The trio camps in the cold
Ok, the cord I won on Ebay is taking its time getting here, so I'll tell of the trip and add the pictures later. BTW, Donna is having a great time touring the vineyards and villas in Napa for work. Mr. MacMahon, I implore you to reroute the prize patrol to my house. I want to go!
Since we had to make sure that Gameboy was at the church for departure promptly at 6:30pm, Ed and I decided to go set up camp while the kids were in school to avoid putting up a tent in the dark. We did that last year at one of the campsites, and it wasn't too bad, but not what you want to do.
The campsite had wooden poles around it and we were unsure if we were to set up inside or outside the poles. We were the first there, and chose to set up outside the poles. Fifty fifty odds and it ends up we were wrong. However, we weren't asked to move it later, and others set up outside as well.
Where were we? At a nice group campsite at Edward Medard Park. The facilities were immaculate and the whole park is postcard beautiful.
Okay, so we set up our tent and brought everything but the cooler along while the boys were in school, then departed for a few hours. After dropping Gameboy off, we went back to the house, got the cooler and ice, then entered the campsite around 8:15ish. We found a nice roaring campfire and many of the campers in front of it.
The kids ran around for a while and we adults sat and talked. One by one, the kids wandered off to bed. Around 10, Ed and I did the same. The evening had been chilly, so I was glad I had my thermal jammies. (Note to self: buy some for Ed and the kids for the January camping trip).
The RSD involves an unorthodox sleeping method, I have to hang my feet off the end of the air mattress. Alas, when it dipped to 39 degrees (verified by another parent at home about 3 miles from camp at 5am), I kept waking up because my feet were cold. Then I decided to pull them onto the air mattress, only to keep waking up from the RSD. If I have to choose between the two, I'd rather wake with warm painful feet than cold feet that are pain free.
Around 8am, the call of the bathroom roused us from our warm sleeping bags. The day ended up being very relaxing. After a breakfast of pancakes and sausage (which Chef Jr) believes to be the ONLY breakfast you can possibly eat while camping), the men wandered off to do some fishing. Alas, there was no catching (again).
Later in the morning, all the kids there made Veteran's Day cards to be sent off to the troops. Then we had a light lunch of sandwiches and there was a hike to 'the hills' for the boys. There will be no hiking for me for a while, so I took a nap to compensate for the lack of continuous sleep the previous night.
It was an early dinner for us, as I needed to head out. No sooner did we bring out the camp stove did others think that it was a good idea to fire up theirs, too. Some chicken marinated for several days in my special marinade was just the ticket to warm the belly.
Once I left, Ed and Chef Jr enjoyed campfire stories and a night time hike to an observation tower to look at the stars. While the kids were amazed at the quantity of them, the adults were shocked at the amount of ambient light killing the view. There was a bonus, though. NASA did a night time launch Saturday night and it was a clear enough night for them to see the boosters fall away from the rocket. Neat. (I'm bummed that I missed it).
Back at camp, the s'mores were waiting to be made. I came back in time to snag some marshmallows. Yummy. Chef Jr headed off to bed and Ed and I sat yakking with one of the other dads. Good people. We started taking about racing and just wandered from topic to topic. It was quite nice to relax and enjoy the company of an adult!
Saturday night, the temperature didn't dip nearly as low but we both kept waking up. Meanwhile, Chef Jr? He was O U T! Guess it's good to get the kid out running his butt off every now and then. Once we decided to get moving for the day, it was another breakfast of pancakes, but with bacon today.
In the 'we must forget one item roulette' that happens every trip, we came up with pancake syrup this time. I even went home with it in my head, but forgot AGAIN. Oops. Fortunately, the lure of some bacon got us some syrup. I think I probably could have skipped offering it and still would have scored it. Nice people all around in this pack, everyone helps everyone else.
Pack out happened pretty quickly and we were back home by 11:45. Not too bad. We'd gotten regular updates from our Cubmaster, since her husband was at the other camp out with the Webelos. At 10:30, he told her that they'd be on time and at the church at 12. Nope, wasn't until almost one.
Gameboy had a good time, we had a good time and no one wants to run us out of the scout pack. Guess that means we're on tap for the next camping adventure in January.
BTW, thank the tendons above your ankles on the front of your feet today. They do so much without complaint. Then when you give them a rest for seven weeks, they tell you in no uncertain terms "I'm working here!". Ow. If you see a 40 something hobbling like she's Granny Clampett, that would be me.
Since we had to make sure that Gameboy was at the church for departure promptly at 6:30pm, Ed and I decided to go set up camp while the kids were in school to avoid putting up a tent in the dark. We did that last year at one of the campsites, and it wasn't too bad, but not what you want to do.
The campsite had wooden poles around it and we were unsure if we were to set up inside or outside the poles. We were the first there, and chose to set up outside the poles. Fifty fifty odds and it ends up we were wrong. However, we weren't asked to move it later, and others set up outside as well.
Where were we? At a nice group campsite at Edward Medard Park. The facilities were immaculate and the whole park is postcard beautiful.
Okay, so we set up our tent and brought everything but the cooler along while the boys were in school, then departed for a few hours. After dropping Gameboy off, we went back to the house, got the cooler and ice, then entered the campsite around 8:15ish. We found a nice roaring campfire and many of the campers in front of it.
The kids ran around for a while and we adults sat and talked. One by one, the kids wandered off to bed. Around 10, Ed and I did the same. The evening had been chilly, so I was glad I had my thermal jammies. (Note to self: buy some for Ed and the kids for the January camping trip).
The RSD involves an unorthodox sleeping method, I have to hang my feet off the end of the air mattress. Alas, when it dipped to 39 degrees (verified by another parent at home about 3 miles from camp at 5am), I kept waking up because my feet were cold. Then I decided to pull them onto the air mattress, only to keep waking up from the RSD. If I have to choose between the two, I'd rather wake with warm painful feet than cold feet that are pain free.
Around 8am, the call of the bathroom roused us from our warm sleeping bags. The day ended up being very relaxing. After a breakfast of pancakes and sausage (which Chef Jr) believes to be the ONLY breakfast you can possibly eat while camping), the men wandered off to do some fishing. Alas, there was no catching (again).
Later in the morning, all the kids there made Veteran's Day cards to be sent off to the troops. Then we had a light lunch of sandwiches and there was a hike to 'the hills' for the boys. There will be no hiking for me for a while, so I took a nap to compensate for the lack of continuous sleep the previous night.
It was an early dinner for us, as I needed to head out. No sooner did we bring out the camp stove did others think that it was a good idea to fire up theirs, too. Some chicken marinated for several days in my special marinade was just the ticket to warm the belly.
Once I left, Ed and Chef Jr enjoyed campfire stories and a night time hike to an observation tower to look at the stars. While the kids were amazed at the quantity of them, the adults were shocked at the amount of ambient light killing the view. There was a bonus, though. NASA did a night time launch Saturday night and it was a clear enough night for them to see the boosters fall away from the rocket. Neat. (I'm bummed that I missed it).
Back at camp, the s'mores were waiting to be made. I came back in time to snag some marshmallows. Yummy. Chef Jr headed off to bed and Ed and I sat yakking with one of the other dads. Good people. We started taking about racing and just wandered from topic to topic. It was quite nice to relax and enjoy the company of an adult!
Saturday night, the temperature didn't dip nearly as low but we both kept waking up. Meanwhile, Chef Jr? He was O U T! Guess it's good to get the kid out running his butt off every now and then. Once we decided to get moving for the day, it was another breakfast of pancakes, but with bacon today.
In the 'we must forget one item roulette' that happens every trip, we came up with pancake syrup this time. I even went home with it in my head, but forgot AGAIN. Oops. Fortunately, the lure of some bacon got us some syrup. I think I probably could have skipped offering it and still would have scored it. Nice people all around in this pack, everyone helps everyone else.
Pack out happened pretty quickly and we were back home by 11:45. Not too bad. We'd gotten regular updates from our Cubmaster, since her husband was at the other camp out with the Webelos. At 10:30, he told her that they'd be on time and at the church at 12. Nope, wasn't until almost one.
Gameboy had a good time, we had a good time and no one wants to run us out of the scout pack. Guess that means we're on tap for the next camping adventure in January.
BTW, thank the tendons above your ankles on the front of your feet today. They do so much without complaint. Then when you give them a rest for seven weeks, they tell you in no uncertain terms "I'm working here!". Ow. If you see a 40 something hobbling like she's Granny Clampett, that would be me.
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