#1 Not far from our house
#2 completely secluded
#3 right by a fly fishing river
#4 no reservations, no fees
#5 great firepit
#6 huge soft mossy area for our tent
#7 trails all around
#8 Gorgeous!
Just to let you know, if you ask where it is, we probably won't tell. It's that good. (sorry) The people who made it probably aren't happy that we found it and that now we call it the Hideaway and plan to go every summer. To get to the site you have to drive way back in, then hike for 1/2 mile (the only downside, especially when you have to carry a baby, a play yard, a camp stove, all the bedding, fishing gear etc...) It's downhill on the way in, and UPHILL on the way out. We learned that it is a workout carrying all that gear up a steep mountainside. I figured I owed it to my boys to take them camping before summer is over and to be honest, I have been dreading it. Camping with a baby is not what I imagine to be a good time, but Juni was surprisingly delightful. She stayed far away from the fire, she didn't try once to drown in the river and she went right to sleep in her play yard when we all got in our sleeping bags. I had very very low expectations for the whole ordeal. In fact, I expected it all to be painful, so when it turned out to be fun, I was delighted. We got there about an hour before dark and sort of raced to get camp set up and the fire going and hotdogs cooked. We made s'mores as the light faded and Juni walked around with a bag full of marshmallows and sticky pine needle and dirt covered hands and face. That girl will, and does eat anything! We all climbed in bed and told a story in the round about a royal family that lived in a castle and a giant Saber Tooth cat attached. The four children all used their special powers, Eirik and his flaming arrows and fighting skills, Joren, the magician, with a whip and poison darts, Teig with his agility, speed strength and sword, and Juni with her spells and ability to fly and turn into fire, all fought the beast. In the end the Saber tooth turned into ramen noodles and they all had a feast and got fat. The kids all loved the story and everyone fell right to sleep except me. I laid there for hours and hours and hours thinking that the night would never end. Our awesome new tent is basically just a huge mosquito net. It is wide open and you can see all around. I could not stop imagining a bear sniffing around the tent and rearing up and crashing down on us. I also had no air mattress and the worst sleeping bag. I was freezing. I was up until 2:30 just miserable until I shoved my feet into Paul's sleeping bag and the he gave me his new air mattress and I finally slept while he was miserable until 6:15 when I finally got up and started the fire. My whole family slept until 8:45! They never sleep that long at home. It was the LONGEST night of my life. It's been 95 degrees everyday and I didn't even bring a jacket. Once it was finally over, we got back to having fun. I made bacon and eggs and cereal bars. The guys all went fishing. Paul carried all the boys across the river on his back. Juni and I hiked and played in the tent. Then the boys came back and shot the BB guns. We played Uno and took funny photos and messed around. When it was time to pack up and hike out, there was a lot of whining and fighting and not helping and people saying they were too tired to walk and someone needed to carry them. That is par for the course though with this troop so it did not phase me. The setting was so sublime, it was all worth it. We listened to music letting each kid pick a song at a time all the way up and back. They all love Titanium and Radioactive. We also liked Phineus and Ferb songs. We look forward to our next camping trip where I will have my own pack, pad and sleeping bag. Someday all the kids will have their own packs too. That's when it will get really fun.
When I asked everyone their favorite part of camping this is what they all said:
Paul: that we were all together.
Eirik: starting the fire
Joren: peeing on the fire
Teig: shooting Bb Guns
Juni: eating marshmallows and Cheetos and dirt
Mom: when Paul gave me his air mattress and when a bear did not eat us.
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