Camping Conundrums and Fun

As we were getting ready to go camping everything, was getting done at the last minute.  We didn't get any cleaning done until Thursday night, we didn't get the dogs washed until Friday after work and we didn't get them to my sister's until late and before that Lilly decided she likes chasing kids across the street and about got hit by a huge truck and freaked us both out.  I ended up forgetting their bowls and toys, but at least I remembered Chewy's meds and their food. lol.  We didn't go grocery shopping until late and got home so late we decided to just wait until morning to load.  We ended up leaving our house late, meeting Mom and Mitch at their house, going to the store for some last minute things, going back to their house for forgotten things and getting out of there late too.  We got on the freeway and quickly had to get back off because what I had packed on the roof started sliding.  While we were getting that stuff re-situated between our two cars, I realized I had forgotten some drinks and the orange juice.  Instead of going all the way home we just stopped at another store. we ended up not getting out of Salt Lake until one in the afternoon LOL

The drive down took us thru Thistle and up thru Fairview canyon to our chosen camp at Old Folks Flat.  It was a beautiful drive and wasn't very long at all.  Thistle is starting to reclaim it's relics and people are starting to rebuild in the area, all above the water line of course.  The flood that plowed thru there was devastating.  when we got to camp we had some trouble finding our campsite but once we did we weren't too happy.  It was small, only had a small fire pit, not a lot of room for tents, way too far away from the bathrooms for Mom and to top it all off it was right next to the road.  We decided to ask the camp host if there was anything else available but he said the only other single site available didn't have a fire pit, but he then turned around and offered us a group site for what we paid for our single plus the cost of each extra car since it wasn't being used.  Awesome!  We lucked out and got a wonderful site that was absolutely huge that we all were very happy with.

It was a wonderful weekend, we got to try out our new canvas tent and sleeping pads for the first time and both worked out great. Ours is on the left and Mom's 30+ year old tent is on the right.  Proof that these tents really can last a lifetime.  There's is still in really great shape.

Over the course of the weekend we discovered that I forgot a lot of things.  I forgot our inverter resulting in me asking the camp host to use his power to blow up Lewetta's air mattress.  I forgot the butter, the red peppers, the coke and orange juice I mentioned earlier, and my mind apparently. haha. Luckily we ended up not needing the peppers and Mom had butter and we made up for the rest.  We also learned that we should add a good hunting/pocket knife to our kit and hot pads.  Mom and Mikey both wished we had had a coffee pot or something to heat water in other than skillets, so we might add that too.

We had all kinds of critters visit our camp.  Pot guts, chipmunks and these funny little birds, that I think are mountain sparrows of some sort, that were brave little buggers.  They mostly just hopped around on the ground and one kept getting really close to Andy and we thought it would end up on his foot at one point.

Mike and Anne didn't show up until Sunday morning so we only got one night with them. 

 Mikey and Mitch hammed it up after setting up the tent.

Mike and Anne are so funny, they decided to wear matching shirts for the night.

 Mikey and Mitch went on a hike Sunday afternoon and we got a 10-15 minute downpour before they got back and they came back soaked, but they had fun.

Mom made a really delicious meal for dinner Sunday, she melted butter in the bottom of the dutch then put in diced chicken and onions then a layer of swiss cheese and a layer of sour cream mixed with cream of chicken soup and sprinkled stove top on it all, we buried it in the fire and let it cook and it was one of the best dutch over meals I've ever had.  If that doesn't make your mouth water then there is something wrong with you!

Did I mention how pretty the camp ground is?

 

We all really liked how big our fire pit was and enjoyed it fully.

Monday morning, since we were the only one's in camp except the hosts, a moose felt brave enough to wonder thru.  She came thru really close to me but I didn't get my camera until she had gone on a bit.

I just love when things like that happen.

For breakfast Monday morning Mikey made a really yummy garbage breakfast by frying up diced potatoes and onions and cooking in eggs, cheese, and prosciutto all in the dutch.  It was awesome.  

We took our time packing and cleaning up camp and didn't head out until almost one.  Andy and I stopped in American Fork and visited with my mom for a bit and then we headed up to get the dogs from my sister's.  We got to their house just as Stacie was finishing up dinner and invited us to stay.  That was so incredibly wonderful of her.  We were so tired by then and had no idea what we going to do for dinner and it was really yummy.  We got home late, got a shower, a load of laundry done, the sheets changed and got to relax a bit before bed.  Oh how wonderful a good shower, clean sheets, and your own bed feels after a good camp out.

There were a few hickups, but overall it was a really great weekend and it was fun finally camping with the other side of the family.  I think/hope they all enjoyed it as well.