Our one and only camping trip this summer.

Last weekend we went with some friends (the Baumgartners, Reeds, and Oakes) 0n a little camping trip. Little did we know it would end up being the most memorable camping trip of our lifetime....most likely.

The camp ground was fabulous. We had this great rock right in our campsite that the kids named California rock. There was much climbing to be had this trip.

There was great scenery, a nice little hot springs (which was nice to rinse off in), little hiking trails, great friends, and lots of fun things to do.

One day we headed up the road a bit to a place in the river with a little beach area and a great swimming hole.

John even managed to catch a fish. It was the only fish caught during our trip....and it had to be thrown back. But for some reason catching a fish is still exciting.
There was some cliff jumping going on too. Some campers were braver than others.

I was not in the mood for swimming across a freezing cold river and I'm getting old and cautious I guess. So I was the fuddy duddy that didn't jump. All the other adults were cooler than me and at least jumped from the lower rock.

Then the kids joined in on the action and found a little rock to jump off of too....not to brag or anything...but Owen was first.

There was even river rafting. This picture would be better if you could tell that the raft wasn't moving because the water was so shallow. We were actually bouncing up and down trying to get our raft down the river. Good times.

There was plenty of dirtiness and stickiness.

And plenty of scrapes and bruises.

But what will forever be most memorable will be the bear friend that we made. Actually the bear was more of a terrifying unwelcome guest that made himself at home in our campsite. The first night we were there we heard and animal in our campsite and and thought nothing of it. Until a neighbor camper informed us of the full size bear that had been in his campsite and stole food. So the second night we were a little more diligent about having no food out.

Boy were we surprised (and by surprised I mean terrified) when the second night we woke up around 1:00 to the sounds of a bear destroying something plastic right outside our tent. We had packed away all food and thrown out all garbage. Luckily, we had 2 families staying in trailers who felt a little braver and came out with flashlights and scared off the bear. Although I think he was just annoyed and knew he could wander the campground and find other food. Those that were brave enough to go outside found a tote of some sort that they assumed had been left out and the bear got to.

Then we went back to sleep only to be awakened again by our bear friend an hour or so later. This time we found him digging around our cooler that had been latched shut. We had assumed that a latched cooler would be safe from the bear.

Not only were we wrong we had been duped! The first night the bear had gotten into our cooler and stolen a big bag of muffins I had brought up camping. We never even knew. I had been looking for the muffin thief all day not knowing who it was. The tote the bear was destroying was actually a big tupperware of cookies I had in my cooler. The bear had gotten into our cooler twice without us even realizing it!!! Each time he was taking food and dragging it up the hill and eating it.

He left some nice teeth and claw marks for us on our cooler. Luckily we camp with nice people who shared their food, since we were running a little low by this point.

After his 3rd visit to our campground I was terrified. I think all the adults were a little uneasy. Especially those of us in tents. We lit a fire in an attempt to keep in away for the rest of the night. The third night I was so terrified I made one of the men we were camping with sleep in my tent with John and I took the kids and slept in their trailer. And the bear came back that night too....but we had put away all the coolers this time so he kept his distance. Never again will I assume that just because a cooler has latches that animals will stay out of it!

So while the camping trip was a lot of fun, I've also never been more scared in my life.