Vacation started with a trip out to the woods. We decided to drive the back road from Prescott to Crown King. The plan was to drag the trip out over 3 days.
Day one we made it to Palace Station and started looking for a camp site. 1/2 hour down a dirt track found us a suitable, if small, site next to a small creekbed.
We setup camp and started getting the necessities squared away. The existing fire-pit was changed a bit to allow for cooking, some logs were broken down with a hatchet for firewood. The tent was pitched, and the hammock was strung.
Once everything was good to go, I got the fire going, setup my cooking grate (a bit of chicken-wire strung over part of the fire-pit), and got to cooking the hamburgers that we prepped before leaving the house:
As I putzed about taking pictures, DaNece and Lola kept a watchful eye over the meal:
Mere minutes later and we were chowing down:
The dogs chase sticks until the light fades away, as we roast s'mores. Finally darkness hits and we retreat into the tent, to play a few games of pentago by lamplight.
We found out that a 2 man tent is not big enough for 2 humans and 2 canines. Constant reshuffling of furry bodies counterbalanced the respite found in super comfy sleeping bags. Next time it will be the 4 man tent.
Morning rolled around and the dogs wanted out to play, which meant that we finally had space to stretch out for a few minutes before getting up and at 'em.
Another fire built, and breakfast cooked. This time around it was pancakes, scrambled eggs, some beef tamales, and pine-needle tea:
After packing up camp we rolled out a little earlier than expected (8:00). Along the way to Crown King we explored a bunch of side trails, enjoyed a little picnic lunch, and helped another driver get his truck off of a steep hill.
It turned out that the drive to Crown King wasn't as long as I had thought, and we ended up arriving at 12:00. After some quick discussion we decided to head home a day early, since one and all were exhausted.
All told it was about 7 hours of driving for the loop, and we had a great time. The dogs (who had never been camping) had an absolute blast, and we got to enjoy the peace and quiet of a few days in the forest.
The camera sat idle for most of the trip, as I was entirely too wrapped up in the sound of wind rustling through the trees.
7 comments:
Sounds wonderful! I haven't been camping in sooo long...now I really want to go!
I'm glad you rested the camera so that you could truly rest yourself. What a wonderful little trip.
And dude. You make the most droolworthy camping food. Yuuuum.
If you are very, very quiet you can hear your arteries cloging after eating those burgers.Try Nikki's vegan burgers next time.HaHa.
TeamDennis
Damn Tombo, you even make campfire food look good.
Chickenbells - It was a blast. We are thinking of many more weekend trips out to the woods.
Melissa - Yeah, the camera took a back seat to the moleskine and just relaxing.
And the food turned out surprisingly good, considering we only took one pan.
Dad - Mmmm... but you can't beat the taste! I have a (not so) super secret recipe which was derived from the way you taught me to make them back in the day. :)
Mike - Thanks. It was the first time I have ever cooked over direct camp fire like that. It was interesting having to adjust the heat with both pan location (kind of hard to see, but the firepit is really long so that I had room to work with) and amount of wood. I'll still take a stove with me just in case, but it is fire cooking from now on for me!
oh god those burgers look so good.....
Matthew - yeah they were pretty awesome!
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