Extreme Weather

Apparently our decision to go camping on Memorial Day Weekend encourages Mother Nature to bring on the extreme weather. Last year, we attempted a camping trip at Big Lake and got stuck in the snow (yeah, almost June and stuck in the snow). This year, the rain almost kept us from our camping trip at Bear Canyon Lake.

Jason, James and Clara went up Friday morning to set up our tents. Jason's friend Dan later joined them. After work, my mom, Lily, Lily's friend and I drove up. I was extremely surprised that there was absolutely no traffic driving into or out of Payson. It was, however, about half-way up the Rim that we entered some extreme fog. We could see about 10 feet in front of us, if we were lucky, so seeing the signs was impossible, not to mention reading them. We missed our turn, but figured it out pretty quickly. After turning around, we turned down the wrong road (seriously, you couldn't see a thing), but soon realized that was the wrong one too. Fortunately, the third time was the charm. Unfortunately, the fog was still there. I took over the driving and had to keep my eyes glued on the five or so feet of the center line that I could see to avoid driving off the road. It was actually a pretty exciting little adventure and we just laughed and laughed the whole way. I especially laughed when my mom told me to slow down because I was bruising her avocados. Maybe we'd just been in the car too long, but it was funny. That night it was so wet that even after a roll of paper towels and a whole bottle of lighter fluid, we didn't get a fire going. The next day it rained about half the day, off and on, but we still hiked down to the lake to visit the fisherman. When a thunderstorm started heading in, we decided to hike back to camp. I was holding Clara's hand and a huge pile of wood while trying to hike up this mountain. Once it started to rain, Dan took the wood and I took his tackle box so we could walk faster. It started raining harder but no lightening and thunder until about five feet from camp, there was a super bright light (for a split second I was so confused wondering who was taking a picture of me) and then a LOUD, startling crash of thunder. It scared all of us. Clara burst into tears because she had no clue what happened. We sat in the car for a bit while the storm calmed.

On Sunday we went walking and exploring. James caught a cute little baby horny toad. Clara patted Jason's "grass" on his face. I ate about 15 servings of Boston Baked Beans. Seriously. I'd grab a handful, pop it all in my mouth and enjoy. Then I read the back: eleven, ELEVEN pieces make up one serving. I laughed; for me, that was literally ONE bite. Overall, the weather was beautiful. It hardly rained at all and that night, we had a fantastic fire. Dan cooked our steaks on the fire for dinner and then after staying up late talking, we shut off all the lights and just stared at the starry sky. We all agreed that stars alone are promise there is a Supreme Being.

Clara's pretty little camping manicure.

On Monday, Clara and I slept in... it was at least 8:30 before we got up, which is sleeping in any day, but especially while camping. After breakfast, we left to hike to the lake, only to find the fishermen on their way back hoping to avoid anymore rain. I was bummed we only got down to the lake once, but I'm over it. The traffic into Payson was a bit of a pain, but the fact that it started hailing made me forget about it. Oh, and Clara "makin' my funny face".

At my parent's house I sat in their front yard for a bit watching the flag wave around. I am grateful for those who have fought and those who do fight for our Country. We are so blessed.

My top ten favorite things about camping: 1. the blue, blue sky and the white, white clouds 2. the STARS! (oh my, the STARS!) 3. the crisp, clean smell of mountain air 4. NO cell phones or internet, which means it's the only time I feel completely relaxed 5. campfires 6. no need for hairspray (on the 3rd day of no shower, the grease holds your hair in place better than any hairspray) 7. no concept of time... 8. afternoon naps 9. visiting and eating for a good portion of the day and 10. realizing how little you need to survive and to enjoy life

And me least favorite thing about camping? My house gets sick and throws up when we get home. Since I've been busy working and playing with Clara, it's taking a long time to clean it all up. Good thing there are ten favorites and only one least favorite...