Childless Camping

The boys had their big final movie shoot this weekend, so Chris and I decided to take advantage of the unusually beautiful Memorial Day weekend and go camping.

Thanks to the graciousness and hospitality of Don, we hardly felt like we were camping up at Sore Acres. And we definitely brought more stuff than we needed. Camp was all set up when we arrived with canopy, tables, chairs, firewood, and a cozy trailer to sleep in!

there's even an outhouse now!

Before heading out after firewood, Chris decided to change into jeans. From his tone of voice, choice of words (no, he didn't say any bad words) and walking briskly away from the van, I knew something was not good. When I asked the question and the response was, "Go look for yourself." I knew it was bad.

I know I shouldn't have, but I just had to laugh when I opened the suitcase and saw Zack's coat, Will's bright green Friday School shirt and the boys' toiletries bag. In short, we had swapped luggage for the weekend. We tried to call and warn the boys before they opened their suitcase, containing their parents' underwear, in front of all their friends but to no avail. Thankfully, they didn't get done with the shoot until just before dawn and I think everyone was much too exhausted to notice or care.

Wait! This isn't ours!!!

The firewood we sadly left behind last fall was still waiting by the side of the road to be split and taken home. But this time we were able to spare our poor van the rough and even rockier drive up to the top. We simply parked the trailer at the end of Don's road and took the quad and trailer up to the firewood and brought it back down to our trailer.

even I got to drive the quad!

After sitting all winter, the wood was nice and seasoned. But being so old makes even a bit of firewood stubborn. We could hear the wood creak and groan as Chris pounded the maul into it with the sledge. Sometimes, even with the maul firmly embedded, the old boy just wouldn't give up without a fight and a few good blows with the axe.

future "bad boy"

Thanks to God giving us a gorgeous spring day, a roaring campfire, and Don's willingness to let us sleep in the trailer, it wasn't too bad not having our suitcase. Not having clean clothes has advantages of it's own. Not having clean clothes means you don't have to get undressed for bed in the cold or put on cold clean clothes in the morning. Not having clean clothes means having less laundry to do later. Not having clean clothes means not inadvertently running into any wild animals who normally might not smell you coming. Yeah, not having clean clothes is a good thing...

I also got to shoot my gun at the shooting range after supper. Chris got me this gun the first Christmas after we got married and this is only the second time I've shot it in all these years! And it showed! I stink! I couldn't hit the broad side of a barn! Hopefully I'll get better after some practice. LOTS of practice!

making supper

eating supper

If not for the fact that Betsy started whining at 5:30 in the morning, I would have had a fantastic night's sleep. Having solid walls is really nice. When the wind blows, the walls don't flutter. When the sun comes up, you don't even know it. When you wake up the half of your sleeping bag and pillow nearest the wall is still dry. I kinda miss the tent...

Mornings and evenings are my favorite times out camping. And not just because we get to have a fire. :o)

Friday evening

Saturday morning

I love sunny mornings outside when everything is crisp and fresh. The birds are singing, the bugs aren't out yet, it's lovely! Perhaps if we always lived in a tent in the woods I'd be a morning person. Come to think of it, it's not the mornings I hate, it's the getting out of bed that I hate. Somehow it's easier to get up out of a half-wet sleeping bag in a cold, brightly lit tent. LOL

making morning coffee

I was especially grateful that, unlike the boys, we didn't have room in our suitcase for our toiletries. So we still got to brush our teeth, use deodorant and run a pick through my hair. I was going to use Chris' brush to try to do something with my hair since I didn't have my hat to wear. After rummaging through the bag a bit I remembered that Chris didn't need to pack a brush anymore. Silly me!

Who needs double sinks?

Betsy loves to go with us but is almost immediately ready to go home. Every time we opened the van door or even walked towards the van, she got all excited. She loved going exploring or on walks with us, but was not excited at all about being left behind at camp while we took off to fill the last bit of the trailer and scout our some more firewood.

And it is like firewood heaven up there! Everywhere you look, there's more! And almost everything has potential to be firewood. Dead tree with broken top: firewood. Pile of logs left behind by loggers: firewood. Tree lying across the road: drive the quad over it, get out the chainsaw, cut it up, load it in the trailer... firewood. We even made piles beside the road to go back and get later.

Anyone need firewood? We know where you can get some!

Guess what we'll be doing this summer? More importantly, guess what we'll be heating with this winter?