Camping

I have been having major computer issues and so it’s taken me forever to finish blogging about our camping trip a few weekends ago! Clint wanted to go to his favorite river to check out a few things before he came back the weekend after that with a bunch of friends. I didn’t want to drive almost 4 hours just to camp overnight and thought we should go somewhere else. Clint won that battle and after he got off work we headed up to Wyoming. Bode normally goes to bed between 7 and 8 and we didn’t even show up to the camp site until 10:00pm! The first campsite we came to was FULL. Clint could not believe it and said that he had never seen it so busy and he goes there at least once every few months during the summer (or more!) So I tried to stay positive and not complain while we headed to another campsite 10 minutes away from the first one. We drove around that one and it was also full! There was one site left and we sat there in the truck deciding if it was going to work or not. There were tons of people all around partying away. They were so noisy and had music blaring and they were lighting fireworks! I’m not talking about little ones you light in your driveway. They were like firework show huge ones! Gunner was freaking out and panting/whining because he is scared of fireworks. Bode’s hands were shaking and he kept whispering, “bye bye! Let’s go..” Clint and I were looking at each other like holy cow are we really stuck here. He said he knew of a makeshift campsite down the river and wanted to see if it was open. It was right next to the river and we were all alone. I stayed at the original campsite just to make sure no one else took it while he went off to look at the other one. I was laying down on the picnic table ready to take a picture of a HUGE firework over my head. Just my luck the people stopped lighting them, probably because it was 10:15 at this point. Clint returned in a few minutes to let me know that the other place was available.  Bode and I sat in the truck while Clint used the headlights to set up camp. It took him about 15 minutes to get everything ready for us so we got into our jammies and were getting ready for bed. I really wanted to get pictures of sparklers that night so I was planning on putting Bode to bed and then doing them. Clint suggested we let Bode watch, which ended up being a bad idea. Clint and I were having so much fun spelling out words and Bode was so tired he didn’t even like it. Once we were all in the tent getting comfy on the air mattress Bode was out within a few minutes. It was pretty funny how fast he fell asleep. Clint and I woke up around 6:30 ish and snuck out of the tent to check out the beautiful morning. Bode stayed sleeping until 7:30, which we couldn’t believe because the dang cows were sooo loud! He was so cute when he woke up! He was pointing out birds and flies and trees. I really wish we could have gotten there earlier to enjoy the night, but it ended up being ok.

Clint got all his gear ready and couldn’t wait to start fishing. There were flies hatching all over the place!! I hated the bugs, but Clint loved it. Bode had fun throwing rocks into the water and walking along Clint next to the river. Gunner was chasing birds and running around all over the place harassing cows. I was just snapping pictures and we were all having a good time!

The sun was so pretty! I was trying to get a good picture of Clint fishing but I couldn’t get a good angle on him since I was above him on the shore. Stupid me laid down to get the shot and an ant crawled into my pants. The dang thing bit me 6 times! Clint was down the river and Bode was running all around so I yelled to Clint I thought a bee stung me and the stinger was still in. I kept trying to see what the bug was and feel around but I couldn’t tell. That ant just kept biting me. I finally just took my shorts off and tried to look at the bumps and find the bug. That’s when I saw the red ant and finally got it off of me. Clint pretty much had no sympathy and couldn’t understand why on earth I would lay on the ground. Lesson learned.. here’s the picture. I don’t think it was worth the trouble.

About an hour later Bode is getting tired of throwing rocks, and I am getting pretty tired of shooing away millions of flies and my bum still hurts from the bites. Clint doesn’t mess around when he’s fishing and would have fished the whole day until dark. He thought Bode might have more fun being in the pack on his back. It was so cute and Bode kept saying pish (fish) and pretending to fly fish with Clint.

 

I complain about Gunner all the time, but I guess he’s part of our family to stay. I don’t think either one of us actually has the heart to get rid of him.. even though we have considered it multiple times. He had the time of his life though.

We had to drive the truck over the river two times. Once to cross and once to come back. I thought it was so cute that Bode and Clint had the same face both times we crossed!

Another hour of fishing and Bode and I were done. Bode kept saying bye bye, let’s go. I could tell Clint was pretty disappointed, but he was a good sport about it all. I warned him it was not going to be like a regular fishing trip with the whole family! We headed back to our campsite to take things down. It was almost noon at this time and Bode was getting hungry and tired. I tried to get a family picture, but this was the best I could do.

All Bode cared about were rocks and sticks.

Bode and I waited in the air conditioned truck while Clint took down camp. There were flies all around and at this point they were all in the truck. It was so gross but Bode loved pointing them all out to me. Clint took this picture and I think it looks pretty cool, even though I hated the flies.

Bode was looking at Clint taking down camp and kinda getting grumpy, hence the bink!

The whole reason Clint wanted to go to this place was to check and make sure there were boat ramps and other things for his trip the next weekend. He drove us all around to check out different spots of the river. Bode fell asleep pretty fast so we left him in the truck to check out this awesome bridge! It was so scary and there were holes and shaky wood all over it. Gunner was really scared to walk on it and that was pretty funny.

About 30 minutes after Bode fell asleep he woke up. We were at the boat ramp by this time so we all got out and threw rocks and looked around. Clint checked under rocks and tried to find bugs around.

  

Gunner was fetching sticks out of the River and Clint and I couldn’t believe how far he swam out after them. I was worried the current would take him under. Bode had fun throwing for Gunner.

After Clint looked around all he needed to we finally got some lunch and headed home. Overall we had a great time, but next time we need to plan it out a little bit better. For Bode’s first camping trip I think it was a success. :) Clint is still talking about how cool it was to bring the family to his favorite place to fish.