Marshmallows and Moonlight!

Week 9: What was a favorite place to go with your family when you were young?

When I was young, my favorite place to go with family was camping. I have so many memories of packing up the car and heading out onto the open road - jammin' out to Steve Miller Band on our way to some remote location in Utah, or along the shore at Lake Mead. Some of the most memorable places that we went camping were Navajo Lake, Duck Creek, Zion (all in Utah), Lake Tahoe, and this place at Lake Mead that we called Muddy Mountain. 

I remember tin foil dinners, roasting marshmallows for s'mores, singing songs around the camp fire, and sleeping in sleeping bags in our big, six-man tent. I even remember throwing sleeping bags in the back of my dad's old, blue, Ford pickup and sleeping under the stars with my brothers a few times. When we got a little older, my parents bought a tent trailer, but most of my memories of camping as a child involved less modern methods of camping - and "roughing it" out in the the good ol' outdoors. 

I remember hiking up to the Emerald Pools in Zion, and checking out the icicle caves at Navajo Lake - the water in the lake being so cold, we'd joke it would turn your skin blue. Haha. I remember taking our shampoo and other toiletries into the bathroom to use the campground showers, exploring the woods for so long - and almost getting lost several times, playing in the river that runs along the campground at Zion, and trying to swim across Duck Creek, realizing that it was actually a LOT further across than it looked. lol.

I remember telling scary stories around the campfire, and then being afraid to get up in the middle of the night to use the restroom. Haha. I remember making bacon and eggs for breakfast on a cast iron skillet, then roasting apples with red hots in tin foil for dessert after dinner. 

I remember going camping once (this time in our tent trailer) out at Mission Bay (near San Diego) and renting these big three-wheel pedal boat things. My younger brother and I pedaled our way out to the middle of the bay and started goofing around, rocking that pedal boat back and forth so hard until it finally tipped over. We laughed and laughed for a minute, then both of us remembered we were out in the middle of the bay. Our eyes went wide as we yelled, "SHARKS!" Then started scampering back up onto the pedal boat...as if there were actually a shark on our tails. To this day, my mom jokes that she never saw two kids move so fast in all her life. Haha. Good times. 

Most of all; though, I remember spending time with my family, creating amazing memories, and having the time of my life. Thinking about it makes me kind of sad that we don't go camping more now as a family. Z's crazy work schedule kind of makes it difficult to make a lot of weekend getaways, but we have some fun camping trips planned for this summer that I am really looking forward to. It's definitely time to remedy the situation and get out around that campfire - for some good ol' marshmallows and moonlight. ;)

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