The sun came out the day we left. I finally took my coat off and put it in the back of the truck. Later it flew out and got caught under a vehicle. We stopped to look for it. We found it a mile or two down the road, oily, ripped with fluff pouring out.
Now we are home, and the funny thing is, we want to go on another camping trip.
Showing posts with label camping. Show all posts
Showing posts with label camping. Show all posts
Saturday, July 4, 2009
The Camping Trip -- Part 6
It was warm when we kept moving. We hiked a mile out to the beach. The boys actually played in the water. BRRRR. We climbed the 110 foot Dune Climb and ran down. Even Caden came. Eric carried him up. Eric was warm. We did see the sun for a few minutes at the top of the dunes. We buried all the boys in the sand. Lake Michigan was absolutely beautiful! We drove the scenic Pierce Stocking Hwy. and stopped to walk and see the Sleeping Bear and the panoramic view of Lake Michigan. It was incredible. Rolling tree-covered hills, next to white dunes, and sharp cliffs dropping to the huge Lake with white surf, tossed by the wind. Glen Lakes glistened in the distance.
We tried to find the fish hatchery, but to no avail.
We tried to find a place to pick cherries. It was the cherry capital during the cherry festival, so I thought there would be some. But after driving for 2 hours with directions and a map, we gave up on that. I read to the boys some while we drove.
Our tent only leaked the first night. My cell phone seemed to have gotten wet. I hope it will work again when it dries out.
We tried to find the fish hatchery, but to no avail.
We tried to find a place to pick cherries. It was the cherry capital during the cherry festival, so I thought there would be some. But after driving for 2 hours with directions and a map, we gave up on that. I read to the boys some while we drove.
Our tent only leaked the first night. My cell phone seemed to have gotten wet. I hope it will work again when it dries out.
The Camping Trip -- Part 5
It was still cold. The air mattress quickly lost air. Shiloh woke up three times crying because he needed to use the potty. We couldn't get the tent unzipped. It was too late.
I didn't want to change into my pajamas because it was so cold I didn't want to take anything off even for a brief moment.
I slept in my jeans and wore them everyday for three days. When I finally took them off at home, I noticed my toenails were painted. That surprised me, somehow painted toenails just didn't belong.
Shiloh and I were the first ones up. It was still cold and rainy. We walked the 300 yards back to the parking lot where there was a restroom with running water.
We used the hand drier to feel warm for a little. Shiloh stood with his head right under it. His hair went flying straight out to the sides.
Finally I decided we should go back and try to light a fire.
Success! We actually started a blazing fire! We did have tin foil, so it was time to be creative and start cooking. We wrapped vegetables, cheese, and shredded ham into a tin foil packet and put it in the fire. It was quite good.
Our other cooking experiments -- We formed a pan with the tin foil, melted some butter and scrambled some eggs. We roasted mushrooms with BBQ sauce. We cut up potatoes and threw them in the fire, also wrapped in tin foil.
It was kind of fun looking in the cooler to see what we could find and trying to decide how we would cook it.
I didn't want to change into my pajamas because it was so cold I didn't want to take anything off even for a brief moment.
I slept in my jeans and wore them everyday for three days. When I finally took them off at home, I noticed my toenails were painted. That surprised me, somehow painted toenails just didn't belong.
Shiloh and I were the first ones up. It was still cold and rainy. We walked the 300 yards back to the parking lot where there was a restroom with running water.
We used the hand drier to feel warm for a little. Shiloh stood with his head right under it. His hair went flying straight out to the sides.
Finally I decided we should go back and try to light a fire.
Success! We actually started a blazing fire! We did have tin foil, so it was time to be creative and start cooking. We wrapped vegetables, cheese, and shredded ham into a tin foil packet and put it in the fire. It was quite good.
Our other cooking experiments -- We formed a pan with the tin foil, melted some butter and scrambled some eggs. We roasted mushrooms with BBQ sauce. We cut up potatoes and threw them in the fire, also wrapped in tin foil.
It was kind of fun looking in the cooler to see what we could find and trying to decide how we would cook it.
The Camping Trip -- Part 4
Well we didn't run out of gas -- just a dead battery. Eric jumped it in the rain.
My mom had packed most of the food in the coolers in the back of our pickup, just in case we decided to stay somewhere on the way home. Eric had made a spot in the front seat for me. He just had two boys share one seat belt. I was glad. I was a little traumatized by the earlier ride. The sinking feeling every time I got in the truck slowly disappeared.
It was still cold and rainy, but when we stopped on the other side of the Mackinac Bridge it was just cold. Still cloudy though, but we thought we'd chance it and find a place to camp. This was rather spur of the moment, so although we did have the food from my mom, we didn't have a campsite or any pans to cook our food.
While the boys played in the park we had stopped at, we searched the internet using Eric's phone for a campground. I thought we could head to Sleeping Bear Dunes area, but I didn't realize that was still three hours away.
We decided to go anyway, because we knew there were things in the area that would be fun to do.
Three hours somehow turned into many more. We did see the sun once while we were driving.
It was late when we arrived. We were hungry and tired. Earlier we had searched for the crackers my sister said she had put in our truck. Eric kept saying they just weren't in there. I kept insisting they must be somewhere -- my sister said she put them in. We never did find the crackers.
They had walk-in sites available. If you are not familiar with walk-in sites, it's pretty easy to figure out -- it means you walk in! No vehicles. Our site was 300 yards through the woods up and down the hills. 300 yards! That's 3 football fields!
We carried the food, the cooler, the tent, suitcases, pillows, the sleeping bags, the camp chairs, even Caden's playpen -- everything. Yes, we are crazy.
We roasted hot dogs that night. The wood wasn't burning well, so we finally tired of smoke and burning eyes, and sought warmth in our sleeping bags instead.
My mom had packed most of the food in the coolers in the back of our pickup, just in case we decided to stay somewhere on the way home. Eric had made a spot in the front seat for me. He just had two boys share one seat belt. I was glad. I was a little traumatized by the earlier ride. The sinking feeling every time I got in the truck slowly disappeared.
It was still cold and rainy, but when we stopped on the other side of the Mackinac Bridge it was just cold. Still cloudy though, but we thought we'd chance it and find a place to camp. This was rather spur of the moment, so although we did have the food from my mom, we didn't have a campsite or any pans to cook our food.
While the boys played in the park we had stopped at, we searched the internet using Eric's phone for a campground. I thought we could head to Sleeping Bear Dunes area, but I didn't realize that was still three hours away.
We decided to go anyway, because we knew there were things in the area that would be fun to do.
Three hours somehow turned into many more. We did see the sun once while we were driving.
It was late when we arrived. We were hungry and tired. Earlier we had searched for the crackers my sister said she had put in our truck. Eric kept saying they just weren't in there. I kept insisting they must be somewhere -- my sister said she put them in. We never did find the crackers.
They had walk-in sites available. If you are not familiar with walk-in sites, it's pretty easy to figure out -- it means you walk in! No vehicles. Our site was 300 yards through the woods up and down the hills. 300 yards! That's 3 football fields!
We carried the food, the cooler, the tent, suitcases, pillows, the sleeping bags, the camp chairs, even Caden's playpen -- everything. Yes, we are crazy.
We roasted hot dogs that night. The wood wasn't burning well, so we finally tired of smoke and burning eyes, and sought warmth in our sleeping bags instead.
Friday, July 3, 2009
The Camping Trip -- Part 2
We left as soon as we could after church on Sunday. Because we are crazy (and cheap) we decided to take our little Toyota pickup. It has a tiny extended cab with two seat belts. There are 3 seat belts in the front. Two plus three is only five and since there are six of us, we were short one seat belt. Not a problem exactly, because if you are over sixteen you don't have to wear a seat belt in the back seat, and I am over sixteen. That put me in the back. I sat on a pillow, because there isn't really even a seat in the middle in the back. My knees were close to the front seat and the boys crowded me from the sides.
We were excited about leaving. It's amazing the discomfort you can put up with when you are excited. But since it was a six hour drive and we left at 8pm, we began to become tired. We restlessly squirmed about trying to find a place for heads and feet and legs. Eventually I ended up on the floor. This was a very tight squeeze! Parts of my body kept falling asleep. Feet were pushing me, a child was on top of me at one point. I tried to shift, so a new part of my body could fall asleep. I started thinking about the Jews jammed into boxcars during WWII. Pure torture.
But we made it...
We were excited about leaving. It's amazing the discomfort you can put up with when you are excited. But since it was a six hour drive and we left at 8pm, we began to become tired. We restlessly squirmed about trying to find a place for heads and feet and legs. Eventually I ended up on the floor. This was a very tight squeeze! Parts of my body kept falling asleep. Feet were pushing me, a child was on top of me at one point. I tried to shift, so a new part of my body could fall asleep. I started thinking about the Jews jammed into boxcars during WWII. Pure torture.
But we made it...
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