When I say "we", that includes the children and me. The wifey is not a fan of camping. Especially when you have to take shovel to go to the bathroom.
Early on Saturday morning we took off.
The morning was quite... tense. Even though wifey didn't want to go camping, she certainly wasn't going to let us just leave- there were a thousand questions for the children, and whatever they were wearing, was wrong. Too new, too white, too small, to big, etc etc.
Which is to say, then we left. And when it comes down to it, it was probably a good thing we got wardrobe coaching.
Driving north, and having had to work the night before, the 3 of us collectively determined the menu- then stopped at the store and bought the food. The drawback was that no prep was done in advance. The advantage was, HOT DOGS. need very little prep ;)
The number of times I heard "Are we there yet" was inconceivable. Really. I have no idea why they were so anxious. Maggie and I were singing to the radio. Brady was listening to HIS music on his iPod. So- I now decided that my only reply to that question would be "Yes!" enthusiastically shouted! I mean, this is a 3 hour trip or less.
Since I really had no idea where I was going, we stopped at the visitor center.
You guys do this all the time, right? Plan on going camping, then decide where to go about half way there? We have a regular place we go camping, but it was closed because, um, Bears. Yes. Bears. 3 attacks at campsites this year. Also, that area was still under a burn ban so no campfires. There were other places I could have gone, but they didn't allow bow and arrows or bb-guns. So- I solicited ideas from friends and a general idea of where to go.
The drive through Sedona and Oak Creek Canyon was awesome- beautiful.
We got to the general area I wanted to go, so I opened a gate to what Arizona calls "State Trust Lands"and drove in, then we set up camp.
Setting up camp actually went beautifully. The kids each had jobs to do and enthusiastically helped each other. It was awesome.
Next we went on a hike and went target shooting with the bow and arrow and bb-gun
Then it started to rain.
Then it started to POUR!
Then the tent started leaking. Which was... unexpected. We have had this tent for a long time. It was cheap. It is HUGE! And, apparently, it leaks. I suppose it's a function of the cheap and the old.
The towels I brought to go swimming, were used to mop up the pools forming.
It continued raining. Two hours of downpour and the rest of the night raining and drizzling.
We played Mancala, "In a Pickle", cards, and read. I have never seen the boy read so much. The girl is pretty much in a book all the time when she's got nothing else to do. On this trip, the boy TORE through a book.
Then the fighting started. Well, the horseplay started. Then the boy got "hurt", and cried. Then got mad. Then got more mad. As is want to happen in our life.
Rain let up for 45 minutes around 7:30, and we hurried to make a fire and cook dinner. Success! Dinner and smores. Back in the tent around 9. The boy fell asleep immediately, Maggie and I read for another half hour then crashed.
I didn't bring a pillow. I don't know why. I made the conscious decision not to. Because I'm an idiot. So at about 4 AM, with Maggie and I sleeping like crap all night, she ssid "Dad, just share my pillow with me" I CRASHED after that, till about 7:00 when we all woke up.
Yes. It was still raining. We hung out a bit, then decided it was time to pack up and head to Flagstaff for breakfast. Delicious breakfast, nice trip home. Both the kids slept for the majority of the trip.
So- Go Camping, people. Throw caution to the wind.
Camping is a lot like brewing- you can put a ton of equipment in and put a lot of "barriers" up if you want. Or you can just go. So- Just go!
No comments:
Post a Comment