FAMILY CAMPING TRIP!

Camping has always been a way for our immediate family to enjoy a vacation the frugal way. In the early years of our marriage we tent camped, and then we obtained a Coleman pop-up tent trailer from my sister and brother-in-law when they no longer needed it as they had purchased a cabin near Heber. We used that pop-up for years and were very sad to sell it several years ago when we needed the money more than the tent trailer!

For a few summers, we have been able to join Vince's brother's family campouts and have now come full circle: Vince and I are back to tent camping. We bought a great 10-man tent when our children weren't married yet, thinking we would need plenty of room for them and their friends or "significant others"! Well, nowadays, the 10-man tent is REALLY roomy for the two of us! We almost get lost in there! Frankly, the older I get, the closer I am to the "holiday inn" kind of camping, or perhaps a nice-little-cabin-in-the-woods-kind-of-camping!

In June 2010, Vince and I were invited to join his brother Arthur and family on a camping trip. Our nephew Josh reserved two nice campsites in Canyon Point Campground on Highway 87, between Payson and Heber. It is beautiful up there, the smell of the pines, cool breezes, and thunder showers in the afternoons (or evenings!) Canyon Point is one of the few really nice campgrounds that also has shower facilities! That is a definite plus! Here is our HUGE tent. We enjoyed great campfires, wonderful food which we all shared, and great fellowship with family!
One day we went off-roading to explore the high desert areas around Heber...what an adventure! Nephew Austin brought along his girlfriend Giana and a metal-detector to find buried treasure! My sister-in-law Dianne and I were searching for Indian pottery shards and found some buried in the sand from some "lost civilization"!
Vince was able to go fishing with Art and his family. Josh took this nice photo of Vince in his float tube!

Another day, after my niece Natalie arrived with her girlfriend and dog Effie, the gang went target shooting...and had a great time until the cows moved into their target range! Oops! Luckily no one was injured in the confrontation! In fact, the cows didn't seem to mind at all!
One night we roasted hotdogs over the campfire...there's nothing like it!
One of the favorite camping foods is, of course, "somemores"! Vince doesn't eat marshmallows, so I got to eat his too!Here's Josh enjoying his somemore!

And here is Josh with his fiance Beth, enjoying a special moment while we were packing up on Sunday...the least favorite part of camping! ;-)

Here is Dianne with her grand-dog Effie...we were bundled up warm as it was quite chilly in the mountains!
Art and Austin have developed quite a checklist for camping trips, and here Giana and Austin are checking the list, and checking it twice...

I enjoyed alot of reading and relaxing, but my favorite part is being with family and catching up on everyone's busy lives!