Ghetto Camping!

A little while back, we were invited to go camping with some friends up in Kokee.  Although we didn't have much camping stuff, we decided one night was doable, so we packed up our ONE sleeping bag, a tarp, and the dutch oven that my parents gave us and headed up.

 

These pictures reminded me of camping in UT :)

Growing up, we always ate well when we went camping.  Since we had just gotten the dutch oven, I had to try it out!  I made a pineapple upside down cake and it actually turned out really well.  Of course, everyone we were with was shocked that I made a cake over the fire, but they loved it and it was gone in no time!

 

Did I mention that we only had ONE sleeping bag and a tarp?  I would've bought stuff, but we were going to be heading up to my sister's wedding in Utah and my parents said I could bring back more camping gear, so we figured we could rough it one night.  Thankfully, there was an extra canopy, so our friends said we could sleep under it.  Basically, we put the tarp down on the ground, and then lowered the canopy as low as it would go (see picture above).  THEN, because it was kind of cold and we only had the 1 sleeping bag to share (don't worry, we brought a few blankets too), we took the dutch oven, lined it with foil, put a bunch of the hot coals inside, and then put it at the top by our heads (Kai's idea).   

Anyways, besides the fact that we were both cold, sliding down the little slope we were sleeping on (out of the protection of the canopy, so we kept having to wake up, and shimmy ourselves and our makeshift bed back under the canopy), it RAINED that night!!!  I was seriously soooo grateful that we at least had the canopy over us or I don't think we would be camping again ;)  Thinking back to it now, it is pretty laughable!

Fast forward a couple months and we decided to go camping again on our anniversary weekend! We decided to go on our own, so we packed up our new (to us) tent, chairs, and a ton of food and headed up.  First of all, we have a Passat and it has manual transmission.  Sooo, getting to the campsite is always an adventure.  The roads are definitely made for 4 wheel drive cars (as in, we REALLY shouldn't be putting our car through so much torture), and everyone always stares when they see us roll up.  Anyhow, the first time we camped, we broke our skid plate almost all the way off (quick side note: Kai drove the car to Costco to get the skid plate fixed because it was making a bunch of noise dragging.  As he was driving up, EVERYONE at Costco was staring!  hahaa).  But, we figured, since we made it the first time, we could make it again.  We drove out and realized the camp spot we had camped at before was taken.  So, our only other option was to drive through a small stream (which we did), and then the campsite was down this really crazy area.  The roots of the trees were sticking up a ton and made for a pretty treacherous drive in.  We both breathed a huge sigh of relief when we parked and were able to start unloading our stuff.  

 

I got to teach Kai how to set up a tent (he isn't so experienced when it comes to tent camping), and then he started our fire while I prepped dinner.  I will say, Kai is quite the pyro.  It had rained before we made it up there, so a lot of the wood was wet.  I got a little nervous when our fire wasn't looking too promising (see below).  Luckily, Kai was able to make it happen for us and we were able to make our chicken and rice in the crocpot.  Then, for dessert, we had some pumpkin pie and smores!  It was sooo good (although, my mom always said everything tastes good in the mountains!)

 

Kai was pretty proud of his fire, especially since the people at the site next to us' fire was not working at all.

After eating, we sat by the fire, looked at the stars, and then headed into the tent to play some cards.  After a few games, we were ready to sleep.  I slept fine, but Kai didn't do so well on the hard ground.  Next camping gear purchase?  Sleeping pads!  

I woke up before someone else!  Hehe :)

The next morning, we (and by we, I mean Kai) slept in.  Then we made sausage and eggs for breakfast (Yay for Paleo), and started packing up.  Of course, as we were driving out, someone had parked their car where we had maneuvered our car in, so we had to go over the crazier part of the road.  Of course, we got stuck, so we had to take out our tub of gear, and then I drove while Kai picked up the car and pushed at the same time.  It was pretty ridiculous, but thankfully we made it.  At that point, we decided that as much fun as camping was, we weren't going to do that to our poor car anymore!  Luckily we made it out without damaging anything major. 

Anyhow, moral of the story...slowly we are becoming less ghetto campers!  Maybe one day we will have enough to be normal campers :)