When we finally arrived, we set up camp. No problem! Except that the poles holding the tent up are suddenly breaking. But they'll last three days, right? Yeah. We didn't have to cover the jutting edges with shoes so that holes weren't poked into the tent. Really! (Too bad there is no photographic proof.)
My parents and sister came along but opted to stay in a hotel. This worked out great because there was no pool for the campers but there was a pool in the hotel and every day was about 90. They did come and visit for dinner each night and I'm sure that had nothing at all to do with the s'mores.
The first night was a little rough. Josie had trouble falling asleep (sorry to the teenage campers next to us), I was a little ill due to lack of sleep and stress, and the raccoons were crazy and maybe a little rabid.
We pushed our cooler and bins of food under the bench of the picnic table so animals couldn't get into them. This is what we have done on other trips and occasionally there are little, muddy paw prints on the lid of the cooler. I guess this bench was a little higher because the raccoons were making a lot of noise. Chris pinned the cooler lid down with some candles, but that didn't stop the raccoons from trying to dig through the bench to get to the cooler.
I also found part of the tortilla chip bag on the ground. And a little later the lid to the baby formula. There was formula everywhere in the one bin and I had just opened it, so I was ticked! At around one am, I put every bin that had food into the truck. The next day we discovered there were hot dog buns and marshmallows missing. No wonder there was so much hissing and growling in the woods. It was scary.The next morning we woke up bright and early (thanks to Josie) and were able to horse around for a while.
Then we went hiking. We went on an 'easy' hike, so Xander walked and Josie rode.
The first trail that we tried had so many bugs that Xander actually freaked out a little. Most of the bugs were right at the height to fly in his face. We tried a different trail and the view was spectacular.
That afternoon Chris took the napping kids back to the campsite while the rest of us checked out the chainsaw carvings near the lodge. While it's not the most moving or complex art, I'm always amazed how someone can make a sculpture, let alone one make with a whirling, hacking blade.
That night was more campfire food, but we added pies to our repertoire. I think they would have tasted better with white bread but Chris was in charge of groceries and bought wheat. He still enjoyed them.
On the second day we went on a more challenging hike, so both kids rode. This was especially good since we were mobbed by mosquitoes. Even with bug spray on I managed to collect six new bites when we stopped for a drink. On the way back through that area I was just "Move, move, keep going. He fell down, he's left behind, forget him now!"
We had lunch, the kids napped and then Chris and I left the kids at the hotel and went out together. I'd planned for us to see a movie, but that didn't work out. So we sat at Applebee's and watched some huge rain storm roll through and wondered about the tent. When we got camp there was mild damage and the tent was still standing despite some big trees that had come down at the campground.
However, Saturday morning was all a steady rain. Poor Chris had to pack up camp while I hung out in the tent with Xander and Josie. After everything was packed, we made the slow ride home. At one point we just pulled over at a park and let the kids burn off some energy.
The upside of this trip is that it finally has Josie into the routine of sleeping through the night again. I was worried that Xander would throw fits and want to sleep in the tent but he's ok with the excuse that the tent is still wet (we are still airing it out in the garage). Overall, it was a good trip. It really helped to have some family there to play with the kids, thanks Grandma, Grandpa and Aunt T!
