Camping Part 1

So Thursday we went Camping up on Mt. Grahmn near Safford, AZ. The drive up was interesting: Dozens of hairpin turns along cliffsides, with no guardrail, at a 30 degree (or more) grade. Then 7-10 miles of dirt roads, in our loaded-down little car with plastic undersides.

Fun.

There was one further little mix-up: we thought that the other family we were camping with was going to beat us there by a good three to four hours, but as it turns out, they left a half-hour later than us, which made for a stressful half-hour. (Not that we would mind camping by ourselves, but Carrie forgot our lighter and we were depending on them for fire).

Other than that, the trip was great. The Wassons are good friends and very good camping buddies, as their family of five brought enough snacks and water for 15, and a bigger tent for us, not to mention the fire, and we provided some training on the finer points of campfire and cook-fire maintenance and some particularly good camping recipes Carrie had created over the last few trips.
 We were camped among some huge boulders that made  for endless distractions for the children (and some worry for us, as Cairn wanted to climb everywhere the big kids, three boys ages 3-8, climbed). There was a small stream near the campground, and a nice hiking trail that was easy for the mile or two that the kids could handle. We even found a cave along the trail that looked like it went into the mountain some distance, but alas, we didn't have our flashlights with us.

Temperatures were great in the daytime-- mid 60's -- but challenging at night, as we learned that the Wasson's tents are beach tents and not made to retain heat. We ended up shoving blankets in the air holes and snuggling tight. Carrie says she felt like nights the family declared "dogpile on Mommy!". I think the pictures and Cairn's interview about cover the rest.

Interview with Cairn:

Mommy: What was your favorite part of camping?
Cairn: Camping. ... um. Flowers

M: Where did we go?
C: Top the mountains with Michael and Joseph.

M: Who else went?
C: Joseph too.  Going to friend house when Jesus get baptized Cairn get baptized again.

M: What did you do while we were camping?
C: Played with Joseph. Michael.

M: Where did we sleep?
C: In deep dark woods.  Mister Vince come.

M: Did you have lots of fun?
C: Yeah, playing in tent.

Cerise is nice and warm in our tent!

Bed head and no gel!
(Actually, this is pretty mild bed head for me)

Next poll-- If the log were turned sideways, would it be a zombie elephant, or a human zombie sticking it's tongue out?

Aspens are my favorite trees

Cairn and her walking stick.

Is it just me, or is that a "you really don't want to come in here right now" face?

Can't see them, but there's three more on the other side!

"Oh! Pretty flowers!" -- Cairn

"The top mountains!" -- Cairn

And this observatory is why the dirt road was in such BAD shape... Darn astronomers!

This little guy was posing for us!

Little legs elevated for the return hike.

"No biting, Daddy!"

Look who's not packing up...