We had a great time on my annual birthday camping trip. I was able to get a couple extra days off work so we had a full four days in the Wasatch Mountains. I treated myself to a cargo carrier for the top of my car. It was great since we needed to pack for a few days and also take up firewood.
Unfortunately, I was feeling under the weather that week. When I woke up, Thursday, the morning we were going to leave, I felt horrible. It took quite a few hours to even get up and going. Rusty and the kids were helpful to help get everything packed. I was determined to enjoy the trip! By the time we got up the mountain, our favorite campground, Spruces, was full. Luckily, the campground manager told us about another campground right up the canyon, that just opened up for the season. We ended up really enjoying Redman campground. It has more of a 'roughing it' feel with the campsites much further apart and dirt roads rather than paved. We couldn't see any other campers from our site.
It was raining off and on, and the water was already in full force from the melting snow so many of the campsites were flooded. Jackson, Ashleigh, Rusty and I drove around the campground to pick out a good site. We found a site that was perfect! It was huge; plenty of room for all three tents (four us in one tent, mom in another, then Jerrick & Sierra in the third), there was a small trickle of a stream for the kids to play in with downed tree trunks as a bridges, and tons of trees and rocks and space for exploring.
The next day, before Jerrick, Sierra and my Mom joined us, we spent the afternoon making an awesome fort out of logs and branches we found around the campground. The kids spend hours playing in the fort over the weekend, especially Jackson.
"Zombies" were going to attack Jackson in the fort.. Which turned into an all out pine cone battle with all the soft pine cones scattered throughout our camp.
Thanks to the slew of cough & cold medicine I brought, I was able to fully enjoy my birthday and the camping trip. I was evermore thankful to have other people to help get up and start the fire in the mornings and help throughout the day so I could lay low and relax. I even started a book my Aunt had given me for my birthday last year,
Firefly Lane.
We played a watered down version of volleyball (without a net) and played 'Monkey in the Middle'
Ashleigh wanted to learn how to spin Rusty's riffle
We played card games, Scattergories, charades, had scavenger hunts and went on hikes. We had some delicious meals, from dutch oven breakfast casserole to foil pouch dinners. And as always, it was great to just sit around the campfire and talk. I brought a bunch of glow sticks, which we used the night of my birthday. Jackson wanted some armor and Ashleigh wanted to make herself look like a stick figure. As it got darker, Ashleigh became quite the entertainer!
Jackson 'fishing' for food
Playing in the stream.
Getting in the hammock to relax.
There was a young moose we saw right across the water from our site. We had a couple deer walk though our camp site also.
We had an afternoon rain shower one day and this beautiful rainbow showed as the rain stopped.
I'm looking forward to our next adventure up in the mountains. Hopefully we can fit in one more trip this summer!
