Ahh...it was finally cool enough to spend the day at our favorite camping spot. This is the first time we have camped out there since we moved to Yucca Valley. It was kinda weird only having to drive an hour to get there instead of three or four. :))
We got there after dark on Friday, played with fire awhile, ate dinner, and went to bed. We are early risers out there and no one sleeps in when you are all in the same room.
Saturday was filled with adventure. After spending a good hour teasing Tom about eating all the donuts before he got out of bed, Dan and Jake decided to go for a hunt. Tom got out of bed quickly then and they were off. A cup of coffee later, I went for a look see up to our "family monument" at the top of the hill. No one has been there, but I expected that. It has been too hot to be walking around the lower desert like that. Nikki stayed behind and gathered her thoughts. While I was on the hill I met up with the boys and we worked our way back to camp.
Snacks! Or what we call "Second Breakfast". The boys fought and played with the rockets a while. I started reading "The Lonesome Gods" to the whole family and they were riveted. I ready four chapters!
After lunch we went on a long walk to try and get to the base of the hills in the west. We found a baby horned toad! Jake said his new boots were hurting, so Nikki went back with him. Dan and Tom and I made it! We found the camp where we saw some campfires the night before. There was junk everywhere. Dan and Tom had a shooting contest. Tom is an awesome shot with the pellet gun. He nailed both shots.
That night we made a big fire after dinner and read by the fire some more. Lots of fun was had singing disgusting songs and cracking rude jokes until Dan could take it no more. The boys played with lighting things on fire for a long time and then we hit the hay.
Sunday I searched and searched for our rabbit grave but still couldn't find it. I was very disappointed. I was telling Dan that next time we do that I will have to make a better grave marker with something "unnatural" so I can find it easier. Then I went for another walk and found it! I did make a better grave last time! I had totally forgotten about it. Last time we dug it up, I had a hard time finding the pile of rocks, so I made a bigger pile when we covered it up and put a piece of cut wood in the middle of it so that I would be sure when I saw it.
Digging that grave up was SO fun. We kept finding all these bones and bits of fur. Tom found one piece of the skull a few feet away from the grave on the ground, so something must have gotten to some of last time. It was white from the sun. We kept trying to figure out what things were and how they went together. I kept thinking out loud, "Can you imagine trying to figure out how these bones went together if you didn't know what kind of animal it was?" "What if we just found this pile of bones and it was a thousand years old instead of a year?" It was fun playing archaeologist for the morning. We kept the bones and this week we are going to look it up online and see if we can't identify some of the pieces. :)
We came home around noon on Sunday. It was a nice trip and we look forward to going out again. I don't know why I love it out there, but I do. Something about the solitude I guess. You would think that living out here would diminish the effect of camping out there, but it doesn't. It is still a special place. I just love it.
We got there after dark on Friday, played with fire awhile, ate dinner, and went to bed. We are early risers out there and no one sleeps in when you are all in the same room.
Saturday was filled with adventure. After spending a good hour teasing Tom about eating all the donuts before he got out of bed, Dan and Jake decided to go for a hunt. Tom got out of bed quickly then and they were off. A cup of coffee later, I went for a look see up to our "family monument" at the top of the hill. No one has been there, but I expected that. It has been too hot to be walking around the lower desert like that. Nikki stayed behind and gathered her thoughts. While I was on the hill I met up with the boys and we worked our way back to camp.
Snacks! Or what we call "Second Breakfast". The boys fought and played with the rockets a while. I started reading "The Lonesome Gods" to the whole family and they were riveted. I ready four chapters!
After lunch we went on a long walk to try and get to the base of the hills in the west. We found a baby horned toad! Jake said his new boots were hurting, so Nikki went back with him. Dan and Tom and I made it! We found the camp where we saw some campfires the night before. There was junk everywhere. Dan and Tom had a shooting contest. Tom is an awesome shot with the pellet gun. He nailed both shots.
That night we made a big fire after dinner and read by the fire some more. Lots of fun was had singing disgusting songs and cracking rude jokes until Dan could take it no more. The boys played with lighting things on fire for a long time and then we hit the hay.
Sunday I searched and searched for our rabbit grave but still couldn't find it. I was very disappointed. I was telling Dan that next time we do that I will have to make a better grave marker with something "unnatural" so I can find it easier. Then I went for another walk and found it! I did make a better grave last time! I had totally forgotten about it. Last time we dug it up, I had a hard time finding the pile of rocks, so I made a bigger pile when we covered it up and put a piece of cut wood in the middle of it so that I would be sure when I saw it.
Digging that grave up was SO fun. We kept finding all these bones and bits of fur. Tom found one piece of the skull a few feet away from the grave on the ground, so something must have gotten to some of last time. It was white from the sun. We kept trying to figure out what things were and how they went together. I kept thinking out loud, "Can you imagine trying to figure out how these bones went together if you didn't know what kind of animal it was?" "What if we just found this pile of bones and it was a thousand years old instead of a year?" It was fun playing archaeologist for the morning. We kept the bones and this week we are going to look it up online and see if we can't identify some of the pieces. :)
We came home around noon on Sunday. It was a nice trip and we look forward to going out again. I don't know why I love it out there, but I do. Something about the solitude I guess. You would think that living out here would diminish the effect of camping out there, but it doesn't. It is still a special place. I just love it.
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