camping {the first night.}

Yesterday I mentioned our first family camping trip.  

It was very relaxing.

Except for the whole keeping-the-kids-out-of-the-fire part.  

Friday night, we drove to Camp Doris near Lawton, OK only to find that it was full.  Oooops.

We were directed to nearby Lake Lawtonka to camp with a beautiful view of Mt. Scott. 

But we couldn't really find the campground.  The information office at Lake Lawtonka closes at 3:30 pm (really, people don't need camping information after 3:30?).  So we agreed we needed to find a "local" - and fast because the sun was going down!  

We settled on a gentleman driving around town on his topless golf cart. (He wasn't topless, the golf cart was.) He had a Budweiser can in his hand.  He seemed like a really solid our only choice.  

Vern quickly escorted us to our camp site.  Said he'd be back to check on us later. 

He did come back later.  It was dark.  Britton's sister and her family were trying to find us and we were trying to guide them to our location over the phone.  

"You see that motor home with the multi-colored owl lights?"....."Which one?"

  Vern said "tell 'em a drunk indian in a golf cart is coming to find them" and sped off - flashing his headlights - into the night.  A few minutes later he returned with the Smith family on his tail.  Wish I had taken a picture of Vern. 

Our new tent has a very cool feature.  On the box, I'm pretty sure it boasts a "vestibule" feature.  But I like to call it the "cage".  

Not only is it a super fun place for the kids to play without tracking grass and dirt in my sleeping bag, when they're zipped in I don't have to worry about them getting in the fire.

That is until Miles figures out that the whole bit we told him about "Daddy is the only one who can unzip the tent" isn't entirely accurate.  But I'm pretty sure the little girl will be the first one to disobey, unzip and escape. 

Speaking of the wild child, it took me well over an hour to get Ella to sleep that night.  She would walk in circles around the tent, drop to the ground like a brick, snuggle into the blanket/sleeping bag where she was, get up and do it all again.  It was hilarious.  Finally, one time, she just passed out.  

Britton was in charge of breakfast the next morning.  

I said "Britton, you're in charge of breakfast". 
He said "I'll Bobby Flay breakfast...give it here".
I said "Do you even know who Bobby Flay is?".
He said "No, but'll it'll be good."

We had bacon and eggs.  It was cooked over this awesome little gadget - belonging to my brother-in-law - called the "Pocket Rocket".  It's on Britton's christmas wish list now I think.  

I'll let you ask him how breakfast turned out.  

{Note:  Britton doesn't cook breakfast.  Ever. Especially not over the intense flame of the Pocket Rocket.}

Originally, we planned to only stay one night.  But because we were having such a wonderful time, we decided to try and stretch our mini vacation another night.  That meant we needed to take care of a few things at home.  But guess what?  No cell phone service.  

Luckily, at the primitive camping grounds, they had a primitive form of communication.  Recognize this?  

Pretty sure I haven't used a pay phone since high school, when I used to call my parents from the one in front of the high school gym.    

When was the last time you used a pay phone?  Who did you call?

Oddly enough, I also had a calling card in my wallet.  I've had it since 2003.  It still had over 450 minutes on it.   Always be prepared.  That's my motto.  Or, the boy scout motto.  Or something like that.

All cleared to stay one more night, we moved our stuff over to Camp Doris (some camping sites opened up Saturday morning). 

More on the fun that ensued tomorrow...