Monday, May 24, 2010

Camping Re-Cap!

This weekend was our 12th annual May long camping trip. We go camping on the Victoria day long weekend every year, and we never, ever learn our lesson. We are troopers.

In past years we had endured things like crazy winds, monsoon rain, freezing cold, and frost.

This year we were lucky enough to experience all of those forces of nature on one weekend.

We started our trip on Thursday after work. We met for a quick sub supper, and we were on our way to Buffalo Pound in the pouring (and I mean pouring) rain.

Luckily the rain died down just in time for us to get our tents up. It continued to drizzle as we ate some seeds, had a beer or two, and visited with friends.

On Friday the hubby and I got up early to head to Saskatoon for the day to see my mom in the hospital. I had a chocolate muffin on the way:



Lunch in Saskatoon was a taco salad:







We had a good day with my mom, and made it back to the campground for a late dinner of smokies and salad:



In the evening I snacked on crispy minis. I had a very cold sleep.

Saturday was a very cold and rainy day. We spent all our time huddled around the fire, or trying to escape to cook under a leaky tarp.

We had eggs and bacon for breakfast:



Mac and cheese for lunch (no pics of my mac and cheese, but I do have some of Heather and Jocelyn eating theirs!!)


(Heather)


(Joceyln)

In the afternoon we snacked on chips, and made friends with squirrels, who were so friendly that they would eat treats out of our hands!



Dinner was a hamburger, and some potatoes:



I had a late night hot dog as well.

On Sunday morning we woke up to WILD winds. Heather found the dining tent like this:



The winds were so bad that the hubby had to cook pancakes in the vestibule of our tent!


(He does not look happy :-( - I am the one in the pink).

We all crowded into one tent and ate our pancakes on the bed. I had grape juice and coffee with mine.

I had a burger for lunch, and some pasta with mushrooms and Alfredo sauce for dinner.

Later on Sunday night when the wind finally stopped (after about 80km winds all day) I wanted BACON!! I had a genius plan to cook 2 trays of bacon on the fire at 10 p.m..

I almost devoured it raw ...



Until I realized how disgusting that would be :-)



Don't be fooled by my style - the garbage bag is not a new fashion trend.

It is simply my bacon grease splatter protector. I will sell you one for $30.



WARNING: Bacon grease + fire = BIG fire!!



With our bellies full of bacony goodness, there was only one more thing I needed.

Cheese.

I snagged a slice from Heather and Jocelyn, and went to bed happy.
And cold.

This morning we got up, showered, and packed everything up to go home. I had a juice and 1/2 a glo-bar in the process. We stopped for brunch on the way home, where I had 1 of these lovely pancakes:



With about 3/4 of this:



For dinner this evening I made Greek chicken with bulgur and creamed corn:





Dessert was a tiny serving of maple walnut ice cream and an orange:



Although it was a cold, rainy, and windy camping trip, I still had fun because I was with awesome friends!! I can't wait for our next camping trip in July!

A couple of our very best friends (who we usually camp with) didn't come on this camping trip, and today is their wedding anniversary!



Happy 2nd Anniversary Jeff and Alaina!!

Exactly one week from today, I will be running my first 5k.

The problem is that I haven't been training.

I only made it half-way through the C25k program before I got frustrated with the program, and life started getting crazy. The most I have ever ran straight is 5 minutes, so for the race I plan on doing a run/ walk for the entire race. If I have to walk a lot, I am totally okay with that. I am clearly not shooting for a good time here - I just want to get out and move.

How was your weekend? Have you ever slept outside in a tent when it was close to zero degrees? Would you ever want to?

I don't recommend it!

17 comments:

Anonymous said...

You are CRAZY. That is why I love to read your blog. :) I don't "do outdoors"...seriously..I'm a city girl..I'll try it again but in those conditions? HECK NO!! Good for you though!

Anonymous said...

Great weekend here as we had beautiful sunny weather! I was a cub and boy scout and tree planted one summer so yes I've slept in a tent a few times when it was freezing! IT's not too bad if you have a good sleeping bag. I had a nice 5lb sleeping bag so always was comfy. Sounds like a great trip you have each year!

Simply Life said...

ha, I love the new fashion trend you're starting :) Looks like a fun weekend!

Debbi Does Dinner Healthy said...

Doesn't sound like a fantastic camping trip! At least the weather didn't sound good at all. My one and only camping trip was very cloudy and cool with big thunderstorms all night long. Not pleasant at all. All 3 kids were terrified and I didn't get any sleep and won't be repeating it. Ever.

Heather Iacobacci-Miller said...

Girl, you're better than me. I would so have turned around and gone home! So I guess that answers the question about camping when it's cold LOL!

Lindsay @ http://pancakesnpajamas.blogspot.com/ said...

I haven't done much camping at all, but I would def give it a shot. I look at the cold temps as less bugs to deal with! ;)

Anonymous said...

I've never slept outside when it was that cold, but I don't know if I'd want to!

Kelsey said...

those ARE friendly squirrels <3 im still trying to get the ones in the backyard to come and eat out of my hand!
oh im in love with that deliciously plump chocolate muffin! theyre so perfect on the go!
and thats probably the best mac and cheese ive ever seen, straight out of the pot!! love that!
omg i remember sleeping out in a tent in freezing weather.. always have to go pee when its cold.. not fun!

kacy said...

I hate camping. I wish I liked it, but I hate it. You're very brave!

I have to say I might be more open to the camping thing if I had such delish food though. You guys really did it right!

Kat said...

Sounds like quite a trip! We have never camped in elements like that...my dads house in the summer is alway 100+ degrees...but man you guys ate good! We live off cereal, sandwhiches, and peanut butter pretzels lol
Good luck on your run lady. I am glad you are still going through with it even though your training has been off. I am sure you will suprise yourself once you get there!!

winkingannie said...

I'm on the C25K program and just did my five minute run. Hard.

I think it's a good plan to run/walk the 5K.

Have fun!

sophia said...

You are SO adventurous. I love that! I HATE camping...because I'm so spoiled...and the last camping trip, I went with a bunch of Asians who brought along a RICE COOKER!!! What the heck!! I want bacon and pancakes, damn it, just like you did!

Toni @ Imperfect Pregnancy said...

The weekend was good! Worked and then spent Sunday with the Man for our anniversary. :) His family is all going camping this upcoming weekend. I hope the weather fairs better for us. Haha. I would die if it was that cold and we were camping.

Anonymous said...

I used to go winter camping all of the time, why, I don't know!

Jessica @ The Process of Healing said...

Wow girl, I can't imagine!! I'm not terribly a huge fan of camping.. I like running water!

Alaina said...

Thanks for the Happy Anniversary Wishes dear!!! Kind of missed camping but not as much as if it had been anywhere decent out. Missed the friendship anyways. We ate so much at our cabin and out at Hopkins' in Moose Jaw and then even had gellato yesterday. SO GOOD!

Amber said...

Brrrr! You crazies ;) I gave up on May Long Weekend camping a lonnnnnggg time ago when I realized that May Long Weekend in Canada is NEVER really nice!! It SNOWED over a foot in my hometown last weekend! Yikes!

Looks like you troopers had fun though! :)