Camping....

What a nightmare.  I had been researching for weeks about the best campsite.  

I read about one called Falls View Campground with the promised view of a waterfall and 

a beautiful hike around a lake, stream and to the waterfall.  I thought this would be the perfect spot.

Well, it was a complete disaster! 

1. The campsite was first come first serve, no reservations SO it was FULL. 

We went to 2 other sites with no luck.  And ended up  at a campsite in town off a 

busy street with homeless drunks walking through it.  

2.  No, worries we can still do the hike and see the waterfall.  

It has been so dry and hot that there was NO waterfall and we couldn't even find the hike. 

3.  We decided to go down to the beach.  Nothing but rocks.  Luke immediately fell and scraped his arm.  It was bad and bloody.  

4.  We saw some people kayaking and thought that would be fun, only to find out it cost $25 per hour.  So, that was a no go. 

5.  We finally went to a river where the kids could play and get wet.  I did not bring swim clothes and that really upset Sam as he does not like to get his clothes wet.  We managed to cool down and salvage some of the night.  While I was taking pictures, I accidentally erased all of the pictures I had on my card.  Many were priceless from my trip to Poppy's the week before.  I was devastated. 

6.  All the other campsites allowed fires, but not ours.  

We started to make our dinner on the propane stove and I could not find the connector to the propane.  I burst into tears and said let's bag it.  Luckily Ryan found it so we could EAT. 

We even roasted our marshmallows over the little flame on our stove. 

7.  Tessa was a pill.  She could not turn off and she was so tired.  She was like a caged animal in the little tent (as it was too small to put up her pack-n-play).  She just ran and jumped until 10:30 pm when Ryan finally threw her in the van and drove around for an hour until she passed out. 

8.  Tessa woke up at 6 am and so Ryan handed her a phone and she watched PBS kids until we woke up.  We ran out of data and were charged extra.  We made pancakes, took down the tent and were out of there by 9:30.  Not exactly the camping trip I was dreaming of.   

Luckily the kids didn't know any better so they didn't mind and were extremely patient.  We learned many lessons on this trip.  I think Ryan can take the boys camping close to home and we will try again with Tessa in a couple of years.