Bonding With Nature

Camping July 2010

Just outside of Flagstaff, where the air is clean and the temperatures are cool. And downright cold at night. Even in July. Talk about brrrr.

But first we had to get there. So pack up the husband and wife and kiddos. Oh and the camping gear. Hopefully we don't forget anything. Anyone want to guess what we forgot?

And we're off...

All Aboard!!!

And 3 hours later, we're here! It had actually been raining a lot in the week before, and since the Matrix doesn't have 4 wheel drive (I know, right), we had to be cautious about where we stayed lest we get stuck in the mud. So now that we found the spot, time to set up camp.

I'm not doing anything

And Nathan helped a lot. He actually built the campfire ring. Okay, no he didn't, but he did enjoy playing with our mini pick-axe.

Hi Dad

Poor Sonoma, we finally get back out into nature and she's too tired to explore. So the next best thing, sleep!

A perfect spot for napping

Right by the fire to stay warm in the 80 degree temp. Since everything around was pretty moist it took a while for my Survivorman skills to kick in, but eventually we got the fire going. However, it did take constant managing to keep it going. Especially when it started raining. But luckily it was only a brief rain, but with more clouds moving in, we figured we should get dinner cooked while we could.

Dinner!

And dinner was EXCELLENT! A little lemon pepper chicken and a veggie dish - green beans, peppers, potatoes. Cooking over the campfire, caveman style. Cavemen used pots and pans right?

Real men cook with fire

It also was a great time for a little father/son bonding. Teach him how to make a fire. Teach him how to grill. You know the basics so he's prepared when he heads out into the real world.

Chillaxin' after dinner

Time for S'mores

You can't have a camping trip without S'mores. And apparently, Laura picked up a new "recipe" for making S'mores. A new "method" from someone from New Jersey of all places. I mean what do Jersey people know about camping? I've seen Jersey Shore. No, no, I haven't. I don't watch that show.

So after dinner and ghost stories, we did our traditional bedtime routine with Nathan, without all the normal routine parts.

Camping buddies

Let's see what we can find in the woods

Go take a hike! What could be better than waking up in the morning and heading out for a morning hike? Be at one with nature. Smell the fresh air. Enjoy all the greenness. Maybe see some wildlife or...

Bones!!!

Seriously, we were almost EATEN last night. OMG. We could have been someone's dinner. A big someone based on the size of the bone pile. OR A PACK OF SOMEBODIES!! OMG I hadn't thought about that. We were surrounded!!! No Escape!

Good thing this is just a one night trip.

The Fam

Enjoying the car ride home

Until next time...