Carter's First Camping Trip

This weekend, we decided that it was time to take the child camping. He hadn't been yet, and we wanted to give him the chance to explore the wilderness as we had as children.

So we headed out of town Friday afternoon and hit the dirt road. For those who live in Idaho, we love going past Idaho City to Rabbit Creek. We follow that dirt road for about an hour for some of the best camping spots.....right on the river, away from all the other "city-campers".

We let him hang out while we got most of the camp set up.

And then the relaxation began. He was completely fascinated with the fire. He wanted to throw pine cones in, and when he saw Eric stirring the fire, he really wanted to help. I tried explaining to him that fire is H*O*T, but then he just wanted to stand there and blow on the fire. Too curious for his own good, I guess!

So we went with a safer option - a shovel and a bucket. And boy did he get dirty! If he wasn't dumping the sand/dirt/ash all over himself, he was plopping down and dragging his butt all over the place. It was pretty entertaining to watch him!

Then we played some games to pass the time until dinner.

Then it was time to cook some hot dogs over an open flame. All the good things about camping!

Then a beautiful sunset rolled in. (Let me tell ya something I finally learned about my camera - taking this picture in auto mode came out horribly. So I made some adjustments so that my shutter was open longer (letting more light in), and suddenly, the pink in the clouds was showing up. I was so damn excited!)

Finally, darkness settled in and we put the child to bed. It was nice to sit around the campfire and stare up at the massive, open sky......no buildings blocking our view. Just unobstructed wonder.

Man and his dog.

And maybe a little goofiness.

That first night was not fun. We took up the playpen, not knowing what we were going to do with Carter when it came time for bed. I didn't know how well he would sleep with us on the floor of the tent, but that's what we tried the first night. Big mistake. He cried. From 10:30 Friday night until 1:00 Saturday morning. He finally fell asleep, but then woke back up at 6:30. So this following picture, my friends, is what the crack of dawn in the mountains really looks like.

So we drug ourselves out of bed, one eye still shut, and made breakfast. And it was quite chilly! Still cold enough to see our breath!


And the hubby started in with what he does best.......fishing. Trust me, he caught much bigger fish than this little baby.

If he could find someone to pay him, this is exactly what he would do for the rest of his life:

So while Eric was fishing, I took Carter to a swimming hole and we played in the river all afternoon. He had such a good time! The water was quite cold, but that definitely didn't stop him. He would squat down and squeal as the cold water reached his belly. And then he got really brave and totally dunked his head under water. I wish I could have gotten pictures of that!

Once we were done playing in the water, we got all dried off and set off on a drive. We were mainly hunting for firewood, but also, there is nothing better than driving the dirt roads in the mountains, windows down, nice music playing.......PEACE. That's exactly what it is.

And since I got a picture of the sunrise, I figured a picture of the sunset was also called for.


On our way back down the mountain, we ran into my brother and his girlfriend. So we convinced them to pack up their camp and move down to our spot for the rest of the night. We had a great time getting back into the river, which was now fairly warm, after baking in the sun all day. Unfortunately, my brother had also been baking in the sun all day, with no sunscreen, and developed a nasty sunburn. He was completely wiped out and in bed by 9:00. What a party pooper! My child stayed up later than that!

And speaking of, we set up the playpen the second night and Carter slept like a baby. Didn't wake once. So next time we do this, the playpen is STILL coming with us and it fits just fine in the tent.

Sunday morning, we were all up bright and early to pack up and head back to the city for a family reunion. Carter, being the helper he is, was Johnny on the Spot to help Uncle Dana tear down the tent.

On the drive back down, we saw this rock back off the road....perfectly balanced. Quite the sight, but I sure wouldn't want to be around when the time came for it to LOSE its balance!

There is nothing like being on top of the world!!