We arrived at camp around 6pm on Tuesday evening. The campground was relatively empty and it was so quiet and beautiful. We got our tents set up and had some quick sandwiches before it was time to hit the sleeping bags. Tye and I quickly realized that we had made a significant mistake. We're 40 now. Sleeping on the ground is not for us. We suffered through the week and are still paying for it, but next time we'll be more prepared!
We woke up the next morning to absolutely beautiful weather. Made some pancakes on our camp stove, and got ready for a little hike down to Lake Mary.
The kids had fun learning to skip rocks (or just throw them in the lake) with daddy. Sparky took a risk at swimming and seemed to enjoy it for a minute or two.
After a while, we headed back to camp and realized it was getting really hot and our campsite had absolutely no shade. We moved all our chairs and some blankets under a tree, but it really wasn't helping. Luckily for us, we had some really cool spray fans to help cool us off (thanks, gma and gpa Z!) and we made it through the afternoon somehow. We also found that there was a huge Osprey nest right in our camp, and enjoyed watching them fly.
When the sun finally started relaxing its assault on us, we were able to get our awesome propane fire pit fired up (no campfires right now due to fire restrictions statewide) and we roasted some hotdogs for dinner. The kids really enjoyed cooking over the fire.
We rearranged our sleeping situation in the hopes of avoiding more pain and agony by the parents (it didn't help). We tried layering sleeping bags, but it was no use. We were on a slope and no matter how we arranged it, we ended up on hard ground, or sliding down the hill. It was hilariously infuriating. (Camp cots are on our wishlist now lol)
Thursday morning, we realized we didn't want to be stuck in the heat again, so we made a plan. We decided to go to Sedona. We got up there and realized we really didn't want to be around as many people as were there, so we grabbed some pizza, and headed up to find a quiet picnic area. We drove through Oak Creek Canyon and found a nice area that wasn't overly crowded. We ate our food and went down to put our feet in the creek. We realized that we wished we had brought our swimsuits because this was really fun!
Sadly, at this point, Connor had to head back to Tucson so he could work the next day, so he headed home and we went back to camp. When we got back, it was nice and overcast, so we were able to relax and enjoy the afternoon.
We had burgers for dinner and some super yummy s'mores, and once again hit the hard ground for sleep.
Friday was our last full day of camping, so we wanted to make the very most of it. We hiked up to the top of the hill we camped next to so the kids could do a little rock climbing and we had quite the view.
We then packed up our swimsuits and set out in hopes of finding an open spot on the creek again. We were lucky and got a great spot and had a few hours of super fun playing in the water!
We went back to camp happy and exhausted. Had some burritos for dinner and daydreamed about showering the next day.
All in all it was a fantastic camping trip and a great introduction to camping for the little ones and Sparky. Here's what we learned:
1. 40 is too old to be sleeping on the hard ground. Never again, lol. Camp cots and mattresses forever.
2. We need a shade structure. We took tarps and shade sails, but there were no trees in the site we picked, so we couldn't hang them.
3. Pick better campsites with level ground and trees. (oops)
