Camping

It’s been almost two years since we’ve gone camping, and with all this quarantine stuff going on, and having to postpone the wedding, I desperately needed to get away from this house and everything inside.

SS and I decided to venture outside of our box, and took a drive. A drive that landed us 2.5 hours from home, near a lake, and a river. And it was beautiful.

 

After setting up our camp, which looks so small in this photo, I climbed up a big mountain, and looked out over the area. I was stunned at how beautiful the scenery really was. (All those black spots, are COWS).

I sat there, staring at the beauty, for over 30 minutes, before I decided I was probably too sunburnt to continue to sit there. 

We found caves, and had black widow spiders climb on our tent. Pincher bugs were EVERYWHERE, and cows. Cows were wandering ALL OVER THE LAND, feeding on the tall green weeds!

We only stayed one night, just in case we didn’t like it. We didn’t want to be stuck somewhere for 3-4 days, if it was going to be horrible. And since we’ve never been there before, we had to try it. So one night is all we did.

I forgot our air mattress at home, so we had to sleep on the ground. I can tell you this with 100% certainty, I am too old to be sleeping on the ground. And this exact thing, is why I’m grateful we only stayed one night.

There are a few other places out there that we wanted to check out, so that is what we will do next. A few more one-nighters, and maybe we will find our place.

I’ll keep you updated on our search for the perfect camping spot. In the meantime, if you know of a place in Cali, let me know!

Our first camping trip

A few weeks ago, I mentioned to SS that I really wanted to go camping. As much as we both loved doing it, I was confused that after 4.5 years together, we hadn’t yet gone. It had been over five years since I’d gone, and at least that long since he had. With the fast approaching extended Labor Day weekend coming up, we decided that was the perfect time to get away. So, we spent the better part of two days, going from store to store, and back, getting anything and everything we would need for it. $800 later, we were ready to camp.

SS took Friday off so that he could get everything packed and all the last minute stuff done (bank, gas, ice chest, etc.). We were on the road by 1:30p.

+ We set our tent up away from our table so that any bugs that surrounded the table, didn’t find interest in our shelter. 

+ Since California just can’t seem to stay out of the fire zone, campfires were not permitted in this forest. Thankfully, a friend of mine came through with a propane heater for which we were extremely grateful. Thanks Jeff!

+ We did some hiking and found this little message on the trail…

+ SS carved our initials in a fallen tree…

…and more hiking…

+ I don’t know what he was thinking about, but maybe it was about how much he loves me.

It was three nights and four days of quiet, peaceful, alone time.
We needed it. We wanted it. We did it.

Until next time…

Ghost Town

A few months ago, Sis mentioned she wanted to go check out this place. An old silver mining town just a few hours from our house. So, when Sis says she wants to go, we all go.

Bff@work and I hoped into his camper, while Sis and Squid followed in their car. No dogs, no kids. Just four adults, ready to spend three days out in the middle of the desert.

Oh my GOSH, it was so hot!!

The first thing we did, was set up camp. Then, I climbed to the top of one of the mountains and looked around. This is what I saw…. (that’s our campsite with the arrow)

As I looked down on our campsite, I was amazed at how beautiful this empty desert was. I stood there, staring at what was below me, and called a friend.

We walked through the small little town, overwhelmed by the simple way life was…

 

 

 

 

 

 

bff@work bought me this REALLY cute clock! (the pendulum has a star - can’t see because it’s moving).

One of my favorite things to do every night before I go to bed, is sit out in my backyard and look up at the stars. While we were camping, we stared at the stars every night. It was amazing.

I saw this really cool pocket watch décor item at one of the little shops. It wasn’t for sale, I asked. If anyone knows how to steal get this item, I’d be very grateful.

It was an amazing place and we had a really great time. If you ever find yourself near the Barstow area, it’s a cute little place to visit.

When a tree falls in the woods, it DOES make a noise.

Whew! What a busy few days. After getting back from vacation in Oregon, I spent the week getting caught up at work, fixing a few things that went wrong, and getting ready for another vacation.

LZ and Squid wanted a weekend of camping, so camping we did.

… This is where we camped …

                    … and here …                

… This dragonfly hung out with us the first night we stayed …

… BFF@work came up with his wife. This was her chair …

… Here are the critters that annoyed us the 2nd night …

    … BFF@work and meee, cooking breakfast for all …       

… we all went for a walk (except Squid. he stayed to clean up camp) …

… this tree fell the first night we were there. sitting around the campfire, and all-of-a-sudden, it fell. cracked at the base. weird.

I saw, for the first time, poison oak. Guess what? It has THREE LEAVES! That’s all everyone kept telling me all weekend. I felt like saying, Isn’t here another plant in the world that has three leaves? What if I mistake all three leaved plants for poison oak now?

All my summer vacations are over. I have come down with what seems to be the beginnings of a cold, and I’m thankful it waited until vacations were over. Remember that episode of Friends where Monica had a cold, yet she thought she was still sexy enough to have sex with Chandler? Ha. That’s totally me right now. No matter how bad my cough is, or how runny my nose is, I’m still looking for …

Never mind. G’Night all!

Hello NyQuil. Welcome to my Monday night!

It’s that time

It’s been two years. Two long years. Since I’ve been camping. Growing up, probably the only thing I enjoyed about summers with my dad, was camping. He made sure we went every summer, and as often as possible. There were some summers where we’d go three or four times, but there were summers we’d go only once. I loved packing up the truck and driving the long windy roads to secret hideaways nobody knew about. I can remember my grandparents coming along once in their RV. Waking up in a tent, anxious to sneak out before Dad woke up. During any normal school year, getting up with the sun was something I never did. When camping, getting up with the sun was something I looked forward to. It seemed as it was a game. Who could be up first, Val or the Sun? I assure you, the sun always won. I loved sitting on a rock in front of the campfire, watching the last of it crackle from the night before, secretly wishing my sister was up too, but scared to death to go back into the tent and get her, for fear of waking up Dad.

My mom loved to camp, too. Her and my stepdad often took us camping during the summer. Oh the stories I have. One time I got to be on stage and sing Elvira by The Oak Ridge Boys. That was fun. It left one of my BFF’s and I with a memory we’ll share with our grandchildren. She’s having a baby next month, and I CAN’T WAIT to tell her little girl about how for 15 minutes, me and her mommy were superstars. I ♥ you, D!

As I grew up and started a family of my own, The X and I made sure we took the kids camping. We had some great times, and no matter how much bad blood there is between The X/his daughters and I, I promise that anytime one of them thinks about riding Sea Doo’s, they’ll giggle and flashback to the fun times we had on Kern River. No amount of hate can block the memories that weren’t so bad. :-)      (unless you count crashing them, flipping them over, and having to be towed back to land as bad times, they’ll still giggle.)

Every child needs a camping memory. Every adult needs a camping memory. I, as an adult, need more camping memories. I love camping.

I do, however, have one bad camping memory. When I was about 5, I had a favorite blankie. It was the bestest blankie ever. Hands down, no arguments. My dad tossed it and it accidentally landed on top of the heater. An instant hole the size of a cantaloupe was burned into my blankie. Oh Em Geeee @ the amount of trauma this caused me. I refused to get rid of it after that, and still toted it around wherever I went until I was about seven, burnt hole and all. Mom was pretty relieve when I finally gave it up. It had gotten pretty ratty after that.

I  miss waking up in a hot tent. I miss turning over, saying “i wish i hadn’t slept on the ground”. I miss the smell of a campfire. I miss complaining about the bugs. I miss sitting around playing Spades or Dominos. I miss walking over to an ice chest and having my hand freeze while I search around for what appears to be the only Water left. I miss leaving the campsite and going for a hike and not being afraid someone will steal whatever we’ve left behind. I miss peeing in the woods. I miss playing in the creek as it splashed past our campsite. I miss cuddling up with someone, trying to stay warm, as I fall asleep in my sleeping bag.

It’s summer, and that means it’s camping season. I think it’s time for a trip, deep into the woods. Want to join me?

Ready To Go Camping?

              

The one thing I love about May, is that it reminds me that it’s almost time to start thinking about camping. I love camping. It’s one of my favorite pastimes. We used to go allthetime – and I mean ALL.YEAR.’ROUND. - when my parents were married. After they got divorced (I was 7), dad still took us camping, but not all the time. We’d only go in the summer because my mom so graciously let him pay less child support during those months we’d spend more time with him (whether *I* wanted to or not).

              

I remember hiking, swimming, splashing in creeks, complaining about bugs, shivering at night ‘cause it was cold, sweating ‘cause it was hot during the day, the silence, the ability to hear every single sound while trying to fall asleep (and not letting anyone else know you’re frightened by the owl sounds), the crackling fire, toasting marshmallows, the stars, the stillness, finding cool rocks while exploring, sitting around a makeshift table playing cards (most likely Spades), cooking all my favorites (steaks, chicken, hamburgers, hotdogs, baked beans, bacon, and corn, among many other things) over open flame, the fishing, the peaceful and resting naps during the day, etc., etc., etc.

              

As I’ve grown into the 30 something woman I am today, I’ve made sure not to let my enjoyment for camping stray too far from the city girl image that so many wish I would follow. Soon, I’ll go through my camping checklist to see what needs to be replaced, added, taken off and/or bought new so that when it comes time to start packing, I’m not frantically running around to find last minute stuff. I hate that, and people that do that  and cause disruption to my life drive me nuts. Lists, people. Make lists. If no disruption, no worries. Do it the way you’re comfortable.

 

 

All this talk has gotten me excited for camping. I’m looking forward to camping this summer, but I’m in no rush to make it get here.