The Camping Trip That Never Was

Still in the truck

See?  They're smiling.

Sage chillin' at the campfire

Our pretend camping trip

We decided to go camping Wednesday night because I had to work Friday.  We were hoping to leave at 1:30, instead left at 5:30.  Oh well.  That's how we roll.  We were determined to get out of here.  We got to the campground that was supposedly in the trees by Strawberry Reservoir.  Not so.  No trees in sight.  And the campground was basically concrete and cement.  Not fun.  So we decided to venture up a dirt road and see what we could find.  We found a few places we could camp.  Looking back I'm not sure why we didn't stop there.  Mostly I think because fires are restricted to fire rings and our kids love a good campfire.  So we continued on towards Hobblecreek, which we didn't think was too far away.  Finally rolled in to  a campground at around 8:00pm.  This campground had trees and was by a river.  Yes!  Or not.  I forgot my purse.  No big deal, who needs a purse camping, right?  Except my purse has the checkbook and Jake only had $4 in cash.  Well, camping costs more than $4 a night.  I went to talk to the little old camp host and plead our case.  Nice guy, not really I guess.  He insisted there was nothing he could do to help us.  If we couldn't pay we couldn't stay.  Are you kidding me??!!  So we got back in the truck, continued down through the lovely town of Springville, stopped at a Wendy's for dinner, and got home at 10:00pm.  Best camping trip ever.

This would not have been quite as bad had it not been for a similar incident that occurred a couple of weeks ago.  This time it was a Friday night, we left way too late, and every camp site in the world was taken.  Again, we got home at 10:00pm, no camping accomplished.  Is this becoming a new family tradition?  Let's hope not.  I think I might throw myself off one of the cliffs we drive past if it happens again.  Miraculously, the kids seem to handle these mishaps better than Jake and I.  They just enjoy the ride and don't seem to think it odd that they end up sleeping at home and not in a tent.  Perhaps Jake and I should learn from them...

Moral of this story:  Don't go camping.  Just kidding.  Go camping, but leave before 5:00pm and have a destination in mind.  Reservations if possible.  Exploring is only allowed if you leave before 2:00pm.  And if at all possible try to go for two nights instead of one.  One night camping trips are sure a lot of work, especially if you don't do any camping:)

Oh yes, in case you're feeling extra bad for our kids (I don't blame you for this) we did take them up for a picnic and campfire/s'more making party last night.  This means we are once again good parents, or something like that.