Camping!

In early August we went camping with our good friends David and Natalie and their puppy, Monkey. We went to their super secret spot in the Unitas, seeking relief from the heat and an excuse for smores. Also, this was Jackson's very first camping trip, and also his very first night not sleeping in his crate, a source of worry for me at least. This is a dog that does not self calm.


The ride to the secret spot was about as bumpy as one can imagine and took at least an hour. I tried to pretend it was a shiatzu massage, but after 20 minutes of the jump and jolt and large puppy in my lap, I was ready to be there already! The site was beautiful though, right next to the lake and completely secluded. After setting up camp we went for an adventure hike. Jackson pulled on his leash the whole time, despite our efforts to convince him this was not getting him anywhere faster. We did lots of exploring and saw some very beautiful sights.
Chris proudly displays his 'catch of the day' here.


Back at camp David and Natalie whipped up some tasty fajitas with tasty sides. Chris and I usually call grilled sausages dinner, so this was a treat. We stayed up a bit late, amusing ourselves and snacking on smores. Jackson took a long time to calm down. It's understandable, with all of nature to chew on. Bedtime came and Jackson was finally tired enough to just crash next to our bed. The first night of camping is always crappy for me, and this was no exception. I woke everytime Jackson stirred and Chris told him to lay back down. As soon as the sunrise hit, the dog was up and barking at all the fun nature he was missing. Chris took one for the team and got up with him, went for a long walk, and kept him from obscene early morning barking. Before long Monkey was up as well and at that point, sleep was pointless. I sat in a daze for a few hours while Chris made us some tasty breakfast. We spent the morning in varying degrees of lazy, reading, snoozing in the hamock, chewing sticks. We packed up in anticipation of heading down the mountain and picnicing at Mirror Lake. A wrench was thrown into our plans when upon immediately exiting the campsite David hit a sharp rock and blew out his tire. Natalie and I took the dogs for a short walk and returned to see the boys hunched over directions, never a good thing. Apparently he had the wrong sized wrench for the lugnuts. I pulled out the cooler and chairs, expecting a long wait. Luckily two guys on ATVs were in the area and they managed to hammer the wrench on and yank that tire off. It was about an hour long adventure, one that I was happy to watch from the sidelines. Back down the mountain we went (much slower this time) and we parted ways with our friends to continue on to Mirror Lake. I hadn't seen Mirror Lake before, and being so close we opted to make the half hour drive. It was busy. There were people. But it was pretty. We stopped at a waterfall on the way home, content in all the adventures we had had that weekend. Jackson passed out on the way home, sleeping in the crook of my arm, having had the best weekend of his life.

The next morning while leaving for work we discovered the Jeep had a totally flat tire. Apparently the tire wall had been weakened and had a slow leak. We had hit the rock that did David in as well, and it was the only logical culprit. Rock = 2, Burley Vehicles = 0.