Where: Lake Skinner in Temecula CA
When: October 18-19th, 2008
Who: Brownie Troop 140 (Isabella's troop)
I have not camped since I was a Brownie Girl Scout at aged 7 (unless you count sleeping in a van in campgrounds in the Florida Keys during College Spring Break). So, when the Brownie Troop mentioned a family camping trip to Lake Skinner this Fall I was worried. I knew I could pull it off for Isabella. But....the thought of camping with 6 of us in a tent for 2 days and chasing a 2 year old around the lake and hiking...oh my, I was worried.
I called in the most knowledgeable camper I know. Auntie Jen! She's been looking for an opportunity to camp and here is the perfect things. A girls camping trip with her God Daughter and best friend. AND...she had bought Nate some gear 2 years ago and it was all still in the boxes (LOL).
Auntie Jen excitedly accepted our camping invite and we were set. We assembled our lists of things needed, shopped and loaded one very excited 8 year old in the car on Saturday after soccer games.
We were already exhausted at 2pm when we arrived at the camp grounds. We were a little nervous pulling in and seeing that the campground was nothing more than a dirt parking lot nestled in the foothills of Palomar Mountain. Nervous looks glanced around...but we kept our smiles on.
First things we had to do was set up camp. We had bought our tent at a garage sale and it didn't come with directions. We quickly figured it out. But...had one problem. Desert camping does not make for soft ground and soon a couple plastic stakes were broken in an attempt to hammer them into the mountain terrain. With 3 out of 4 stakes hammered in we had to conquer that last stake. Luckily, a GS leader had a metal stake that worked out perfectly. Whew.
Isabella had such a blast playing with her friends and as I sat in my chair the first 15 minutes I had a weird sensation. This was the first time I've EVER been able to sit and watch 1 child play. I'm usually running around chasing toddlers and I sat in a amazement that I didn't even think to bring a book or magazine. Seriously, what was I going to do....sit there and enjoy the peace and scenery...REALLY?!?!
We went on a small hike down to the lake and explored nature. Isabella tried out her binoculars. Went back to camp and hung a little while longer and then all the Girl Scouts cooked dinner together and we ate a meal together. We sat by the campfire, sang songs, roasted marshmallows and chatted. Isabella got tired and wanted to hang out with her family...so we sat by our own campfire and took pictures and had fun. At 9pm Isabella was ready to lay in the tent and play "Go fish". At 9:30 it was lanterns out for our crew. Isabella fell asleep by 10pm and Jen and I listened to the man at the site next to us talk until 11:30 and then hack his lungs up until midnight (apparently the dry desert air bothers him).
At 1:30am the coyotes started howling. The coyotes started again at 3:30 and 4am. This time seemingly closer and even set off all the campground dogs who were on high alert. At this point I did start to wonder if it was a smart idea to be laying on the hard ground, in a mesh tent while coyotes wandered. I eased my mind by realizing that I had never heard a news report of families being attacked at lake Skinner...and besides maybe the coyotes would get the guy next door first since he didn't put his food away like we did.
At 6am, Isabella was awake. We made her wait until 6:40 to get up. We ate oatmeal at sunrise in the pre-dawn hours. She chatted with her girl friends while we cleaned up camp. Then we hiked back down to the lake with a Isabella and Paige and fished with 10 Boyscouts (we didn't know them). After a few flying hooks we had it under control and although the fish were not biting our hotdog bait today we literally had to drag Isabella away from fishing at 10:40am. We ate lunch at camp and then packed up.
Isabella told us on the way home that she had a BLAST!!!!
When: October 18-19th, 2008
Who: Brownie Troop 140 (Isabella's troop)
I have not camped since I was a Brownie Girl Scout at aged 7 (unless you count sleeping in a van in campgrounds in the Florida Keys during College Spring Break). So, when the Brownie Troop mentioned a family camping trip to Lake Skinner this Fall I was worried. I knew I could pull it off for Isabella. But....the thought of camping with 6 of us in a tent for 2 days and chasing a 2 year old around the lake and hiking...oh my, I was worried.
I called in the most knowledgeable camper I know. Auntie Jen! She's been looking for an opportunity to camp and here is the perfect things. A girls camping trip with her God Daughter and best friend. AND...she had bought Nate some gear 2 years ago and it was all still in the boxes (LOL).
Auntie Jen excitedly accepted our camping invite and we were set. We assembled our lists of things needed, shopped and loaded one very excited 8 year old in the car on Saturday after soccer games.
We were already exhausted at 2pm when we arrived at the camp grounds. We were a little nervous pulling in and seeing that the campground was nothing more than a dirt parking lot nestled in the foothills of Palomar Mountain. Nervous looks glanced around...but we kept our smiles on.
First things we had to do was set up camp. We had bought our tent at a garage sale and it didn't come with directions. We quickly figured it out. But...had one problem. Desert camping does not make for soft ground and soon a couple plastic stakes were broken in an attempt to hammer them into the mountain terrain. With 3 out of 4 stakes hammered in we had to conquer that last stake. Luckily, a GS leader had a metal stake that worked out perfectly. Whew.
Isabella had such a blast playing with her friends and as I sat in my chair the first 15 minutes I had a weird sensation. This was the first time I've EVER been able to sit and watch 1 child play. I'm usually running around chasing toddlers and I sat in a amazement that I didn't even think to bring a book or magazine. Seriously, what was I going to do....sit there and enjoy the peace and scenery...REALLY?!?!
We went on a small hike down to the lake and explored nature. Isabella tried out her binoculars. Went back to camp and hung a little while longer and then all the Girl Scouts cooked dinner together and we ate a meal together. We sat by the campfire, sang songs, roasted marshmallows and chatted. Isabella got tired and wanted to hang out with her family...so we sat by our own campfire and took pictures and had fun. At 9pm Isabella was ready to lay in the tent and play "Go fish". At 9:30 it was lanterns out for our crew. Isabella fell asleep by 10pm and Jen and I listened to the man at the site next to us talk until 11:30 and then hack his lungs up until midnight (apparently the dry desert air bothers him).
At 1:30am the coyotes started howling. The coyotes started again at 3:30 and 4am. This time seemingly closer and even set off all the campground dogs who were on high alert. At this point I did start to wonder if it was a smart idea to be laying on the hard ground, in a mesh tent while coyotes wandered. I eased my mind by realizing that I had never heard a news report of families being attacked at lake Skinner...and besides maybe the coyotes would get the guy next door first since he didn't put his food away like we did.
At 6am, Isabella was awake. We made her wait until 6:40 to get up. We ate oatmeal at sunrise in the pre-dawn hours. She chatted with her girl friends while we cleaned up camp. Then we hiked back down to the lake with a Isabella and Paige and fished with 10 Boyscouts (we didn't know them). After a few flying hooks we had it under control and although the fish were not biting our hotdog bait today we literally had to drag Isabella away from fishing at 10:40am. We ate lunch at camp and then packed up.
Isabella told us on the way home that she had a BLAST!!!!
1 comment:
WOO! I had an awesome time, I love you guys!
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