Camping Trip

Dave again here.  Clearly I have some time on my hands!  So last week was my first vacation week of the new residency year, and I had been looking forward to it for, well, since the end of my last vacation week.  It finally arrived and started off with a bang, as we celebrated Cade's first birthday, as chronicled in previous blog post.  After that, we had a trip to the beach on Monday which was of course fantastic.  Mid-week late-season means no crowds and warm-ish water, which still can't help Jack to enjoy getting in the waves.  But the boy simply loves the sand, especially when he is getting his legs buried in a "cocoon" of sand.  He also enjoyed jumping and sliding down a little ramp into a daddy-made puddle.

This picture has no story but was really sweet.

After the beach, it was full-force planning and packing for our camping trip.  I had been scouring the web for a great camping experience within several hours of southern CA, and decided that we needed to go to a grove of giant sequoias that was outside the park.  The second-largest grove of sequoias outside of the main show (Giant Forest, in the park) happened to be just south of the park in a little-known state forest called "Mountain Home Demonstration State Forest."  It even had the 7th largest tree in the world!  

It was impossibly hard to find online information about this forest, which got me really excited... if it's web presence is minimal, it is probably going to be empty mid-week in September.  So I printed out a primitive map, packed our gear, and we headed off on Wednesday afternoon.  

We got a bit of a late start since Cami's Bible Study Fellowship ended around lunch time and we weren't quite ready to go immediately, so the 4.5 hour trip landed us in camp right about 6:00 pm, 30 minutes late for dinner and with daylight fading fast.  The last bit of road was quite hilarious, as it was incredibly steep and the hairpin turns put stomachs on edge.  Upon pulling in to the campground (Frasier Mill), my little solitude-loving heart leapt for joy as we passed empty site after empty site.  We were completely alone in the entire campground, which is no small feat in a state with gazillions of people and some pretty awesome natural wonders.  At last, it was time to do a light-speed tent setup and simultaneous cooking of dinner.  Which was when we discovered our can of chili required a can opener (shocker!), which I had not considered.  Any other camping trip, we would have simply sauntered over to the next campsite and borrowed one.  This time, we were the only living soul for miles.  Good thing we were camping for 2 nights and dinner #2 was not so technologically complex to prepare.

The night was cold, in the 40's, and Cade has the unfortunate luck of being a thumb-sucker.  This means he needs his thumb accessible (read: no gloves at night).  His little digits were popsicle-like after a long night exposed to the elements, but his body was nice and toasty which kept him asleep.  Jack kept rolling off his pad onto the hard floor and needed some daddy help to get back on it.  Then he never fell asleep after Cade's 5:30 fuss-fest.  Nights are hard, no denying it!  But the days are so, so, SO worth it.  

After a good breakfast the next morning, Cade was in heaven exploring his newfound affinity for filthiness, complete with his fleece pants.  I am convinced fleece was designed for cleaning the forest floor by causing all manner of dirt, wood chips, and pine needles to stick to it.

Jack had his balance bike, which he has really gotten good at.  He could be seen zipping around the campsite pretty much anytime he wasn't digging in the dirt with his dump truck and excavator.  Note the inconspicuous but ridiculously massive stump behind the picnic table, and try to quell your anger at whoever thought it would be a good idea to destroy something that began growing before Christ.

After getting packed for a day out and about, we headed off to our first stop.  As none of the fantastic sights in this forest were labeled on the map, I had to mark out all the good stuff at home from a variety of internet sources.  Our first stop would be a still-living tree that had a room carved out of the center over a century ago, called the "Hercules" tree.  Before we got up to it, Jack was side-tracked by an equally impressive double-tree which appeared at ground level to be a single tree with a tunnel through it.

 

Yeah, that's big!

Then we got side-tracked again by Cade's cuteness.

And then again by Jack's cuteness.

Panther boys, having a blast!

Thanks Jack, Cade wasn't dirty enough by his own handiwork.  He needed your handful on his head.

Fleece, doing its job.

Question: what have these hands done?!?!

Answer: not gotten enough dirt on them.

At last, we re-direct our attention to the tree, which is no slouch in size.  The room inside elevates it to mythical status in a little boy's eyes.

Sorry, sidetracked again by Cade's cuteness, which is naturally enhanced by his mineral makeup.

We moved on from there to the hollow log at Balch Park, which is a stump and trunk that you can actually climb in and walk through.  Again, little boy heaven.

Our next attraction was a drive through a completely unmarked section of intertwining dead-end roads, in which resides the "Genesis" tree, the largest in the grove.  We were struck by the sheer number of enormous trees that could be seen within 50 yards of the road, and equally struck by the fact that there was no signs anywhere.  No hint that the dirt road leaving the main one would lead to such an awesome part of the forest, and no signs for any of the big trees contained within.  The Prius bottomed out a couple times but it was totally worth it, as it was better than any section of the national park which could be accessed by road.  Part of the goodness was the feeling that we were actually discovering it for the first time, since it felt so unheralded and unknown.

After a hard day of playing, it was time to find a can opener (thank you, Balch Park Ranger), and go have dinner.  Jack got his s'more which he devoured with glee, and Cade looked on longingly.  You'll have your chance, little man.

Then, out of nowhere, we hear "Mom! I need to go poop!"  Instantly, we jump to our feet and get our portable toilet ready by the warm fire, and all is well.

Cade, stop being so cute, seriously.

Let Jack have a turn.

Oh, all right, be cute again.

Jack, having breakfast on the last morning, eats his oatmeal with gusto while Cade looks wistfully on at the trees he may not see again for many years.

After an awesome and memorable trip, it was finally time to come back to reality, which meant celebrating another amazing year of Cami's life.  She got from-scratch scones as part of her breakfast in bed, a professional massage, and this pumpkin cake with cheesecake frosting, all from scratch and made with immense amounts of love.  I won't tell you how many years old she is though.

A picture is worth a thousand words ;-)  Love you, Cami, and I am so grateful we enjoy the same fun things that we can pass along to our kids!