Camping - One Night of Adventure!

Camping is one of my favorite things to do. We rarely get to go, but when we do, we tend to go all out! (Hey, if you're going to do it, do it right )! So on Oct. 10th we packed up all our stuff and headed out. The first adventure was finding a place. All the places north of Phoenix were full. Suzie thankfully discovered a place to the east, near Globe. So we headed to Pioneer Pass. It wasn't too bad of a drive. Even the dirt road didn't seem to horrible (though a little steep at times).

We arrived in shifts. First Suzie and I and 6 little boys (can you hear the fun already)!? We were able to set up 3 tents before the Eyre's arrived. After they arrived we attempted to get dinner started. I got a little ambitious in the meal planning (too ambitious) – we had problems getting the charcoal to light. Lighter Fluid is a REALLY good thing (if you have some…which we didn’t)! Thank heavens for greasy McDonald's sacks - they burn really well!

So I think we ate dinner after Bob and Anthony arrived - it was after 8pm. Big Oops! Thanks for humoring me guys! Next time we'll try something easier than steak and dutch oven cooking! PB&J will be easy! Hahaha!

The kids had a wonderful time lighting....I mean "roasting" marshmallows over the fire. We had some gigantic ones from Ranch Market which was very fun! We also had fun watching the kids play with glow swords and wands (anything for entertainment).

After the kids went to bed, the adults had fun hanging out around the campfire, talking and watching Anthony blowup water bottles in the fire and launching glowsticks. Man those things can fly if you have a wrist rocket!

So, if all that wasn't enough adventure for a 1 night stay, there's more! It was a beautiful starry night when we went to bed. A little breezy, but not bad. Not even very cold. At about 3 or 4 am I awoke to what I thought was freeway traffic passing my tent (not anywhere near a freeway mind you). A few seconds later the wind just slammed our tent. It's amazing to see how far a tent can bend! Then the rain started!!! Uh oh! It really poured for a while, then let up and then started again. On and off the rest of the morning.

The morning breakfast was crazy as we tried to cook sausage, pancakes and eggs. As we got to the eggs, it started to pour again and it rained in the eggs! The kids had pretty much eaten by then, so we bagged breakfast until another break in the weather (about 45 min. later). We did finally get to eat, but we decided to pack it up and get out of there. The kids were wet and muddy. Actually, everything was wet! So we bailed and had a late lunch at our house.

After all that craziness, we had a BLAST and we'd do it again in a heartbeat......as long as we can stay for more than 1 night and we prepare for RAIN!

One other adventure...dead battery...saved by the cables!