Our First Camping Trip

Tyler and I decided we would go camping- since it was the last time we would get to do something fun before school started. This was our first camping trip together and probably the only camping trip for a long time. It was... an adventure.

Tony's Grove was our destination, and we new it would fill fast, so I left work at 3:00 and by 4:00 we were headed up the canyon to find the perfect spot. We had borrowed a row boat to fish in the morning, and packed all our own stuff, we were going to rough it.

As we arrived at Tony's Grove we were excited to get started with our fun weeked. About 45 minutes later, hopes dashed, we headed up the canyon to Bear Lake. Turns out, if you want to camp at Tony's Grove, you have to make a reservation. Yes, a resevation.. There were plenty of spots open, with little signs that said, reserved from 8/15 to 8/17. Leaving work early was a waste. It didn't matter if we were there at 12:00 NOON, it was still filled with with people who "reserved" their spot.

Off to Bear Lake we went. We stopped at a gas station to find camping spots, they were useless. We thought about stopping to get dinner in town but we were "roughing it", and we were going to roast our hot dogs over the fire. By about 6:45 we had finally found our spot.

With dark clouds rolling in we started to make our fire, hoping to get some food before too late. 10 minutes later we were sitting in the truck watching the rain pour down and the wind blow the trees. So far, the trip was a failure. Within another 10 minutes the rain had stopped and we started making our fire and setting up camp. The fire went up quickly and we were ready to eat. Only problem... We had left the hot dogs home. So Tyler headed to the store 20 minutes away and I sat by the fire, alone.

Sitting by myself I kept trying to keep the fire going. I ran out of small pieces of wood and was left with a couple 2x4's and an axe and hatchet. I started hacking at the wood. I felt stupid but eventually cut a couple small pieces to put in the fire. I must have looked pretty sad because about 1 minute later 3 men (campers from the camp next to us) brought me some logs to put on the fire and told me that hacking at a 2x4 isn't the best way to keep the fire going. How embarassing.

Tyler got back, we roasted our hot dogs, set up camp and got to bed. Things had started to run smoothly. At least we thought. The campers a few camps down decided to start blasting their music. Now, if this had been bareable music, it probably would have been fine. It was 70's folk music. NOT GOOD. Then, the wind started blowing. Now our tent is tough and it never fell down, but... It would fold in half over the top of us before it would bounce back. So, needless to say it was a sleepless night with tent blowing and music blaring.

Tyler woke up about 6:30 to try some fishing and get the fire going. I woke up to a warm fire. We brought bagels and cream cheese for breakfast so I decided to roast my bagle on the fire. It was actually pretty good. Tyler just laughed at me. We then cleaned up camp and headed to Bear Lake for a little boating and fishing. I lounged in the boat and Tyler tried fishing. The fish weren't biting so we headed home, stopping in bear lake for lunch and a shake.

Finally home we unloaded the boat at Tyler's friends house and this is when we realized, we left the oars at the beach.

Back to bear lake we headed. We searched the beach, asked everyone if they'd seen them. No good. We will now be buying new oars for Tyler's Buddy.

This was our first camping trip, and not our last. But i'm guessing it will be a while before we try "roughing it" again. I always new I was a hotel resort girl :)

Good times with Gramma

Saturday Tyler and I headed to my Grandma's house to visit and to make some bread. Grandpa passed away in April of 2008 and Grandma Lola is pretty lonely living by herself. My Grandma makes the best homemade bread and I wanted to learn to make it- (its hard work, I'm not sure its going to become a common practice at our house). Its just easier to run to the grocery store and pick up a loaf of bread than to spend 3-4 hours kneading and mixing bread dough. Its rare that you find someone my age who makes homemade bread, let alone on a frequent basis. So that is my new goal. Homemade bread at least once every couple months. I don't want my gramma's bread recipie to get lost when she dies. The only problem is that my grandma doesn't exactly measure things out. She said 7 tablespoons of oil, then she dumped in about 15 tbls instead. Haha- and then she would just add flour till it "felt right". This is going to be a big problem when I try to make this myself. But I guess if the first few come out as bricks, then I'll learn from my mistakes.

Grandma also taught me how to make widowmakers. You basically take bread dough, spread it like a scone and fry it in a cube of butter. Really Healthy- That's why its called a widowmaker, if you feed your husband too many you'll become a widow. They are soooo good- and sooo bad at the same time.

But I think the visit wasn't all about learning to make bread. It was about spending time with my Grandma, and having her teach me something. Being there for her when she was lonely, and laughing together when I couldn't get the dough off my hands. Its a memory I will always remember. I hope to make many more memories with my gramsie Lola- She is an amazing person!

Our First Post

The End of the Summer, as we know it has arrived. We are preparing for our last year of school and can I just say, I am not looking forward to long nights studying, finals, and the balancing act it takes to work through school, work, and other responsibilities. The summer has been filled with all sorts of adventure. We headed to Outer Banks North Carolina in July. I started coaching a great group of girls at Air-Bound Gymnastics. Tyler finished a semester of summer school by hitting up 4 opera's! Its been busy. Hopefully the fall will be a little less crazy, But I'm not betting on it.