Camping Maniacs!

Camping Trip #1

Sometime in early February Zach and I sat down and set a camping date for the weekend of my birthday. We were supposed to go camping for 2 or 3 day and be "off the grid". We had all been looking forward to this trip for WEEKS!!! Well, a few days before the big trip, the weather man was predicting dangerously high winds all weekend. We were so bummed! But any of you out there who have been camping, in the dessert no less, know that camping in the wind is NO FUN AT ALL!!!! So we called off the trip and decided to deal with a boring weekend at home. I had purposefully planned this camping trip on this particular weekend because we would be out in the middle of nowhere on my 30th (Yep 3-0) birthday. I had been having a hard time with life and turning 30 wasn't helping :(

On Friday afternoon Zach came walking through the front door at a whopping 3pm!!! He normally works until at least 5 or 6 on Fridays, so I was stoked to see him home so early. As we were catching each other up on our days events I happened to check my weather app. Much to our surprise it said that the wind wasn't going to pick up until around noon on Saturday. So when Zach suggested that we still had plenty of sunlight to drive to our destination and set up camp before dark, I didn't hesitate to run upstairs and quickly start packing.

The kids were all outside playing and completely distracted. So over the course of the next hour Zach double checked the supplies in the camper, pumped up tires and filled our water tanks while I gathered any food we had in our fridge and pantry that could make a meal, filled coolers, and closed up the house. By 4:30 we were on the road!! Fastest packing job EVER!!!! It felt so good to be spontaneous, because I'm usually such a planner!

I asked Zach where we were camping and he said that 8 years ago he camped at an awesome campsite just into Arizona past the Hoover Dam. I thought... no big deal... 45 minutes, an hour tops! Apparently they've done a TON of roadwork on that stretch of country:) because as we learned later (thanks to google maps) the road we were supposed to turn off of, leading to Kingman's Wash, had vastly changed in 8 years. So when we went zooming past it, Zach didn't think twice!!! :)

So we drove and drove and drove for 30 more minutes to what Zach thought was the correct turn off. Well we drove and drove and drove some more. Two different roads (one which was dirt) and 45 minutes later we arrived at Bonelli Bay. 

We pulled into a great camping area just before 7pm and it was getting dark. We saw one older couple on our way in, and that was it. Other than that, we hadn't seen anyone for over an hour!! After finding a good spot close to the lake, Zach went to turn the truck and trailer around so that it would be facing the best direction in the morning, and we started to feel the tires spin and the truck sink!!!! I had a million things running through my mind... but was too shocked to say any of them! A whole 10 seconds had passed and I knew we were good and stuck! I was ready to run the 1/2 mile up to the other campers before it was too late (what if they left early the next morning?), but Zach said he thought we'd be ok, and that we should set up the camper with what light we had left. Although secretly I was having a mini panic attack, I agreed and kept a fake smile on my face.

We unhitched the camper and Zach tried the truck again. The only progress we made was getting deeper in the mud :)  So since the camper was unhooked and relatively light (cough, cough) we decided to try and push it to firmer ground and get it set up before we lost ALL light. Zach pulled and I pushed (good thing I've been working out:) and we made a little progress. Then he put all the kids on the back end near me to offset the weight a little. That was enough to do the trick, and we pull/pushed it out of the mud! Zach popped the camper up and unloaded the essentials while I found the flashlights so the kids could explore. We started a fire and unpacked a little while Zach worked on unsticking the truck. Within 15 minutes the truck was free. I SO wish I had taken a picture with mud up to the middle of the front tires! Or the huge trench that was left after he got out. But I didn't. All I know is that I married the biggest survivor man EVER! I have no doubt that he could really get us out of almost any pickle we get into!!

With everything set right, all there was left to do was to enjoy the cool evening and each other's company. Jefferson LOVES fires! So keeping him out of the flames was a difficult task. Around 8:30 the kids all asked to go to bed. What?!?! They weren't kidding either! Within 5 minutes of laying down they were all asleep... Jefferson included!!!!! Camping is just so much fun!!! I actually remember camping when I was younger... and whenever we'd get our tent set up, no matter how hot it was inside, I'd always go in and set up my sleeping bag and snuggle inside for a few minutes before heading off to play. It's so fun to see our kids love camping like we do! We knew the sun would come up early, and so would the kids so we put out the fire and hit the hay. Reagan and I shared a bed, Lincoln and McKinley shared a bed, and Zach took care of Jefferson all night. He woke up a few times, but was able to go back to sleep quickly (thank heavens)! This was our first camping trip with 4 kids, and I was unnecessarily nervous about how they'd do.

We were dog sitting our favorite dog Pepsi. She loved snuggling with Lincoln all night.

True to life at home... Reagan was the first to wake up.... around 5:45. She unzipped her window and looked out onto the lake. She said "MOM!!! The ocean is SO MUCH PRETTIER this morning!!!" I didn't care to correct her right then... I just agreed. Then we decided we better go explore and see exactly what we had missed the night before when it had been too dark to really see anything. We found thousands of shells and she wanted EVERY SINGLE ONE :) She soon realized that she couldn't carry as many as she wanted to we went back to the camper to get a bag.

When we got there we realized that the other campers were waking. Reagan couldn't wait to tell them about the ocean (Lincoln corrected her... "LAKE") and all the shells which got McKinley and Lincoln out of bed ASAP. Even though it was barely 7 o'clock, Reagan wanted to put her swimming suit on, and the other kids did too! So swimming it was :)

They had fun splashing around... but it took them awhile to get used to the idea of LAKE swimming vs POOL swimming :) Mucky water, rocky ground, plants all around and a few bugs too.

 

  

My cute boys

We spent the morning fishing, digging and exploring. We had been camping in a little cove, so we were very protected from the wind. It wasn't until around noon that a few gust of dust convinced us to pack up and leave. So as fast as we arrived... we departed. Not even 24 hours later we were back at our house cleaning up our gear. It was short but sweet! One bad thing about leaving so hastily, was that I forgot to pack sunscreen (among other things). Luckily we got enough sun to prove we had fun, but not too much that anyone was in pain :)

We had SO MUCH FUN. So much... in fact... that we went back 3 weeks later for 2 full days!! (that's another post)