The wildfire was still raging, but it was Father's Day weekend. So, when my friend Lisa suggested we take our families backpack camping in the mountains to celebrate, it sounded perfect for our outdoorsy husbands. One night in the mountains at about 10,000 feet. Except, we have dogs. Pampered dogs who have never been camping before. Clyde barks at everything and Bonnie is scared of everything. To bring them? Or not to bring them? Of course, we did.
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| Bifocal Clyde |
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| Shy Bonnie |
Backpacking means loading up absolutely everything you need into a backpack and hiking it up a mountain where it's freaking cold when the sun goes down and you can't have a campfire because of the fire ban. Oh, and of course there's no port-a-potty. That's what the shovel we packed is for. You bury that shit. Clyde loved the hike up and being surrounded by new smells. Which is why he stopped to piss on every tree. It's like stopping to carve "Clyde was here!", so every forest animal would know he's top dog in these here parts. Of course he's cocky because he's never encountered a mountain lion before. The lady on the way down the trail was concerned for our safety with the fires, bears and cougars. "You've got a gun right?" Nope.
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| An extremely rare non-pissing photo |
We found a spot semi-sort-of-flatish for the tents. And extremely, densely treed for the hammocks the boys were dead set on spending the night in. We were sure the night wouldn't go by smoothly. We were right.
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| River's hammock set up |
When camp was set up, it was time to relax before the sun went down.
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| Yin and yang |
Until it was time to eat. We brought vintage 2003 military MRE's to eat. So what if they had expired. Or do they ever expire? I don't think it matters. They're still gross. But we taste tasted sloppy joes, veggies with pasta, meatloaf and formed turkey breast. But that's not even the best part.
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| Mmmmm...meatloaf with mashed potatoes and gravy. |
The Stokes brought dessert. Just add water for a natural high. Ok, we live in Colorado. Did these come from the medicinal store? Is there a special brownie?
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| Apple non-crisp |
While I do believe that these were void of hallucinogenics, the dehydrated food did have other special properties. Flatulagenic ones.
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| Was I leaning in for the photo or was I farting? |
When the sun went down it was time to cozy into our sleeping bags and hammocks. Bonnie and Clyde were sure to snuggle with the girls and help keep them warm. Except one of the girls was ill in the middle of the night. Bonnie. You see, the night before we left when all of our camping stuff was strewn about the house, Bonnie and Clyde got into our camping breakfast. They meticulously opened the sealed package and scarfed down 10 chocolate croissants while we were out of the house. And now Bonnie had the worst case of dog diarrhea. I will spare you the details. The girls, Craig and I froze and got no sleep. River boasted the next morning that he was in fact so hot in his burrito hammock he took his jacket off. We were pissed.
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| Not on the face, I know where that tongue has been |
Despite all this, Bonnie and Clyde were extremely happy. They loved being outside and camping.
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| Daddy's girl |
Both Bonnie and Clyde were rescue dogs and we figure Bonnie was a puppy mill dog. And we think Craig reminds her of someone from her past because she barks at him. No one else, but him. But, today, perhaps because it's Father's Day, she looks at him adoringly. Or maybe because he was the one who got up to let her out to hershey squirt in the middle of the night.
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| Colorado style blunt rolling |
I tried to give Craig a special gift for Father's Day. No, not a brownie. But, dismantling it and packing it while he and Kris took a morning hike with the boys. So, I didn't roll it tight enough. I'm not your typical Coloradan.
Oh well, I tried.
Addendum: When we got home Bonnie was so exhausted she laid in the car too exhausted to get out. Bonnie still is working the chocolate croissants out of her system and crapped all over the slate floor. I cleaned it up prior to writing this post. Getting diarrhea off a slate floor sucks. Don't get a slate floor with dogs or children or vomitous cats. Bonnie has also resumed barking at Craig. But, for one exhausted day, she was Daddy's girl.
6 comments:
When I was in graduate school in Maine, I used to camp a lot - with my two dogs. A collie and a small rescue dog. I guess we irritated someone during the night with a few barks. My sig other was walking on one trail early in the morning and passed a lady to whom she ready to offer a big and sincere good morning to. Before she could say it though, the lady said, 'yip, yip, yip - why didn't you bring ten dogs?' Caught off-guard, my other couldn't think of anything to say, so she just gave her the finger. There are lots of ways to communicate.
One would have thought that the special gift could have kept both of you warm....
I especially love the yin and yan pic :)
Ah, the joy of camping...It looks like the dogs were more work than the kids. Well, Marie, you certainly know how to keep busy !
I'm with Janine, loved the yin and yang pic!
I really SINCERELY admire you and your family for being able to do that sort of thing and not fuss about anything. While reading this post, there was just one thing echoing in my mind: "Marie and her family will totally survive a zombie apocalypse, or any kind of apocalypse for that matter!"
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