We arrived to their home at 9am. They hadn't even started packing the truck yet. It was utter Chaos! We finally got everything packed into their truck and rearranged our car so that there was more room for me and the kids.
After a fuel stop and another stop for worms, we finally arrived to the Noisy Creek campground at close to 1pm. The camp host came and we paid. Thunder storms were starting. I was afraid that we wouldn't get unpacked and set up before the rain started. Thunder was booming all around us since the lake was in a canyon.
Each adult just got to work like someone had assigned a job to do. The children even pitched in. We had our two tents up in a matter of ten minutes or so. Then we went on to help the others unload the truck. We were able to get everything all set up before the actual rain started.
The best investment of optional equipment that we bought would have to be the dinning canopy. Using the dinning canopy we not only had a covered place to sit and eat and prepare food, but also to play cards and other activities. Without this canopy we would have been stuck in the tent a great deal of our trip. By the way, we bought the canopy at K-mart for $9- on sale. The regular price is less than $15-. It is 12'X 12'. A very good purchase in my opinion.
It rained and thundered most of first night. We cooked in frying pans steaks and fried potatoes. It took like 90 mins from start to finish for dinner to cook, eat and do dishes. I can't believe how much everyone, especially kids eat out in the fresh air! It seemed that every time I turned around someone was asking, "what's for dinner? What can I eat? I'm hungry." I am sorry, but I didn't come all this way to spend all my time cooking and doing dishes. Next time, only dinner will be an actual cooked meal. They will just have to get along on sandwiches and chips, or something.
While my S.I.L and I prepared the dinner, the men went to check out the fishing and took the kids. Our campsite was real close to the shore. It was such a beautiful site. You couldn't ask for more beauty in one spot! The swimming area was directly down from our site, though it was not warm enough for anyone to swim. Gorgeous trees everywhere. We did good.
Later that night we had the traditional roasting of marshmallows and made S'mores. The kids just had a blast! By the time we all finally got to bed it must have been around midnight. It didn't seem that late, but I was exhausted. I just wanted to go to sleep!
Day two; June 24,1998
We got up around 6am. The first words out of the kids' mouths was "when do we eat"? Just what I wanted to hear! Again the guys went fishing while the woman cooked. We did like 6 pounds of bacon. Thinking we could keep the bacon warm, we put it in pot on the fire. I bet you can guess what happened next? It totally burned so bad, that you couldn't even tell it was bacon. I was cooking potatoes o'brian. My S.I.L started on the eggs. The guys got back and noticed the bacon. My B.I.L said some remark to my S.I.L and she got all upset and walked off. This almost ended our trip at one night.
While S.I.L cooled off, I cooked the eggs which her kids were not satisfied with, and then proceeded to do the dishes. We then decided that we would go on a hike. We were told that there was a mine or something up the trail not to far. I got the first-aid kit and made all my boys put on jackets. I don't know how far we hiked, but it was not the easiest hike I have ever been on. There was a lot up hill and over sharp rocks. None of us had actual hiking boots so you probably can imagine that it wasn't the most comfortable in the world.
For some reason, I was leading the group and 3 kids then another adult. After we got to the cave or whatever it was, my hubby says something like "do you want to go any further, or is this far enough"? He should have just said, "This is far enough for me, let's start back!" Instead, I misunderstood him and we hiked probably another mile or more. We were all dead tired by the time we got back. My 4 year old was wining and crying most of the way back. It was kind-of scary going down and the path was quite narrow. Looked like a goat trail to me!
Today is my son's Ryan's birthday. He turned four years old. After dinner, he passed out to each person a Little Debbie cup cake. Then we sang Happy birthday to him. He had a great day. Again it rained most of the day. The guys even fished in the rain. I had the kids in bed by 9pm. They must have feel asleep by 9:10pm. I think that's a record for them!
By this time I was really getting sick of the rain. I was cold, and tired, and the baby was bored. All he could do was be held or lie in the porta-crib. My baby is VERY active and likes to bounce around and crawl on the floor. None of this for him. He was miserable and so was I. We almost didn't stay another night, but I wasn't going to ruin everyone's trip because I wanted to go home.
This night, we decided to put our family in one tent instead of using both of them. It got pretty cold the night before. So we packed into the one tent. I went to bed pretty much at the same time as the kids did. My hubby decided to go and do some night fishing. By this time it was raining pretty hard again. Inside our tent the condensation was dripping down the sides of the tent in a steady stream.
Finally around 1am my hubby came to bed. His spot was already getting wet. The tents never had a chance to dry out thurough in between rainstorms. As we tried to sleep, our space inside the tent was getting smaller and smaller. I was uncomfortable as it was with rocks under the tent and no pads. The baby was restless and would only sleep right on my chest or next to me. I felt the water coming near my feet. My space was now contained to my feet pulled up next to my chest. My hubby had to move to the other side of the tent with the boys. The water was coming in that side too. I thought morning would never come.
I looked forward to morning and the baby waking up for a bottle. I knew it would be around 5am and it would be light and we could leave this horrid place that never stops raining. I don't think I slept 45 mins the entire night wondering how much longer. When it finally came, I fed the baby and I was ready to pack up and leave. -But no one else was in a hurry to leave.
Day three; June 25,1998
My oldest son James finally got up. I gladly took him to the bathroom. The baby went back to sleep and joined the rest of the family in the tent. James and I walked around the campground. We came back and the rest were still not up. What was I going to have to do to get these people up? My SIL/BIL's tent sounded like a couple of bears resided inside!
I was getting a bit upset. Finally everyone got up and I was all ready to go. Now I just had to wait for the truck to get loaded. We didn't get out of there until 10am. That was at least 2 hrs too slow for me. I don't think we got 5 miles down the road when I was relaxed enough and went to sleep. I was literally exhausted. I thought I didn't sleep good the first night, but it turned out that was the better sleep that I had of the two nights.
It's now a week since we've been back. We are discussing our next trip. I think the next one will only be one night. My hubby suggested that one. It's just too much to ask of me and the baby at this time. We also will try and go somewhere closer. The last place was around 100 miles away and took right about 2 hr. to get there. At the way I felt on the way home, I wanted to tell my hubby that he could take our 3 older boys and me and the baby would stay home. But he said that's not fair to me! Isn't he a sweetie???
I will be writing more, when I know more. If you've staid this long and read this far, thank you! I hope you weren't too bored! I just wrote this from my memory, and if you were to ask anyone else, it might be a whole different story. Until our next trip, I hope you come back and I will share some more with you!
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