As Promised...

I know you've all been on the edges of your seats waiting to hear about our last camping trip... Here goes!

We left town on Friday, July 3. Our first stop was at urgent care to check Little A's ears which she'd been telling us were hurting. Turns out that for once she did NOT have an ear infection! AMAZING!! After that good news we were off to Standish Hickey State Recreation Area in Leggett, CA (where Highway 1 meets Highway 101).

We realized about Windsor that we had forgotten the flashlight. I guess that's what I get for trying to teach VBS and pack (and I thought I was SO organized!). Thank goodness for Walmart!

After sitting in traffic through Willits, we arrived at the park around 2:30. We found our campsite and found that our friends, Lisa and Katlyn, were already there. Since we hadn't had cell service for the past hour, we had no way of keeping in touch with each other and no idea where they were.

The site was NOT to my liking (very small, no room for a second tent, lots of weeds, RIGHT next to Highway 101, and a brick oven instead of a fire ring) so I sent Brian up to ask if there was any way we could switch to a site with a fire ring. It turns out that the lower campground (right on the Eel River, no RVs allowed) had just opened that afternoon and it is 1st come, 1st served so we jumped in the truck and went to find a better site.

The site we found was awesome! Great eating/relaxing/fire area, plenty of rooms for two tents, a slight view of the river, and right near the swimming area.

While setting up our camp, I tripped over a tent pole that one of the kids was playing with. I went stumbling toward the table thinking repeatedly, "If I can just get to the table it will break my fall..." I didn't make it. There I lay, sprawled out in the dirt. Turns out I tore a ligament in my back when I fell. Luckily, it didn't really start hurting until Saturday when my insides began to feel like I had just had a baby and my back hurt so bad I could hardly move.

But I digress... Back to the trip... Turns out that a flashlight is not the ONLY thing I forgot. I also forgot butter, ketchup, mayonnaise, mustard and Pull-Ups for Little A (who is pretty much completely potty trained but still sleeps in Pull-Ups). While Lisa, Big A and B went in search of Pull-Ups and condiments, and Katlyn went along in search of cell service, Little A and I enjoyed some mommy-daughter time roasting marshmallows and snuggling.

When the gang returned with the supplies (including the $6 diapers... And I don't mean a package, I mean TWO DIAPERS) we all turned in for the night.

The next morning I awoke to Little A saying, "Mommy, I want hot chocolate." That kid has a memory like... Well like... I don't know, but it's good! So we got up and enjoyed hot chocolate.

After everyone else got up we got ready and headed to Pierce, CA to visit Confusion Hill. If you get at all motion sick, this is NOT the place for you however you can still enjoy the 45 minute train ride, feeding the chipmunks, and the ice cream cones!

Back at camp Big A and B left in search of cell service, Katlyn and Lisa headed to the river, and Little A and I settled in for a nice nap. Shortly after we returned/woke up, we were greeted by some somewhat unexpected visitors (they had said they MIGHT come by, but we weren't sure)...

Seems that Grandma and Grandpa had been to Fort Bragg for the day and decided to stop in for dinner with us. They left shortly after dinner and we enjoyed another fire and marshmallows before turning in for the night.

The next morning we got up fairly early to pack up, I chopped my hand with an axe, and we hit the road. What? You think I slipped that little bit about the axe in there trying to hide it from you? Yeah, you're right. Don't worry, I'm fine and I did find out through all of this that I had a tetanus shot last June.

Anyhow, we packed up all of our gear and a little girl who by this point was starting to seem quite sick, and we headed home (after having a hot shower and a tailgate picnic).

All in all we had a great trip, even though we had a few mishaps. Stay tuned for the next camping trip, July 17-19, at Doran Park with the Koenigs (followed by Sugarloaf in August with the Pruitts and Macys and Hendy Woods in September with the Macys). Our offer is still open to anyone who wants to join us!