Monday, August 27, 2007

Camping

This last weekend Rich, Abby and I went camping with our friends, the Rogers. Kevin and Megan own some property just 30 miles north of Price (for those of you not familiar with Utah geography, Price is where the current mining tragedy is taking place - also Price is the armpit of Utah. I apologize to anyone who is offended at my -1 calling Price an armpit and/or 2- putting "mining tragedy" and "armpit" in the same sentence.) To clarify, Price may not be the most desirable place, but "The Property" was beautiful (what a difference 30 miles makes).

Our adventure began around 6:30 Friday night when we left Salt Lake and went south. We made a quick stop in Spanish Fork at Carl's Jr. (oh, how lovely to be back in a state that mass produces fry sauce), and we were back on the road. By the time we reached the property around 9:30, it was pitch black and quite chilly. We were all excited to crack open the tent trailer and get settled in for the night. Needless to say, it came as a bit of a shock when Kevin, in his not kidding voice told us that the keys to the trailer were sitting on the counter back in Salt Lake. We decided instead of driving 2 hours to SL and 2 hours back in one night, that maybe we could find a room in Price. We called a couple of hotels and finally found a honeymoon suite (okay, maybe not a honeymoon suite of the "heart-shaped tub and vibrating bed" variety, but by Price's standards this sounded pretty luxurious), however we didn't feel that $150 was a reasonable amount of money for four adults and one king bed. After exploring a couple more options, Kevin decided to give breaking into their trailer the old MacGyver try. Thankfully it worked. We finally got to sleep around midnight and thinking that the babies must surely be exhausted from staying up way past their bedtimes, we figured that we would be able to sleep in the next morning. Not so. Abby was up at 6:15 and Henry shortly followed. We did a little wandering around the area and then decided to take a drive in to Price to visit the local Walmart for some essentials, and to see what else the town might have to offer. I must say that the highlights of the trip included the following: seeing some guy riding a bicycle down main street barefoot, carrying an electric guitar (see photographic documentation below), and stopping at the CEU natural history museum and seeing one of the most hilarious statues, ever (also documented below). Generally I don't condone violence, but hey, it's nature. Upon returning from our trip, Kevin and Rich proceeded to set up an outside shower. Although it was enclosed, I wasn't immediately convinced that this was a good idea, something about being out in nature au natural seemed a little sketchy. However I had a change of heart, and it felt good to be clean even if for a few moments. I laugh (or shudder) to think though that our showers may have been caught by some Russian satellite and are now being broadcast on a website entitled "Things crazy Americans do when they think no one is looking". Oh well. The remainder of the trip included the obligatory gluttony that you should only really do when you are camping, Rich learning to make "beatles" (I believe they did get names- John and Paul) for fly-fishing, then going fly-fishing, a rousing couple games of Sequence in which the ladies confirmed their superiority. Most of all the trip was a wonderful opportunity for us to enjoy the company of good friends who we have sorely missed these last five years.

Out in the cold, in front of the locked trailer.


Abby and Henry getting cozy.


Abby trying to undress herself.

Kevin and Henry settling in for a nap after only 6 hours of sleep the previous night.


Crazy guitar guy.

Violent Statue



Abby in the kid cabin.



Henry chasing chipmunks.


And, last of all, Henry and Abby enjoying the sand.

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

wow - I dig your blog. Can I hire you to do one for us? You can show up at all of our family functions, take pictures, and then document everything online for us with your witty repartee :) I loved the commentary. It was a great time - so glad you could join us.

Jefe said...

Rich, you better in that same shirt on Saturday.

Kimberly Porter said...

Oh...Price, Utah! How I miss rednecks and the like. Fun story! I don't know why toddlers "have" to wake up at the same time or earlier when they go to bed waaaaay late. That inner alarm clock is bound to snooze sooner or later (teen years, right?) Anyway, I love the picture of Peter and Abby snuggling! They are adorable. Keep in touch!

Kimberly Porter said...

Sorry, I meant Henry when I said Peter. Where is my mind these days!?!