added an extra element of fun to not only pack camping gear, but also beach gear as well. :) When we finally made it to our camp it took forever to actually find the camp spots and then we got to pack everything in - because they are "no vehicle access" sites.
Oh well! It was fun! And if, after 10 years, Nels is still surprised by my lack of planning, indecisiveness, and talent for making things "exciting" then he needs to have is head checked. :) Which he may have been thinking about after walking back and forth numerous times to haul 7 people's worth of gear from the van to our camp.
Once we'd unloaded, we were in a mad rush to get the tent up and a fire built before dark. Good thing Nels is an expert fire starter and I am quite an amazing tent-setter-upper. By the time we were eating hot dogs, it was fully dark. :)
As we started cooking marshmallows, our camp neighbor, Hippie Luke, wandered over for a visit. I got the girls all tucked in and the three of us had a great time sitting around the fire chatting. Luke grew up the area, is probably about 32, and is in between jobs right now. I have a feeling he'd been camping in his spot for a couple of weeks. :) After a bit, his "friend" Andrea showed up. Andrea teaches violin here in town at the Music Conservatory.
We talked for an hour or two and as the fire was starting to die down, she pulled out her fiddle and played for us. It was magical to lean back, look up through the pines at the stars, and listen to that beautiful music echo across the lake. Seriously, it is an experience that I will never forget. Later, Nels and I walked down to the beach to sit and watch the moon rise. It was gorgeous. And worth every bit of my hair-brainedness that made it possible.
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The next morning was . . . thrilling as well. Violet woke up crying at about 3:45 or so. I think she was not fully awake. It took about 5 minutes, but once she had her sippy she calmed right down and fell back to sleep. Unfortunately, her crazies woke up Clara . . . who did not fall back to sleep. Nels and I wrestled with her in the sleeping bag for about two hours, occasionally she or we would doze for about 2 minutes, but in the end I just got up with her at about 5:30 and let Nels rest.
She's cute, isn't she?
It's a good thing, too. Because I was not a happy camper about
only getting 2 1/2 hours of sleep.
And not cute about it, either. :)
The trail from the bathroom to our camp.
My most prevalent thought while walking this trail?
"This is definitely not the same as camping in Utah . . . "
So green and lush and humid. I love it.
I love not having everything covered in dust by the time you get home.
Apparently all Clara really needed was to suck on some cold rocks in the morning to make her happy. :) ~ And all things considered, it WAS an incredibly lovely morning. Surrounded by the lake and the mountains, watching the osprey fishing, and watching my own little Chickie crawl around and babble to me.
One by one, my other Chicks emerged all feeling happy and refreshed.
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| My "little girl" is growing up all too fast . . . |
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| I love Violet's "camping hair"! |
And around the time that everyone else was awake, Clara decided she was tired. :)
We spent a wonderful day together swimming,
rowing around in the raft,
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| Eating Jelly Bellies |
and playing in the hot rocks.
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| Our rock tower. |
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| Lilie's "Sail Boat" |
