Labor Day Camping

We went camping Labor Day weekend when Mavry was still just 6 months old.  It wasn't that long ago, but she changes so fast!  Since I got a few other things crossed off my to do list (like making Mavry's Halloween costume), I finally got around to getting the video of our camping trip put together. 

Colin gets excited about camping (which is why in the video, I ask him if he's excited at least twice).  He was even more excited to take Mavry on her first camping trip.  She did really well.  With the exception of getting used to the cold water, she enjoyed every minute. 

More Joshua Tree Camping

We took what's likely our last camping trip for a while about a month ago to Joshua Tree. We camped there earlier this year as well. This time, we forgot the zumi and forgot my new (refurbished) big camera, so we took cell phone pics. We stayed two nights and didn't have to sleep in the car this time because the weather was wonderful (if a little on the warm side).

We had a great campsite!

Can you see the people just to the left of center on top of the rocks? That's Colin and his buddies.

It was a nice trip - we camped with some of Colin's friends and enjoyed a Mexican potluck on Saturday night along with a fun game of "Would You Rather..." made up on the spot around the campfire, mostly fueled by the teenage boy who joined us.

It was probably our last camping excursion for a while mostly because I don't like having to go to the bathroom in the middle of the night while camping and the tossing and turning during the night that pregnancy brings is best experienced on a real mattress.



Colin took most of these pics. On our drive out to Joshua Tree, he read from this site on how to take better pictures, and then put his new knowledge to work, but only had the iPhone to work with.

Award: Most Ghetto Campsite Ever.

Last weekend, we went to the Paso Robles area for an inner healing intensive two days. The "retreat" was Sunday night through Tuesday, so we decided to camp out Saturday night at a nearby hot springs. The website did not show how ghetto the place really was and we almost left once we got there. But, it was cheap and we are cheapos, so we stayed.

We cooked our dinner Friday night over the fire: sausages, corn on the cob and sweet potatoes. The next morning,we used our new-t0-us Korean style stove and made oatmeal with blueberries. Yummy camp food.


In between, we had some relaxing time at the hot springs, which weren't all that hot, but still felt really great. We had the place mostly to ourselves most of the time, except for a group of three Russians that were there both days and a large crowd of locals that came to enjoy the hot springs at night.



Before we headed to our destination, we stopped off at Farmstand 46, in the middle of a bunch of wineries, and had a delicious lunch. If you're in the Paso Robles area, check this place out! They have a garden out back where they grow some of their own veggies.

Memorial Day Camping

While I'm on the video editing kick, here's how we spent our Memorial Day weekend: at La Jolla Indian Campground. We got there just before dark on Friday night and all the good spots were taken, but Colin had been there before and knew of a secret spot across the river. We had to actually cross the river to get to our campground (with all of our stuff), but once we did, we had a nice quiet spot right on the river!

Colin spent most of Saturday clearing out our campsite and building drains for the stagnant water. He had fun doing it, but unfortunately got a pretty severe case of poison oak in the process (which we didn't realize until after we got back). He couldn't wear closed shoes for a few weeks.

It rained Saturday night, which was okay for us because our across the river neighbors left early, leaving us a prime spot on the right side of the river.

We were joined Sunday evening by our friends Andrew and Rebecca, who brought a lovely dinner packed by David and Bin, who couldn't make it. The next day we went for a tubing adventure with them before we headed back home.

Yosemite

I remember hearing about Yosemite from my sophomore year roommate Jenn Gray. She had a poster hanging above her part of the bunk bed, as I recall. Well, many years later, I finally made it, thanks to a friend who got us a coveted spot at the Upper Pines campground for 6 nights.


We took our bikes and rode them around the valley. Colin packed up our chairs and books so that we could get set up with our feet in the river to read all afternoon.




We went with our friends Raymond and Cathy, split up the meal planning, and ate all but one of our meals either on the trail or at our campground. I borrowed a dutch oven and we made veggie lasagna over the fire. Yum!

The one non-camping experience - yummy Sunday brunch at the Ahwahnee.


Huge Sequoias at Wawona.

Cooking dinner on Glacier Point with Half Dome behind us!

Our last day at Yosemite, Colin and I hiked Half Dome. After an early morning trip to the Clinic in the valley and getting lost trying to find the trail up, we were on our way.

After stopping at the base of the rock for lunch, this is what we faced. I almost told Colin I'd wait for him here. That line of people on the left side of the picture are going up holding on to cables. Going up was pretty hard, but I was glad I didn't stay at the bottom once I got to the top.

At the top of the cables.

Colin at the top with the valley below!

Going back down the cables is a lot easier, so I was able to smile some while we waited for others to come up around us.So happy to be off those cables!

The mist trail going back down from Half Dome is really beautiful! We would have taken more pictures here, but we were pretty ready to get back to camp after a 19 mile roundtrip hike!

And really happy that Ray and Cathy had curry for us to eat. As soon as we started eating it, though, we found out that there was bear in Curry Village, so we took our curry with us to get a glimpse. Colin made me take a picture of him eating curry in Curry Village before I took a picture of the bear. I think he was pretty delirious at this point.

So, we did see the bear - eating apples out of a tree. You can't really see him in the pics, but this completed our Yosemite trip!

Oh, and a last use of the dutch oven for campfire peach cobbler! Yeah!
A great trip!