Girls Camping Trip July 2012

After completing the LBL hike I really wanted to show more people my love for the area. So I got Ariana, Lori, Jenn, and Kristi to go camping at Piney. Beth, Andrew and Aedan joined us also. Rachel, Billy and Aaron went on their first camping trip. They left ahead of us. It was a crazy few days for them. They faced storms and storms sirens going off the few days before we got there.Jessica, Billy's sister came as her first camping trip ever! I woke up so happy, I was quickly loading the van. This is when some of the first twinges of my upcoming injury really started. I have always had Donnie to help carry boxes. I guess I need to be more careful. But I got all loaded up and we rested and waited for Lori to get off work. We headed down, Lori was so nervous going. It was really great nice sun shiny day. Then 4 miles from the campground an absolute downpour stated. I mean pouring can’t see driving rain! It was no problem for me I knew it would be fine. I laugh thinking of the looks on Lori and the girls faces. They didn’t know what to think!

We got there in time to change and run to the lake. Swimming there is one of my life’s most relaxing moments. I have swum there since I was 5yrs old. When I run or walk on that soft white sand then into the green water of that lake any stress I have just melts away! It took a few minutes and some help from Rachel but we got the big tent set up and things unloaded. We walked around the site some just for them to check it out. The biggest negative of this trip were the bathrooms at Piney. They had actually torn one down closest to our site. I was way not used to that. We had to use a port a potty eeww!

We sat and watched the sun set it was so nice. By the time we finished swimming my girls had dinner for us it was really nice. Of course they were a little stressed out but I have to say it was kinda nice to get there last and not have to worry about cooking. We had corned beef and cabbage cooked over an open fire. Yum! It felt amazing sleeping under the stars. I woke up and was ready to make breakfast only to discover I had made the most rookie camping mistake. I had left my bread basket on the picnic table. Now I have tons of critter stories from LBL, so I totally knew better. I am not sure what it was but something tore a hole in the top of my basket. It bypassed the potato chip packets to move onto the sesame seed hamburger buns! Oh well.

I still love bacon and eggs, they are best over an open fire. I don’t think they taste that good any other time. My griddle also is perfect for pancakes. I really enjoyed having everyone there to enjoy all the sights with. Watching my grandsons see the campground for the first time was precious. Aedan really enjoyed swimming in the lake. I do say swimming because he got his little legs going. Everyone discovered a fun ativity in the lake, mussel hunting. We gathered a bag full and cooked them over the fire.

I did not try any. Kinda, to scary for me. You will have to ask them if they liked them 

The last night we had a concert at the Shelter house with CANTAGEUS (Can’t age us) Haha! They were really pretty good. I got to chase Aedan who was chasing bugs. He loved the mayflies. It was really fun because they really won’t hurt you so he could chase and touch all he wanted. It was really funny when we chased a huge spider. At one point he decided he was done with one of them and just stomped right on it! Aedan also loved playing on the slide. Watching him as such a big kid not my baby grandson was the coolest ever! Ariana and Jenn enjoyed playing some volleyball with some kids. Finally after the concert we took headed back to camp. Some of them hung out making smores. I was really more tired then I am used to. Sleeping under the stars was still awesome but for the first time ever I felt pain as I slept. We got to have a great last day also. We went swimming, small walks, and just relaxing. After we got all packed up we still had some things to see. We had to stop and get some pictures of the forest fire. We have had a horrible dry season and so huge sections in LBL had burned this year.

We showed the girls the fire tower. They loved climbing up parts to see out. Arian was having fun also just getting to show what she had seen earlier in the year with Donnie.

Our last stop on the way out was Colson picnic area. We stopped and made them lunch like I had eaten on the hike. I don’t know if they liked it or were just humoring me. It was really a wonderful trip. I hope to set up a time where a bunch of us can go camping in the future as well.