Summer Camping
We've set a new standard of activity this summer. We've been camping three times. It's been a long while since I've camped like this. Especially with my horde of boys. It's not that I didn't like camping in the past. I love it. But for several years I just didn't. Probably had more to do with wanting to have a break from the boys that I sent Mike with them out at least once a year in May. Now we are doing it together. With a baby to top it off, but that's actually been very easy to do.
I think the last time I went a met one of my BFFs and her family, which was still a few years ago. Before that it was probably when Alex was a toddler and we went with the whole Palmateer clan to lower Utah Canyonlands. (Our childhood camping grounds. It's a vast area with many places to explore.)
I think two things led up to this new venture. One, we went with a group of friends. Mike had already planned to go way back when Zane was born earlier in the spring. I said that I'd wait to commit until I saw how me and the baby were together. You know, maybe I would be too overwhelmed at that point. Maybe I'd send Mike and the older two so I could relax for 24 hours or something? And then at my grandmothers funeral, my cousin Erick expressed several times that we should get all the cousins together that we could to go camping in Canyonlands. (I believe that Erick went with us or with his father to one of our family trips there when we were kids.)It started me thinking about it. And I honestly would love to do that. We sort of set a tentative date of June 2016 but we'll see if it happens. It would be nice if it did, but that's a big undertaking for all of the cousins. There are a lot of us and we don't live in the same state. Several states. Heck, some in different countries due to military service. I'm sure if we pooled all our resources together we could make it happen. (I'll keep on it and see if I can get this to actually happen.) So far the only thing that has held me back is I don't know when Alex goes to MDA camp in June next year. So I'm waiting till I know when that is at least before I make a push to try and get people together for it.
So until then I've been motivated to go more often to keep in the mind set. And this is where we've gone:
Lynx Lake Campground
So this was the first trip, back in May the weekend before Phoenix Comicon. Again most of it was arranged by Mike. My only requirements were that I wanted to be comfortable. Especially since I was breastfeeding a baby. The campgrounds already had vault toilets and potable water. In addition there was a picnic table, fire pit, grill, and a tent pad built into the site. It wasn't like crazy fancy but a great place to start with camping. We had a little rain but just enough to dust us really. And it was with a community group so there were a few familiar faces but we still had our own camp spot so it wasn't like we had people up in our site a ton. But the kids had other little people to play with.
It pretty much got camping right back in to my blood over this trip. Mike bought a REI Kingdom 8 tent. We bought a few more things we hadn't had like chairs but for the most part we had everything we needed. But we did replace our gas lantern with a new LED battery powered one. And I pinterested a bunch of camping hacks to make our camping more like glamping as they call it.
We got there after dark unfortunately, so we put up the tent in the dark. The biggest frowner on this trip was the fact that we brought our Costco Aerobed which has a built in inflatable, but you have to have it plugged into a wall outlet to fill it. We thought the car inverter would suffice. It couldn't handle the voltage needed to inflate. So it would start up and then quit. It took us forever to get it to inflate in the middle of the night. I can't remember what Mike eventually did to open up the casing to make it work by mouth. But when we got back home the bed was quickly replaced by another inflatable that had a battery powered inflator. It's not as big and fancy but it does the job.
Another thing that happened on this trip was in the middle of the night mike changed the baby and forgot to put a diaper back on him. So 2 hours later he woke us up crying again because he wet through everything. Commando baby! So that was a fun laugh in the middle of the night. After we wrapped up camping we went to Culvers for lunch. It's become the thing to do after camping now.
Blue Ridge Campground
This was our second choice location. We tried to get into the Rock Crossing Campground again after dark on a 4th of July weekend. But it turned out to be a good trip either way. We invited family to come on this trip but everyone was working so we went on our own.
This trip will be the outing where we found out just how much water the sky can dump on the new tent and fail at making it leak! I was so impressed. So many kid memories of camping ending in being washed out or uncomfortable because we got wet. No more! It rained quite a bit, but we stayed dry as long as we were in the tent. And we were warm on top of that.
We set up in a smaller tent space the first night and then switched to another after two the next day. It was closer to the camp hosts and it turned out to be a dream spot. I'd love to go back to it. The great part about the campground is that it was small and pretty intimate. Cozy. The only downside is that if you got next to a loud camper you are stuck with them. There was just enough space for our tent in one or two of the spots. So if we go back we really need to find a way to get out the door sooner so we can be to a campground by noonish to 3pm or there is no guarantee that we will get a good space. There was a camp group there with a huge trailer that was a bit noisy. But the camp hosts put the kabosh on them.
This trip we added the MSR Zing. So we broke it in as well. When we switched campgrounds we got up it up just in time before the sky unloaded on us. It's a nice cover for the picnic table. We are contemplating a screen room at some point but we shall see if that will happen this year or next?
Knoll Lake Campground
This is the most remote and the last one we plan to do this summer, wrapped up yesterday. More trips possibly in the fall, but it'll be colder at night and the kids will be in school so the weekends will be harder to find and only for a short time too.
Again we arrived at night but just barely. We are trying to make it so that we get packed the day before so we can get out bright and early the day we want to camp but what is messing it up is Mike going out of town for a few days just before we leave. And then I finally catch up the day we need to be packing. So hopefully the next trip will get us to that magic moment that we leave early!
This trip we planned with friends again, to go to Mount Lemmon, but it turned out that due to a family emergency it fell through. We actually drove down to Tucson a week ago to check out Mount Lemmon. There were two campgrounds we were considering and they were both mostly sloped and small. A little disappointment, but that's being said I still want to try them at some point.
So since the planned trip together fell through we decided to go back up north instead of south and that's were this gem was found. Another great campground off the beaten path. It's not easy to get to either. Nothing new this time. Just camping in a new spot checking it out for a possible trip to try out another time.
This trip we were rained on as well but it was still good and dry. One cell went over us and didn't drop a thing. It got loud and threatening but no rain. The 3rd one dumped on us. During the first one earlier in the morning the boys went to see the lake and while they were gone I kept the tent and baby dry. The best thing about rain and camping with babies is that the rain on your tent makes them sleepy! So Zane fell asleep during one.
Toward the evening before the sun set a cell came in made a lot of noise AND dumped on us. It was exciting. One huge crack overhead and if I hadn't been holding Zane I'm sure he would have cried. But it all worked out. Once that one passed, I believe another small one flew over. We just got hit with several little cells all in a row.
Mike and I both tried a nap in the late afternoon but Ethan was being particularly defiant and neither of us could really relax. Dinner that night was a bust. Kids didn't like it unfortunately, so we are still working through a menu that works for everyone. We packed up the following morning. And for course by then it was nice, sunny and warm, everything dried out.
And that's been pretty much the whole summer. Each trip we've done a few things different or tried a new meal. Each time a new place for sure. We still have plans for a few other trips, maybe we will get another trip in before the end of 2015. Definitely have plans for 2016. Mike is even talking about getting a boat! (Not a motor powered one that you ski with, just a small one you can row up the campground lake in and fish.) Most of the campgrounds we've been to have had a small lake nearby that allow fishing and no wake motor boating. Which also means we'd have to get a small trailer or something to pull one and take on a tad more gear. But this would also be good as the plan is to do some ruff camping next year in Canyonlands where there is no potable water or vault bathrooms. So we would have to bring more water and a toilet option. And I'd want to stay a little longer than 2 days for something like that. Plus we've already maxed out just what the Sienna can hold at this point. So if we add an additional child or bring a friend suddenly all our camp gear needs a new place to be packed. Luckily the Sienna is a 6 cyclinder engine so we could attach a small trailer. We'd just have to make sure the back of the van could handle a ball joint. I think I was reading about having to change something on the back for that. It wouldn't be a problem just more planning, cause obviously we'd have to buy the joint and have it attached correctly or we'd have a major problem with the under carriage. Anyhow, good times and camping ahead in our future!
I think the last time I went a met one of my BFFs and her family, which was still a few years ago. Before that it was probably when Alex was a toddler and we went with the whole Palmateer clan to lower Utah Canyonlands. (Our childhood camping grounds. It's a vast area with many places to explore.)
I think two things led up to this new venture. One, we went with a group of friends. Mike had already planned to go way back when Zane was born earlier in the spring. I said that I'd wait to commit until I saw how me and the baby were together. You know, maybe I would be too overwhelmed at that point. Maybe I'd send Mike and the older two so I could relax for 24 hours or something? And then at my grandmothers funeral, my cousin Erick expressed several times that we should get all the cousins together that we could to go camping in Canyonlands. (I believe that Erick went with us or with his father to one of our family trips there when we were kids.)It started me thinking about it. And I honestly would love to do that. We sort of set a tentative date of June 2016 but we'll see if it happens. It would be nice if it did, but that's a big undertaking for all of the cousins. There are a lot of us and we don't live in the same state. Several states. Heck, some in different countries due to military service. I'm sure if we pooled all our resources together we could make it happen. (I'll keep on it and see if I can get this to actually happen.) So far the only thing that has held me back is I don't know when Alex goes to MDA camp in June next year. So I'm waiting till I know when that is at least before I make a push to try and get people together for it.
So until then I've been motivated to go more often to keep in the mind set. And this is where we've gone:
Lynx Lake Campground
So this was the first trip, back in May the weekend before Phoenix Comicon. Again most of it was arranged by Mike. My only requirements were that I wanted to be comfortable. Especially since I was breastfeeding a baby. The campgrounds already had vault toilets and potable water. In addition there was a picnic table, fire pit, grill, and a tent pad built into the site. It wasn't like crazy fancy but a great place to start with camping. We had a little rain but just enough to dust us really. And it was with a community group so there were a few familiar faces but we still had our own camp spot so it wasn't like we had people up in our site a ton. But the kids had other little people to play with.
It pretty much got camping right back in to my blood over this trip. Mike bought a REI Kingdom 8 tent. We bought a few more things we hadn't had like chairs but for the most part we had everything we needed. But we did replace our gas lantern with a new LED battery powered one. And I pinterested a bunch of camping hacks to make our camping more like glamping as they call it.
We got there after dark unfortunately, so we put up the tent in the dark. The biggest frowner on this trip was the fact that we brought our Costco Aerobed which has a built in inflatable, but you have to have it plugged into a wall outlet to fill it. We thought the car inverter would suffice. It couldn't handle the voltage needed to inflate. So it would start up and then quit. It took us forever to get it to inflate in the middle of the night. I can't remember what Mike eventually did to open up the casing to make it work by mouth. But when we got back home the bed was quickly replaced by another inflatable that had a battery powered inflator. It's not as big and fancy but it does the job.
Another thing that happened on this trip was in the middle of the night mike changed the baby and forgot to put a diaper back on him. So 2 hours later he woke us up crying again because he wet through everything. Commando baby! So that was a fun laugh in the middle of the night. After we wrapped up camping we went to Culvers for lunch. It's become the thing to do after camping now.
Blue Ridge Campground
This was our second choice location. We tried to get into the Rock Crossing Campground again after dark on a 4th of July weekend. But it turned out to be a good trip either way. We invited family to come on this trip but everyone was working so we went on our own.
This trip will be the outing where we found out just how much water the sky can dump on the new tent and fail at making it leak! I was so impressed. So many kid memories of camping ending in being washed out or uncomfortable because we got wet. No more! It rained quite a bit, but we stayed dry as long as we were in the tent. And we were warm on top of that.
We set up in a smaller tent space the first night and then switched to another after two the next day. It was closer to the camp hosts and it turned out to be a dream spot. I'd love to go back to it. The great part about the campground is that it was small and pretty intimate. Cozy. The only downside is that if you got next to a loud camper you are stuck with them. There was just enough space for our tent in one or two of the spots. So if we go back we really need to find a way to get out the door sooner so we can be to a campground by noonish to 3pm or there is no guarantee that we will get a good space. There was a camp group there with a huge trailer that was a bit noisy. But the camp hosts put the kabosh on them.
This trip we added the MSR Zing. So we broke it in as well. When we switched campgrounds we got up it up just in time before the sky unloaded on us. It's a nice cover for the picnic table. We are contemplating a screen room at some point but we shall see if that will happen this year or next?
Knoll Lake Campground
This is the most remote and the last one we plan to do this summer, wrapped up yesterday. More trips possibly in the fall, but it'll be colder at night and the kids will be in school so the weekends will be harder to find and only for a short time too.
Again we arrived at night but just barely. We are trying to make it so that we get packed the day before so we can get out bright and early the day we want to camp but what is messing it up is Mike going out of town for a few days just before we leave. And then I finally catch up the day we need to be packing. So hopefully the next trip will get us to that magic moment that we leave early!
This trip we planned with friends again, to go to Mount Lemmon, but it turned out that due to a family emergency it fell through. We actually drove down to Tucson a week ago to check out Mount Lemmon. There were two campgrounds we were considering and they were both mostly sloped and small. A little disappointment, but that's being said I still want to try them at some point.
So since the planned trip together fell through we decided to go back up north instead of south and that's were this gem was found. Another great campground off the beaten path. It's not easy to get to either. Nothing new this time. Just camping in a new spot checking it out for a possible trip to try out another time.
This trip we were rained on as well but it was still good and dry. One cell went over us and didn't drop a thing. It got loud and threatening but no rain. The 3rd one dumped on us. During the first one earlier in the morning the boys went to see the lake and while they were gone I kept the tent and baby dry. The best thing about rain and camping with babies is that the rain on your tent makes them sleepy! So Zane fell asleep during one.
Toward the evening before the sun set a cell came in made a lot of noise AND dumped on us. It was exciting. One huge crack overhead and if I hadn't been holding Zane I'm sure he would have cried. But it all worked out. Once that one passed, I believe another small one flew over. We just got hit with several little cells all in a row.
Mike and I both tried a nap in the late afternoon but Ethan was being particularly defiant and neither of us could really relax. Dinner that night was a bust. Kids didn't like it unfortunately, so we are still working through a menu that works for everyone. We packed up the following morning. And for course by then it was nice, sunny and warm, everything dried out.
And that's been pretty much the whole summer. Each trip we've done a few things different or tried a new meal. Each time a new place for sure. We still have plans for a few other trips, maybe we will get another trip in before the end of 2015. Definitely have plans for 2016. Mike is even talking about getting a boat! (Not a motor powered one that you ski with, just a small one you can row up the campground lake in and fish.) Most of the campgrounds we've been to have had a small lake nearby that allow fishing and no wake motor boating. Which also means we'd have to get a small trailer or something to pull one and take on a tad more gear. But this would also be good as the plan is to do some ruff camping next year in Canyonlands where there is no potable water or vault bathrooms. So we would have to bring more water and a toilet option. And I'd want to stay a little longer than 2 days for something like that. Plus we've already maxed out just what the Sienna can hold at this point. So if we add an additional child or bring a friend suddenly all our camp gear needs a new place to be packed. Luckily the Sienna is a 6 cyclinder engine so we could attach a small trailer. We'd just have to make sure the back of the van could handle a ball joint. I think I was reading about having to change something on the back for that. It wouldn't be a problem just more planning, cause obviously we'd have to buy the joint and have it attached correctly or we'd have a major problem with the under carriage. Anyhow, good times and camping ahead in our future!