Vacation

Like a dough-head I didn't take my camera on vacation.  Duh!  Tom had his so once we get a bit more unpacked I might see if he'll let me steal a couple of photos.

So let's see, we drove a total of about 2400 miles there and back.  That's a lot of miles now that I look at the numbers.  That is roughly six days of driving in the car.  We crammed both kids and the dog into the back seat, all of our stuff in the back and took off.  Camping went surprisingly well.  I still really want to make a camp kitchen box that packs and unpacks easier than the big plastic container we had with us.  It worked but it was quite the puzzle to pack and unpack.  Unpacking wasn't too bad but in the morning the packing stunk.  Especially if I hadn't had coffee yet.

Besides the puzzle of a kitchen box though things went really well.  The kids were crazy excited about not only sleeping next to each other but to be sleeping in a tent and in the same area as Mom and Dad.  This meant most nights the kids weren't down before 10 p.m. when they are normally out by about 8-9.  It worked out as it prepped them for a couple of weeks of party time for their aunt's wedding.  They didn't usually get to bed until well after 11 p.m. most nights.  Oh well.  I suppose that is what vacation is for.

Let's see... We ended up buying an airbed for Tom and I.  Yep, we wimped out.  Thank goodness we did since most of our campgrounds didn't have the most comfortable spots to set up tents.  I think next go around we'll try to get some sort of pad or mattress for the kids too.  Maybe they'll sleep sooner if we do that.  So really we ended up with two big plastic tubs, the cooler, and the tent besides our clothing bags.  It was interesting packing us for camping, travelling, and a wedding and all the extras that go with a wedding.  It meant we had a ridiculous amount of clothing.  Otherwise though we ended up not really having much.

I do wish we would have gotten a couple of camp chairs for comfort sake but for space I'm glad we didn't have them.  Also, I should have thrown in an extra tarp.  With some of the rain we ran into we could have used it to cover our stuff in the truck. 

All in all we ended up camping 3 nights outdoors, 2 nights in our Montana house, and we spent 1 night in a motel.  That was on our way home, it was pouring rain, and we didn't want to pack and unpack a bunch of times so our first night was in a hotel around Post Falls.  We only paid for camping one night too.  Our other camp spot was a free one along the river in Columbus, MT.  A very nice spot that was well run by the city.  There were bathrooms, water, and even wood for the campfires if you wanted.  Not a bad way to go while travelling.

Overall thoughts for vacation:  We had a lot of fun.  We got to see lots of people we haven't seen in ages.  We met some really nice people.  And last but not least we are really happy to be home.  Our weeds have tried to overtake the backyard/garden especially but the mower is taking care of that today.  I have loads of peas to harvest, carrots to thin, and bunnies to chase off (I found their evidence around my tomatoes this morning). 

Now that we are home we are in the market for a puppy, two kittens to go mouse hunting, and 3 chickens.  Although we discovered we apparently had a pretty good wind storm that knocked the coop over so we'll have to find a good way to anchor that before we get chickens.

I'd better get going on some lunch for my sweet husband who has been mowing all morning.  I'll continue updating on our vacation as I get time.