Hannah and Sam around the Campfire

It’s hard to get away. This year was even harder. As a parent you sometimes lose it with your kids when there’s so much much to do and not enough hours in a day to do what needs to get done. You fall asleep reading Curious George to the little ones and wake up at midnight and go down stairs and find every single light on in the house, dirty dishes in the kitchen, the kitchen trash can overflowing, piles of laundry (clean and dirty) and your oldest child playing Pac Man on the computer. I’m not Sam bashing- he’s a great kid. Pulling strait A’s in 10th grade is something I’m real proud of. It was his 16th birthday on May 27th and Debbie and I barely had the time to make it a special day for him. There were even waves but I just couldn’t take the time to take him surfing.

The Birthday Boy

Next morning the Yakima pod is put on the mini van and the loading begins. 7 sleeping bags, 7 sleeping pads, 3 sleeping tents, 1 showering tent, 3″x 3″ redwood shower floor, propane showering system, camp chairs, mess set and clothing to accommodate temperatures ranging between the high 20′s to the mid 70′s . The road trip begins… We jockey out of Los Angeles and pull into Long Meadow 4 1/2 hours later. The temperature is 43 degrees and there’s some wind.  We’ve been coming to the same campsite for 10 years straight with some of our dearest friends. Some of our friends we see every day some just once a year on this camping trip. We say our, ” howdy, how are yas,” as we are set up our camp before the sun goes down.  Enough words here’s our campfire story in pictures…

Sevan Splitting Wood

Pork Dip Sandwiches 1st Nights Dinner

Sookie Visiting

Peter, Ollie and Sookie getting wood for the campfire

Our group trickles in. Some new faces this year, Sevan and Zoe armed with telescopes, rock climbing gear, a zip line, a slack line and the attraction of being a real live fireman/ paramedic.

Sevan and some of his fans

Sevan giving rides

The Lichtwartdts arrive the next day after picking up Emma at her school, Midlands. She brings a new camper, Dave the goldfish who is also on summer vacation. They remembered Dave, but seem to have forgotten their sleeping bags. Emma has been away at boarding  school this year. There’s probably a little extra “3 dog night” warmth in the their tent with being together as a family again.

Dave, boarding school was never like this.

We all sleep in a little bit the 1st morning then the morning rituals of camping begin. Boiling water for coffee, tea and chai. The kids usually get the campfire rekindled and the day begins. It was a cold night, there’s frost on the meadow and there’s a thin layer of ice here and there.

Hanna and an Ice Circle

Cooking Bacon in the paella pan

Dean working quality control

Above Johnny Sequoia, 2 over easy

Here’s a good place to stop. John cooking eggs. But wait there more to come in the next post. John cooking Chile Verde!