Monday, August 10, 2009

Camping!

When you get four very busy people together from two different families from two different towns with three dogs it is tough to find a weekend that works for everyone to take a camping trip. But, some how, we the Macies and our very good friends the Baerwaldts were able to find a weekend that we all could escape the high Nevada summer temperatures and go camping.


While the husbands were at work, we the wives got everything together and loaded up in the vehicles. When they got off work, we were on our way. The above picture is of me and Halo, waiting to hit the road! We got gas in Reno and were on our way....or so we thought. Just outside of town, we came upon an accident. A man had rolled his truck and was still inside as we came on the scene. We both pulled over and made sure the guy was alright. When the emergency services arrived on scene, we loaded up again and headed out to our trip.



The campground we decided to camp at is located just outside of Susanville, CA. It really is a pretty drive once you get past Susanville and start winding up through the mountains.



In this picture you can see the Baerwaldts' vehicle leading the way as we wind through the mountain passes.



We're here! This is our campground!



At the entrance we had to stop and check in and pay of course. We had already made a reservation for the weekend so all we had to do was give them our name.



This was us! Campsite number 4. I did a really good job picking a spot for us. It was near the bathrooms, just inside the entrance, but didn't have any of the other campsites super close to us like some of the sites did.



Halo couldn't wait to get out of the car and explore! We kept him close and on his leash though.




Dwayne couldn't wait to get out and stretch his legs either! It was so pretty up there and the air was amazing to take in. Instantly, I felt relaxed when I got out of the car.




We got right to work setting up camp.



If we looked puzzled its because the tent we are setting up was 7 feet tall, slept 7 and was brand new to us! We had just bought it the day before.



Here it is! Beautiful! It's all set up!




This is our campsite! We put up one easy up, and saved the other for the beach. We had a fire pit, bar-b-q grill and picnic table. Our tents fit right next to each other. We got camp set up and made dinner. Then we cleaned up dinner before sitting around the fire for a little while. The boys had gone to a nearby area to gather the fire wood and as far as we can tell, are lucky to have made it back. I believe there was talk of them getting stuck in the dirt and someone appearing to be calling them in to what could have been the authorities! After sitting around and relaxing, it was time for bed.


We turned in for our first night in our tent. We were fairly comfy on our air mattress and sleeping bags. It was slightly chilly but not too bad.


Halo had a little bit harder of a time settling down for the night. He is our little guard dog and every noise he heard made him want to investigate. Dwayne and I were awakened a couple of times throughout the night by some little creature outside our tent but other than that, we couldn't think of a reason not to relax.


We were up nice and early the next day. Halo couldn't stay in the tent any longer and had to be let loose. So we got up. It was kind of chilly that morning so Dwayne made us a fire to sit around while we drank coffee, ate breakfast and made our plans for the day.



The boys went down to the beach to play around with a jet ski we had borrowed for the weekend. Erin and I stayed back at the site to relax a little bit more and enjoy the beautiful area.

After a while the boys were hungry and came back to the site for lunch. Dwayne threw the Frisbee for Halo, one of his favorite games while I got lunch ready.


After lunch, the boys talked us into coming down to the beach with them while they played. Erin and I took this picture while we were waiting for the boys to finish putting the jet ski in the water at the dock. When they were finished, we followed them down to the beach.



This is our beach! Okay, not ours exclusively, but ours for the afternoon!



I put Halo's life vest on him and we took him out for a swim in the water. He paddled along in the water when he couldn't reach anymore.


But, he didn't really like not being able to touch and as soon as he could he headed back toward the shore. He was so cute though in his little life vest!


As the day wore on the boys kept going out on the jet ski.


Dwayne really wanted me to come out with him on it at least once that weekend. I was hesitant to go, I have this fear of falling off or being dumped in the deep, unknown water. You know what I mean? Life jacket or not, its a little scary to me. Anyhow, Dwayne knows my fears and kept reassuring me that wouldn't happen and I wouldn't even get wet.


But what do you think happened? Yep you got it. I got on the jet ski and as Dwayne was getting on behind me, he dumped me. I was less than thrilled as you could imagine.


I got back on, we went a little ways out but I was NOT having fun and Dwayne thought it would be better if we just turned around and went back to shore. That was a smart move!


When we got back to camp we discovered we had a little friend move in with us. Yes, this is the chipmunk that decided it was a good idea to hang out in our tent and eat our dog's food.



Apparently, in this new tent of ours, there is this little section that you can zip that will allow a power cord to be pulled into the tent. Well, we didn't know about this little whole that was open and that is how our friend got into our tent. We spent a good amount of time trying to get this little furry thing out. It kept trying to go inside of Halo's kennel. Eventually, we got it out though and made sure there were no other entrances into our tent!


We spent the rest of the day taking naps, hanging out around the fire, having a great dinner and watching an awesome summer thunderstorm. Had Erin or I been brave enough to hold our cameras during the lightening, I'm sure we would have had some really great pictures from that night. The lightening was so close the thunder would boom right away and we could feel the vibrations as we sat there. The doggies weren't too thrilled about the storm though so we took them into the tents. Good thing we did too, right after we got into the tents, there was a huge downpour of rain. The storming lulled us all to sleep and kept on until about 12:30 A.M.



We took the above two group pictures with the timer on our cameras after we had packed up camp the last day and were getting ready to head back home. In it are from left to right: Erin-holding Josie, Dan-holding Lily, Dwayne- holding Halo and me! The Macies and Baerwaldts. It was such a good trip we have decided we need to make it an annual camping trip every summer. According to Dwayne, we need to make it a quad-annual event...guess that shows you how great of a time we had!

1 comment:

Anjanette Young said...

That looks like so much fun Tiffy!

A real life chipmunk, I have never seen one. How cute!

PS. Halo will have a litte four legged cousin soon :o)