Boys Camping Trip

Took the boys for an overnight camping trip north of Strawberry, off  Hwy 260. It was a glorious day up there and got down to a chilly 60 at night. We drove down a forest road till we found a spot and just pitched a tent. Went for a couple walks and whittled a lot of sticks. Poppy joined us. No campfire because of restrictions.

We broke camp pretty early since we awoke at sunrise. We made it to the 8am Mass at St. Frances Cabrini Church in Camp Verde with perfect timing.

Camping near Williams with AHG

Plopped down at an old Boy Scout campground and had a fun time with the Schaefers and the rest of the AHG troop.

Future Cook(s)

Camping 2016

We hooked up with the Schaefers as usual and Jacopone once again for our annual overnight camping trip east of Payson. There was no road construction, so we found a good spot on the south side of 260. It was Karin's first time camping. I kept telling her it'll be cold, cramped, and loud (with kids) at night, so I think she was as prepared as she could've been. I planned to sleep outside the tent but ended up hauling my bag in there. All seven of us plus The Dog squeezed in; it actually wasn't too bad. Booch managed to squirm way outside his blanket but didn't get too cold. Kevin, Jacopone, and I made a little lean-to. We did a little shooting. We had a nice hike and a good religious conversation (with some drinks) over the fire at night. Poor Booch had to borrow his sisters' old winter PJs.

 

 

 

2014 Camping

We headed east of Payson again this year, joined by Jacopone and his girlfriend Michelle as well as Kevin's sister.  Kevin and Jess and kids were with us as usual.  It was quite a crew.  We couldn't reach the spot we had last year because of construction on Hwy 260, so we found something suitable and pitched our tents.  We shot some guns, ate good food, drank a bit, and chatted by the fire (in between corraling the kids all the time).  Owen had a real rough night, which was hard on Bobbins and I, but the three of us made it.  Good thing we decided on one night instead of two.

These first couple shots are in the Fry's parking lot on Shea in Scottsdale before we left.

 

 

 

Camping 2013 - 2nd Day

Needless to say, it was freakin' cold that night.  We all huddled in our tent, Bobbins, the girls, and I on the air mattress, Julia in a sleeping bag, and The Dog in his ratty old travel bed at our feet.  I think everyone but the girls got about 2hrs sleep.  The girls, of course, slept like babies, MM sucking her thumb and JoJo thrashing about.  As soon as the sun was up, Kevin and I built a huge, lovingly hot fire and we all thawed out to have hard-boiled eggs, home-made muffins, and OJ for breakfast.  We decamped and were home by 1pm.  A great time was had by all.

Camping 2013 - 1st Day

For our annual camping trip, we set out east of Star Valley near Christopher Creek, which was closed due to the shutdown.  We pulled onto a dirt road, drove down a bit, and selected our site.  Kevin and I got to work building the fire and pitching tents.  Bobbins, ever hungry, got to work making homemade popcorn once the fire got going.

 

To give the kids something to do, Kevin and I built a teepee.  We cut in half an angled tree to make the initial A, then chopped a bunch of fallen logs to stack against it, covering it with leaves.  It took us a couple hours and it was a blast.

Later, he and I took all the kids minus Sam down toward the creekbed, which had a number of pools with crawdads for the kids to play/splash in and for The Dog to drink from.  It was another fun hour of walking around.

We had fired hot dogs for dinner, to Bobbins' consternation, but which tasted great to Julia, the girls, and I.  It wouldn't be a true American camping experience without smores.  Julia made her own and seemed to enjoy it.  For school that week she wrote an essay about how much fun she had.