Our Trip Sponsored By Elegant Boxed Wine & Malibu Rum

A couple of weekends ago we went camping with some friends and family in Manti-La Sal National Forest. If you live in Utah, it was a loooooong way up Spanish Fork canyon.

Normally I love camping and since we bought a tent trailer and I no longer have to sleep on the ground, I've loved it even more. (Seriously, who enjoys sleeping on the ground? Sadists? That's torture right there for me. It's bad enough it's freezing cold at night but then to sleep on a bed of rocks? PASS!) To be honest, I was not looking forward to the trip that week because someone had a crap attitude about going and how much work & packing it was going to take.

And no, that someone was not me. This time at least. Surprising isn't it?

Here's a pic of our campsite, which was gorgeous btw... Our friend Floyd went up the night before and was brave enough to leave his trailer there overnight to secure our spot for us.

Meet Sam Wow. A gorgeous pure bred that my sister adopted the week before from someone really, uh, poor. (Ya, click that link and see the pic of their house. I made sure to leave them some information on local food banks and shelters. I'm a giver!)

Sam spent the weekend stealing food from plates, waiting for plates to be left unattended so he could steal them, and eating anything out on the table. To be fair, when you're holding a hot dog and sitting in a chair, his face is eye level with your hand. He took that as the "go ahead, take a bite" invitation. We saw him eat at least 2 turkey burgers, a hot dog and a carton of sour cream.

Oh, and he also took time out of his busy eating schedule for a little frisbee...

Saturday morning was the only time the weather fully cooperated with us. The rest of the time it was cold, cloudy and drizzling so don't be fooled by all the pictures of sunshine and smiling faces. Mostly there was frowns and complaining of how damn cold it was. Ok, THAT part was just me. I'm a baby...

Here's my kiddo running through the meadow. In hindsight, he was probably running away from his cousin G because they spent the entire weekend fighting and bickering. They're like brothers that way.

Normally when we go camping we tell the kids to take a hike and amuse themselves while we get drunk and pass out. Er, while we "relax." This weekend though, we went with a couple who was more prepared then I've ever been and they brought things for the kids to do.

Horseshoes anyone?

Frisbee....


And the most popular activity of all... dog snuggling. This 4 legged friend is our dog, Izzy, who was a big cry baby all weekend because of how cold it was. She spent more time in the trailer under the sleeping bags then we did. And when she did come outside, she had to be wrapped in blankets or stuffed in our coats around the fire to keep warm. Isn't that what their nice shiny coats are for? Warmth?


There was a lake "near" our camp that we decided to take lunch to and let the men do a little fishing. It was "near" camp in the way that the sun is "near" the Earth. Took forever to get there. We totally should have packed snacks for the drive up there. Just sayin...

To get to the lake you have to pass this beautiful creek first. Which was running higher then normal because of all the damn rain we've had lately in Utah.


This is where the braver part of our camp decided to cross the creek on foot. As you can see I am not in this photo. I didn't want to, uh, get my camera wet. So I stayed back to let them try it out first.

This picture right here is the *exact* moment B decided it was too cold and didn't want to go any further.

Here's my cute nephew T who came to his rescue and saved him from frostbite on his toes. He had to carry him all the way to the other side.


This is where our friend took my sisters car first into the creek. He's no dummy. He wasn't testing it out with his Durango until he saw how deep it came up inside the car.


And he made it! For the record, it took about a week for her waterlogged horn to stop sounding like a dying duck.


This is our friends Durango after crossing the creek. (On the return trip, the plate was pushed completely up against the bumper.)


This is when we finally reached the lake part of the excursion. After hours of driving in 4 WD, climbing mountains, stopping for naps along the way, we'd finally made it.

My son sat inside the back of the truck and made the other kids toss the ball to him there. Lazy or genius? I'm going with genius because I would totally do that!



View of the lake... This is where we all got eaten alive within seconds of getting out of the car. Luckily our friend remembered to bring the bug spray with her which warded off the millions of other skeetos that came to have lunch at our expense.


The only one who decided to fish was my nephew T. The other guys could "tell there wasn't any fish" just by looking at the water. Whatever the hell that means! He sat there, uncomfortably, while we stared at him fishing for 15 minutes, until he packed it in so we could have lunch.


Last pic was taken as we were leaving on Sunday. The kids appear to be having a good time and are actually smiling for me. Most of the weekend was spent with them asking me to get the damn camera out of their face.