One Last Trip

We made one last trip away this past weekend. I wish I could report that I stayed at a Five Star Hotel with a warm bed, clean sheets, room service and a spa treatment. Instead we headed for the hills and camped in a tent. I must admit we did have fun.

We camp with a great group of friends at a nice site. So I knew I could make it two nights in a tent. What I did not know was that they started to close the shower houses at 10:00pm til 6:00am each night due to something gross that some campers were doing. So when I found out that after 10:00pm I had to either go to the woods or use a port a jon - I was not a "happy camper"!

After we all set up our tents - we started a fire and Chef Tom started dinner - After dinner we decided to head over to the camp dance and enjoyed watching the kids dance. Marah entertained us all with a frog she found and caused one member of our group to pee their pants from laughing so hard. After that we decided to head back and get the kids settled in for a movie in their tent. Around 11:00pm all the kids were asleep and I realized I had to use the restroom - some decided to head for the woods but I decided to try out the port a jon. So Michael and I headed up the road with a flashlight and found a smelly - but clean one to use.

Around midnight we decided we all better get to bed. That is when I remember why I don't camp much - Marah woke up and wanted back in our tent. Then Grant woke up and moved back in with us as well. So we had two kids and a large air mattress in a small tent. I eventually moved Grant in bed with us and covered Marah over with all the other blankets. I ended up in between Grant and Michael - which kept me warm - but I think I got maybe two hours of sleep. I lost feeling in my right leg, Marah kept waking up talking and confused, Grant kept hitting me in the face and Michael just snored away.

Finally 6 am came and I got to use the shower house. I started some coffee and eventually by 7:30 am the rest of the group was up and Chef Tom was making us breakfast. Michael held a small church service for us and the kids said Bible verses for chocolate bars.

We spent the day around the fire, pool, playing corn hole and many trips down the hill to the restroom. We had a total of seven kids - ages 2-8. They played great together and we only had a few injuries along the way - that our "safety engineer Jason" took care of.

Part way through the day I got sick - so Michael decided we should pack up our gear and plan on leaving around 9 pm. The kids were disappointed but we told them that they were only missing sleeping in a cold tent.

We had one last meal prepared by our Chef Tom and decided to call the weekend "Meat Fest 2008".

It was an enjoyable weekend and I must admit I did have fun and will be back next year.