camping

We went on our first campout of the summer a couple of weeks into June.  We drove over to Driggs and searched for a great camp site close to Packsaddle Lake.  

Not having ever been there before, we started driving up the road towards the lake, but the trees were really close on either side of the road and we decided that there probably wasn't going to be a campsite further down that road.  We found out later that there was....but meanwhile we thought we had better turn around, trailer and all, and head back down the mountain and look for something else. This was a scary ordeal, that took place by a huge bank, and I was just sure that the car and trailer were going to fall over and roll down the mountain!  At one point, Shawn got out and walked a little further to see if there was a better place to turn around.  Moments after he walked off, our car started hissing, and upon opening the hood, we could see that all of the fluid was quickly leaving the radiator.

It was looking like an unfortunate start to what we had hoped would be a great camp out, but Shawn got back, and as usual, saved the day:)  We got back down the mountain and found  a great campsite.

Great campsites need several things:  good privacy, no other campers around, and water for kids to play in:)

While Shawn drove out to meet Kami, who was arriving later from work, and show her where we were, I cooked up the foil dinners.  They were good!:

The kids played some fun games- doesn't Caden look like he's having fun? Hahaha - He was though:

And cooked some biscuits:

We hiked into Packsaddle Lake that afternoon and some of the kids swam. That's Isabelle out in the water:

Nolan swinging into the water:

Shawn taking the plunge!:

The next morning, soon after breakfast, some men drove up to our campsite and told us that they thought we would like to know that they had an active bait site set up "about 50 yards" from our camp. Nice.  Apparently, bear hunting is legal in Idaho and they lure the bears in with stinky food and then hunt them.  It seems like they would have to post signs about that!  I guess it was okay though, because we never even saw a bear.

After breakfast we hiked up to Packsaddle Lake again and hiked around it to see if there were any good places to camp in the future.

Behind me: Kami, Shawn and Pace:

In front of me (Nolan, Isabelle and Abram:

Caden beside me:

We spent more hours jumping off of the rope and swimming.  Such a fun, relaxing day!

I didn't mention that every time we drove back to camp, one of the younger kids got a driving lesson.  They were so enthusiastic and cute and all of us drivers got a kick out of the way they kept that steering wheel moving back and forth until they got the feel for it:

I love camping with my family, we have so much fun!! Shawn has a lot of activities in the summer with the youth, with scout camps and youth conferences and I don't know what all, but we plan to grab all the weekends that are ours and go on a hike or a camp out.