Camping before school starts

Eric and I took a couple of extra days off to go on one more longer camping trip before the kids start school. It is always nice to have a little extra time to just sit around and relax and enjoy the mountains.

Thursday, August 6th I got up early so that I could finish packing and be all ready for when Eric got home at 7:30. By the time we got everything together, it was 8:00 when we were pulling out of the driveway. We went up to our favorite spot in Logan Canyon, Temple Peak.

(This is what our family drives consist of. Lots of singing from Alabama.)

It took us about an hour to get up there. They had smoothed the canyon road, so we could actually go a decent speed and didn't have to dodge all the pot holes. Once we got camp set up, we all decided to take a nap. I think we all slept from about noon to 2:00. I think we all needed it. When I woke up it felt like I had slept forever.

We didn't do much the rest of the day. The day Eric comes off of grave yards is always a rough day. I don't know how he does it.

Friday, we slept in. I cooked french toast for breakfast, which is one of our favorite breakfast meals while we are camping. We rode our bikes around camp, went for a drive and the kids looked for cans. It rained quite a bit on Friday, so other than the little bike rides and the drive for cans, which stayed in the trailer. When it started to rain we went in the trailer and played a game of Farkle.

(This is the view from what I believe is Temple Peak. You can see Bear Lake in the distance.)

Saturday, once again we slept in. One of the joys of camping in a trailer, we get to sleep in a comfy bed and don't have a lot of reasons to wake up early. The only bad thing is I get in the habit of getting close to 12 hours of sleep at night, than we I come back to reality I have a hard time adjusting. After breakfast we decided to take a drive to Bear Lake. What a joke! It was Raspberry Days and there were people everywhere. We went to a little convenience store just over the border in Idaho to get a couple of drinks and then we headed back up the hill to camp. We stopped at the Chevron to get shakes. They don't have as many shake flavors, but it beats standing in line for an hour to get one down at Bear Lake. When we got back to camp we started a fire. The nights have been cooler, so we like to enjoy the fire before it gets too cold. Eric made a Montana Oven. Something he read about in a book. It is two holes and a then a hole that goes between them for air flow. You build a fire in the one side and than cook on top of it. We decided to give it a try. Once the fire was down to coals we took the grate off the BBQ and cooked our steak on it. It turned out great. He was so proud of his Montana Oven. When it got to be chilly we went in the trailer and played a game of SkipBo. We've never really played it before and decided it was one of our favorite games we can play all together.

Sunday, another day of sleeping in. Eric wanted a shake again. We drove down to the gas station again and got two shakes to share. We need to remember that two is plenty for us to share. Maisie noticed that one of her friends from school was camping down the hill from us. Her friend's dad was nice enough that when they left to go on a family four wheeler ride, he let Maisie and Parker ride their little four wheeler that they were just going to leave at camp. M & P had the time of their life. They probably rode it around camp for two hours straight and decided that they just had to have one. Hopefully, one day we will own one, but probably not for a couple of years. My good friend Michelle, decided to come up for one night. Michelle and her kids got to camp about 5:30. We cooked hot dogs and left over steak for dinner. We enjoyed a nice evening around the fire. Michelle and I had a great time chatting. We are both so busy that we don't get a lot of time to catch up on life.

When we woke up Monday it was pouring rain. By the time we got everything put away it was about noon. The rest of the day was filled with putting everything away and getting laundry done. UGGGHHH!! Back to real life.

Memorial Weekend in Grace, Idaho

It's become an annual tradition to go to Grace Idaho for Memorial Weekend. We camp at the Caribou RV park. It's a smaller RV park/golf course with only 10 spots. We go as a group with my co-worker Shannon and Kyle and Misty's family has always joined us. This year there was five trailers in our group. There's not a whole lot to do, but it's a nice place to get away. Eric had to work the whole weekend, so I was brave and pulled the trailer all by myself. It's actually not too bad as long as I don't have to back it up. Saturday we went to Lava Hot Springs for a couple of hours. It was a little rainy, which was nice to soak in the hot tubs.

We cook meals as a group, so we end up only cooking one meal. We definitely don't go hungry the whole weekend. I cooked taco soup for dinner. Everyone loved it. We watched a few movies and just hung out.

Sunday, we let the kids hit golf balls. It was quite entertaining seeing the kids who have never golfed before. Lots of practice shots.

We left Monday about 11:30 and Kyle was nice enough to follow me home and back the trailer in. Thank goodness for nice brothers. 

Camping Trip - Easter

We always try to make Easter our first camping trip of the year. Because it is still pretty cold we have to stay a little bit lower in the mountains. We decided to go up by Hardware Ranch. We took the trailer up on Wednesday because Eric had to work until 7:00 on Friday. It is a good thing we did cause there were a lot of trailers up the canyon. We had to go past Hardware a little ways to find a spot. I left work early so I could take a one year old's pictures and then we finished packing and then headed up. Sallie and Jerry camped with us this weekend. It's the first time they have stayed the night. It was really fun having them there. The kids enjoyed dyeing eggs and searching for eggs on Easter morning. Parker was so excited about finding eggs that he did not see his new bike sitting by the trailer. He saw Maisie get her new scooter and wondered why he didn't get one. Maisie had to point out his bright new green bike. We now see what is more important to that boy, CANDY. We fixed breakfast and cleaned up camp and then headed home. We are looking forward to lots more camping this year.

September 20 - Wellsville Camping

We decided to throw in one more camping trip. We didn't want to go far, since Eric wouldn't be getting home from work until almost 8:00. I had a few things to throw in the trailer, but I decided to hurry and do a half bushel of peaches before he got home. I was cutting it so close, cause as soon as he pulled in the driveway I was pulling the last bottles out of the water bath. He just rolls his eyes at me. I try to cram too much into my day, but knew the peaches would not be good by the time we got home on Sunday, so they had to be done. We pulled into the spot at Wellsville Reservoir just before dark. We set up camp and then just hung out in the trailer. Eric and the kids played Farkle while I put labels on pictures. I had recently printed over a years worth of pictures (750) that needed to be labeled and put in photo albums. That was my project for the weekend. Saturday, the kids went for a bike ride around the reservoir while I walked around 5 times, which ended up being just under 3 miles. It is a very nice paved trail around the water. Eric and Parker ran to the gas station so they could go fishing later. Then Maisie and I went into town so I could get more photo sheets. I really wanted to get my photos in the binders, so I didn't have to worry about it. It was about 3:00 when we decided to go fishing. Parker caught one right off the bat. We didn't catch any more. It was pretty windy and hard to keep the line tight or cast out in the water. I made crusted chicken and spaghetti with tomatoes and zucchini and then cooked the fish. It was my first time cooking fish and it turned out really good.

We had a fire, but not for very long. It became really windy and we were worried about the ashes blowing everywhere and starting a fire. That night I didn't sleep hardly at all. I was half tempted to have Eric pack up the trailer and go home in the middle of the night. It felt like the trailer was going to blow over the whole night. We packed up in the morning and was home by about 11:00. When the camping season comes to an end, I am sad, but relieved in a way. There are a ton of things I want to get done around the house.

September 6 - Camping

We wanted to get in another camping trip, cause we are just not sure if we will make it out again before the weather gets bad. We went up to Temple Peak again. It is becoming one of our favorite places to go. We thought we would be fighting campers again and weren't sure what kind of a spot would be left going up later in the day on Friday. When we go up there, there was only one other camper and a sheep herder camper. It was so nice and quiet. I guess it really is true that people stop camping after labor day. Not us. We go til the weather gets too cold. 

I cooked baked potatoes with leftover sweet pork for dinner. It was really yummy. After a little fire, we were all getting tired and it was starting to get a little chilly and raining a bit, so we went in the trailer and played a couple games Farkle. The kids really love that game and it is a great trailer game. 

We all went for a hike up the hill to try and find grouse. We spooked one, but it was in such thick trees that we didn't see it and Eric didn't get a shot. He was very upset. It was the only grouse we saw and he was bound and determined to shoot one. He had a gone a couple of days ago with his friend Brett and they didn't see a one all day. 

Sallie, Jerry & friend, Ben came up Saturday afternoon. They brought a couple of guns and shot at an old tv and some targets. They had a great time. Jerry has been wanting to shoot his guns for a long time, but Sallie told him he had to shoot them with Eric around. 

We cooked ribs for dinner. They took a while to cook, but finally when they were done, they were yummy. Well worth the wait. After dinner, which was about 8:00, Sallie and the boys left to go home. We played another game of Farkle and then went to bed. 

It rained during the night and was raining Sunday morning when we work up. It took us a little bit to get packed up and then we headed home. We got home around noon on Sunday and then unpacked and did laundry. We had a great weekend.

August 9 - Camping

Our last camping trip before school starts. We hope to go a couple more times, but the kids start school in 10 days. I can not believe the summer is coming to an end. It has gone by so fast. Maisie and Parker have enjoyed their summer. For the most part, they have stayed home and loved being lazy. In the evenings, they run around the neighborhood with all the neighbor kids. They get along so well with all of them. I love that the neighborhood is filled with kids their age.

Eric and the kids went up the canyon earlier in the day on Friday. I drove up after work so I could come home for work on Monday. When I got up there Maisie and I decided to go on hike/walk up a four-wheeler road for 2 miles. I made chicken stir-fry for dinner and then we enjoyed an evening around the fire.

Saturday morning after breakfast, I talked Maisie into going on a bike ride. Round trip it ended up being about 3.5 miles. I was able to push her to keep going until it started to be all up hill. She did a really good job keeping up. Later that afternoon, we decided to go down the canyon and do the Limber Pine Trail which is 1.3 miles round trip and then drove down to Bear Lake for some yummy shakes. We learned from the last time, to get small shakes. Which was the perfect size. We did some exploring around the mountain and checked out where some of the roads go and then went back to camp to try cooking ribs again. This time around they turned out really good and we didn't burn them. The key was cooking them on top of tin-foil, so the grease didn't start another fire. They took a while to cook, but they were really good when they were down. 

Parker jamming out to some music. He loves his music.

Eric practiced throwing a ball back and forth to Parker working on his catching skills. 

Parker couldn't decide if he wanted to come home with me on Sunday or not. He kept going back and forth whether he wanted to stay or go with me. What it boiled down to is he didn't want dad to make him eat a hamburger for dinner. I finally just told him he was coming home with me. We left Sunday about 12:00, so we could go home and shower and get ready to go to my Grandma and Grandpa Hendrickson's for their 60th Wedding Anniversary celebration.

Maisie and Eric came home Monday morning. They got home about 10:00.

July 11 - 15th Camping in Logan Canyon

We have been waiting for this camping trip for a long time. I feel like we haven't done much camping this year and was so ready to get out and enjoy the mountains and relax. We left early Thursday morning when Eric got home from work. I think we were pulling out of the drive way by 8:00 a.m. We got just a little bit up Logan canyon and there was an accident. We sat there for close to an hour and then finally the traffic started moving. We finally got to our campsite at Temple Peak at 10:30. Got our trailer situated and pretty soon there were two more people that were trying to take our camp spot. We were kind of tucked in the trees and you had to look around the trees to see if any one was in that spot. We were so glad we got there when we did. By Friday afternoon, the whole area was packed with trailers and campers. The spot we were lucky enough to get was at the dead end so we didn't have to deal with a lot of four wheelers and trucks driving by. I think it is one of my new favorite places to go. 

We relaxed for little while and then went on a bike ride and a short hike. I am glad we brought our bikes along. The kids had a tough time going up the hills, but it was a great place to explore and ride our bikes around. 

Friday evening my good friend, Michelle and her kids came up and stayed with us for two nights. Saturday morning we woke up and Michelle, Kenzie, Maisie and I went for a hike down a trail. We probably hiked for about 2 miles down the trail and then decided we better turn around. We kept telling the girls that remember we have to go back so don't wait to tell us your tired. Going back up the trail was pretty much a gradual up hill, so they got tired a lot faster. Once I got home and looked up the trail it looks like it is about a 4 mile trail that leads to Temple Fork. One day maybe we will hike the whole trail. When we got back to camp we decided to head down to Bear Lake for lunch. We ate at La Beau's. Yummy food and yummy shakes. Couldn't believe how busy it was. There is a ton of people in Bear Lake during the summer months. And they sure know how to rip you off for hamburgers and shakes. Lunch cost us $35. Michelle decided to take all the kids to the beach. Eric and I were worried about getting back to camp cause we had a friend that was going to try and come up and was worried he might not be able to find us if we weren't there. He didn't end up coming up until Sunday afternoon. Once we got back to camp there was a down pour for about a half hour then it cleared out and was quite cool. We tried cooking ribs on our little BBQ grill, but ended up starting the whole grill on fire. We still tried to eat them, but they could have been a lot better. We enjoyed the evening around the fire and making smore's.

Michelle and her kids had to leave early Sunday morning. It was sure nice having them and the kids had fun playing together. Sunday was a nice relaxing day. Our friend Brett, his wife Laura, and her sister and boyfriend came up and visited Sunday afternoon for a little while. We shot off some guns at some targets. Then they headed off to Bear Lake for the evening. We had been debating on leaving Monday or Tuesday cause we were running low on water. We decided we would leave Monday so we could have one extra day of relaxing and getting things done around the house before going back to work.

We left Monday about noon, emptied the trailer, and then started on the laundry. The one thing I love about having the trailer is we can pretty much load and unload the trailer in about an hour. Makes camping so much easier and nicer. 

Tuesday we took the kids to see Despicable Me 2. It was a pretty cute show. It was really nice having an extra day to relax before going back to work. Vacations just go by way too fast.

Camping at Wellsville

We had originally planned a camping trip to go to Wyoming with my good friend, Jason, from work, but the weather was not panning out and we decided to stick close to home. It was suppose to rain most of the weekend, but that doesn't stop us from camping. He told us about Wellsville Reservoir, which we didn't know even existed. Wow camping less than 5 miles from home, doesn't get much better than that. There is a nice open grassy area across from the reservoir that people can pull their trailers up and camp. Jason was suppose to come up and visit us, but with the weather being so crappy and him trying to help a friend with moving, he just didn't make it. He didn't miss much other than some rain. The rain did break a little Saturday afternoon and I was able to walk around the reservoir several times. There is a nice paved trail that goes all the way around it. The kids enjoyed riding their bikes around.

Kyle and Misty and their family came up for a little bit later Saturday evening.

We left pretty early Sunday morning, so we could get home and get some cleaning done around the house.

1st Camping trip of the year

Now that we have our trailer we are always anxious to go out for our first camping trip and are not afraid to brave the weather. We knew it was going to be a little rainy, but that didn't stop us. We went with Eric's friends from work Jace and Ashley. A couple other friends from his work came up. We decided to go up Cub River, between Franklin, ID and Preston. We camped in a parking lot because everything was so wet. We left our house when the kids got out of school at 3:15 and picked them up with the truck and trailer and then headed up there. We were the first ones there, but soon Ashley and her little girl, Gianna, arrived. It sprinkled off and on, but when Jace arrived he put up his canopy and we just stayed huddled under the canopy and put it to the edge of the fire. Other than the rain it really wasn't too cold. 

We stayed up kind of late just visiting and having good time. It's just nice to enjoy the outdoors and good friends.

Saturday it rained until about 3:00 in the afternoon. We stayed in our trailers until the rain let up and then we were able to go outside. The kids couldn't wait to get on their bikes. Parker insisted that he still could ride his bike in the rain. Once he went out, he had about an inch of mud on his tires. 

Later that day Eric's friend Gary and Jaren came up with their trailers. There were a few other friends that came for a little bit and then left.

Of course, because we were going home on Sunday it was the nicest day. The sun was out and no rain. We still had a great time and glad that we went. Can't wait for our next trip. 

July 13 - 16 - Twin Falls/Shoshone Falls

I am so glad that we bought our trailer last year. It has sure been fun having little mini vacations and seeing and doing things that we would not be doing otherwise. We went to Twin Falls and had a very relaxing weekend. We stayed at the Anderson RV park. It was a really nice campground. The kids were really excited because of the swimming pool. We arrived about 7:30 and the kids couldn't wait to get in the pool. Saturday Sallie decided to come up and spend the day with us. She got there about 10:00 and we headed into Twin Falls to see Shoshone Falls. They were beautiful. We walked around the trails and saw different views of the Falls. Just as we were getting ready to leave it decided to rain. I am so glad we got there when we did, because it didn't stop raining for quite awhile. We had lunch at the Elevation 356 restaurant. The restaurant was on the edge of the canyon with the Perrine Bridge in the distance. The food was really good. Afterwards we drove across the Perrine Bridge. Sallie and I sat in the truck because it was raining too hard. The kids and Eric ran across it, but hurried back. We went back to the trailer and just relaxed and visited for awhile. Sallie left about 7:00 to head back home. The kids and I went swimming for a little bit. It was a little cold, but they didn't care.

Sunday we went back into Twin Falls and went back to the Perrine Bridge. It was a beautiful day and I am so glad we went back. The bridge is amazing. We walked across it and visited the visitor's center. We were lucky enough to watch some base jumpers jump off the bridge. It looks so scary, but must be worth it because once they jump off the bridge they have a long hike to get back up to the top. We spent a good hour just walking around the bridge and enjoying the scenery. On the way back to our campground we decided to stop at the movie theater and see Ice Age 4. It was a cute movie. After leaving the movie theater, there were a bunch of emergency vehicles that went flying by us. As we got closer to our campground, we noticed there was a really bad accident. We later found out that one of the ladies in the accident was killed. It is so scary to think that life can end so quickly. 

Of course, the kids had to swim again. We spent the rest of the day just relaxing. It was kind of nice spending the weekend not doing a whole lot. We left Monday late morning and got home with enough time to put our stuff away and relax before going back to work.