Monday, June 1, 2009

Camping Adventure

So, here's the story. This past weekend was one of those few weekends that I actually had a husband so we wanted to take full advantage. Some friends of ours (also med students) had the same idea so we joined forces for a fun filled camping weekend. They were a lot better at time management so they got a head start for the campground and we followed about an hour behind them. The plan was to leave around 2:30 and reach Buckhorn National park around 4:30 with plenty of time to set up camp and enjoy some campfire food. (My Favorite!)

We ended up making it out the door probably around 4:00 and about halfway there we got a phone call. Our friend's car had broken down on the highway and they were stranded at the side of the road. Luckily they knew we were on our way so they didn't have to panic. We stopped and bought some oil at a gas station in case that was the problem, in HOPES that was the problem. Sadly... it wasn't. They did manage to drive it off the highway and made it to a truck stop where we met them and, instead of campfire dinners we had truckstop diner food. Our waitress was really nice though and helped us find a mechanic.

We ended up leaving thier car at the mechanic's and then just making two trips in our car to the campground. When we got there it was already pretty late and completely pitch dark... OH! And there was a WALL of mosquitos waiting to greet us. We still managed to get our tents set up, built a fire and doused ourselves with bug spray. Unfortunately, bug spray isn't 100% so we still walked away with a good number of itchy bites. Check out my Mission24 challenge to see what Zach looked like when we got home.

That night it didn't just rain it POURED! And apparently there were racoons because they ate almost all of my bananas. Bummer! It was one of those "count your blessings" deals though. We had left most of our food in the car just in case and there wasn't any rain at all untill we were all snug in our sleeping bags for the night. The next morning the sun was out and the ground was dry and we were greeted with a beautiful day- and fewer mosquitos. Horray!
Jarom got to enjoy his kyak.

The water was glassy and beautiful.
The younger boys loved being packed around by thier moms. That's right... We're superwomen!
Here's the Gang!
Here's the camp.
Aren't we cute? I just love Zach's grin.
Cool photography Andrea.
Zach loved pushing his stoller around. Though he did try to make a run for it on more than one occasion.
All three boys thought our camp cart made a great jungle gym.
We did find these creepy web sacks around the camp. They gave me the heebi geebis like something from a horror film.
I was relieved to learn they weren't spiders though... still creepy.
On the way home I snapped this shot of a cool tilty house.
All in all we ended up having a great time. Maybe it took some extra effort in the beginning but I still look forward to many more camping trips to come. I was most nervous about how Zach would handle it and he was a real champ.
Unfortunately, the car is still in the shop. Our friends stayed an extra night. Since I was playing my violin on Sunday we had to hurry home. It worked out well though because Jason left right after church and went back up to pick them up. He didn't end up making it home until 8:00 but he's just that kind of guy. My Hero!
You know, I love that guy. He's just the kind of guy that will drop everything to help out a friend. I know he would have made the trip for them even if it had been 4 hours each way, and I love him for it.

3 comments:

Rees said...

Sounds (and looks) like you had a great camping trip once you got past the car problems and the mosquitos. Those creepy caterpillar nests you saw are made by "tent" caterpillars. They build those things in my trees in the summer and they gobble up all of my leaves :( I have to spray them and kill them. Grrrr!! Anyway - it was fun to see your pics :)

Melinda said...

Hey, trooper! We should do that together sometime...our girls enjoyed their campout and it looks like Zack enjoyed his, too. Hope the mosquitoes are fewer for you next time!

Andrea said...

We are lucky to have friends like you. I hope someday we can bail you out! Glad you had a good time and I heard your solo went good!