I love camping.
But usually it takes so much work to put together the gear, plan the meals, pack everyone's clothes, and drive that it seems over half of the time is spent setting up or taking down. However, this past Labor Day weekend camp trip was EXCELLENT. Let me tell you all about it.
We drove to Wyoming Friday night after Eric got off work and camped with some good friends of Eric's (the Hall family, and they're now my friends officially too =). We got in late and so pitched our tent in the dark, but no worries. Our campground was right by the river so we could fall asleep to the soothing sound of the water, and that's just what we did after we enjoyed foil dinners, hot chocolate, and some catching up.
The next day we spent a large part of the day fishing with Brian Hall. He took Eric and I to one of his favorite fishing spots: about a mile hike in to a beautiful little section of the Salt River. We used grasshoppers as bait, and within about five minutes I had caught three fish. That is an incredible feat considering I have NEVER caught a fish before (silly). Really, I've tried. But this time I actually succeeded. And I might add, I am grateful for the men being able to handle all of the gross parts of fishing so I could just enjoy casting in my line and pulling up the fish. Thanks, guys!
The scenery was beautiful, I might add. I'm pretty sure I'm going to have to put it in a painting sometime. Eric caught fish too, but he was most proud of his first fish caught with a fly. Brian showed us how to fly fish (and seriously, for a river, it was nice how often it did NOT get snagged on the rocks) and it is trickier than it looks. However, Eric loved it and I think is converted. I may be too...
Here are Brian and Kaloni, the hosts of our wonderful camping trip. Kaloni is a great cook and spoiled us all with the most wonderful camping food you could want. They lived pretty close to the campgrounds we were at, so on Sunday we were able to stop at their house for warm showers (sigh) and attend church. It made for a wonderful Sunday, being able to enjoy a spiritual sabbath and return to the mountains to enjoy Heavenly Father's creations.
This is Amber (Brian and Kaloni's daughter), her husband Jared, and their beautiful daughter Lilly. They were so much fun. I am still laughing about some of the stories shared at the campfire Sunday night. It was a roaring good time!
Here is our quaint little campsite. It got pretty chilly out (frost Sunday morning) but we slept very cozy and comfy inside our little tent. The view was great. We spotted deer on the hillside next to us, and Ellie loved to straddle the logs horse-ridin' style.
Here is our own groovy little camper. She loved playing in the dirt (and probably loved that I couldn't stop her) as well as collecting/eating rocks. She got to take a bath in a bucket Saturday while we were fishing, went on her first four-wheeler ride, and became acquainted with several new bugs.
We took a four-wheeling ride about ten miles up through the hills to a beautiful little lake. There was so much beautiful scenery there! We took a little break and Eric enjoyed skipping stones.
This picture sums up the whole experience: FUN! So many good memories created...great company, delicious food (my mouth still waters thinking of the cobbler), beautiful scenery, lots of laughs. And it was wonderful to have a few days of camping instead of one. I am DEFINITELY looking forward to when we do it again.
