Back from our trip

[GrizzlyTaco]

Well, we're back from our first trip of the year. We left monday morning around 9:00, and we got to the Mojave narrows at 1:00, We made pretty good time. Its 199 miles from our house, and we only used a half a tank of gas getting there. We were in site 10, there were only like 12 other campers there and one of them was a PU, a Clipper. The first day after we set up we took the girls over to the park for awhile then went back to camp and walked down by the lake. The girls got excited because they found a cayote or dog skeleton, every morning they had to go and check on it to make sure it was OK, dont ask me why!! After dinner each night we would start a nice fire and the girls would make smores and roasted marshmallows. On Tuesday we went fishing and the girls were so excited, but once their line was in the water for five minutes they lost interest because they thought they would get a fish on the line in 2 minutes. I told them they need to be patient, but little ones have no patients. I sat for about 3 hours and nothing so i went back to camp for awhile. I went back after 3:00 and tried again and i wound up catching 3 nice trout that were over 3 lbs. each. I was happy!! I cleaned and boned the trout so we seasoned and wrapped them in foil and stuck them on the grill, man were they tasty. The girls dont like fish so they ate chicken legs. On Wednesday i left camp early to go get gas and i had to go to 6 different gas stations to find one that accepted credit cards, they all took debit cards but i dont have one, my wife does and she was at camp with the kids, i finally stopped at an Am/Pm mini mart and they took my credit card, i was glad because i was running on fumes. later we went to AppleBees for lunch and then to a movie, Horton hears a Who, it was a good movie. After that we spent the rest of the time back at camp. The nice thing about the campground is that they lock the gates at 5:00pm so there was no traffic inside the campground so the girls got full run of the place while the wife and I relaxed at camp. We could see them the whole time so we didn't have to worry. Thursday we packed up camp and left around 9:30 and got home around 3:00, we took our time getting home and we stopped in Baker for lunch at the Mad Greek. All in All it was a great trip, no problem, everything in the PU worked with no problems. We cant wait to get out for another trip.......Ed

[AZsix]

Ed,

Glad you guys had a good time. I bet it felt good to get back out camping again. Did you get any pictures you can share?

By stopping in Baker it didn't give you a lot of places to choose from for lunch. There sure isn't a whole lot there. Do they still have the worlds tallest thermometer?

[McCampers]

Sounds like a nice trip.  I'm reminded of how different the US is from coast to coast.  Here in NC most of our camping is of two sorts.  Beach camping (flat with no trees and no space) or woods/mountains ( beatiful trees and creeks and typically more space)  I like the woods the best.  We'll be going the third weekend this month.  We've taken a vow of camping at least one weekend a month this year.

Good trip you had.  It would have only been better with some lawn darts.

[PattieAM]

Glad you had a good trip.  The girls fishing reminds me of 'my first fishing trip' as a kid - we'd gone to Maine, and my father rigged a bamboo pole with string and a hook - and I caught my first fish....and had an absolute temper tantrum cause I couldn't keep him!  I might have been 5-6.

[GrizzlyTaco]

Ed,

Glad you guys had a good time. I bet it felt good to get back out camping again. Did you get any pictures you can share?

By stopping in Baker it didn't give you a lot of places to choose from for lunch. There sure isn't a whole lot there. Do they still have the worlds tallest thermometer?

AZsix, we did have a good time, and you better believe it felt good to get out and camp again, its so nice to just relax and feel no stress, we loved it!! We took pics of the girls at the kids park,but my DW was on the swing going as high as she could and when she let go to see how high she could fly she came down on her side and broke it, you should see the big black and blue mark she has to show for it. It just goes to show you, we're no spring chickens anymore and cant do the things we did 30 plus years ago.
Your right about Baker, there arent to many places to eat. We picked the Mad greek, we love their Gyros. We also picked up some lotto ticket at the little store accross the street, i won 5 bucks from the scratch off cards. The big thermometer at Bun Boys wasn't working at all..........Ed C.

[GrizzlyTaco]

Sounds like a nice trip.  I'm reminded of how different the US is from coast to coast.  Here in NC most of our camping is of two sorts.  Beach camping (flat with no trees and no space) or woods/mountains ( beatiful trees and creeks and typically more space)  I like the woods the best.  We'll be going the third weekend this month.  We've taken a vow of camping at least one weekend a month this year.

Good trip you had.  It would have only been better with some lawn darts.

McCampers, your kind of camping sounds fun, you should try this desert type camping, its different, we dont have the greenery, which i really miss. But i dont miss the mosquitos. I cant find lawn darts here in Vegas, we use to play alot when we lived in Wisconsin. I do have a badmitten set but i forgot to repack it in the PU when i pulled her out for a pre-trip cleaning. I'm going to ask my dad to send me a set of lawn darts from Wisconsin...........Thanks,,,,Ed C.

[McCampers]

Yeah, I'd do the desert thing as well.  I got to see the stars from the Saudi Arabia years ago, and that is something to see.  Being from South Dakota you get to see some awesome stars on the really cold winter nights as well, but who wants to freeze while watching stars.  I guess you guys don't have burn bans in the desert either.  We get those here periodically in the woods.  I like my fire.

[GrizzlyTaco]

Yeah, I'd do the desert thing as well.  I got to see the stars from the Saudi Arabia years ago, and that is something to see.  Being from South Dakota you get to see some awesome stars on the really cold winter nights as well, but who wants to freeze while watching stars.  I guess you guys don't have burn bans in the desert either.  We get those here periodically in the woods.  I like my fire.

We do get the burn ban here every year because its so dry, we've been ia a drought for alot of years now. Once it gets a bit hotter here we'll only be able to cook with propane when camping, no charcole or wood burning fires.

[oreo57]

Ed, sounds like you had a great trip, how were the desert flowers? We'll be heading out friday to Joshua tree for the weekend..should be in the hi 80's /low 60's

[griffsmom]

Ed--congrats on your first trip for '08. If you're willing to drive to Moajve Narrows, you need to come on some campouts with SCCampers--we'll be joining oreo57 and about 9 other families at Joshua Tree this weekend. This will be our 4th or 5th trip out this year! I'm really looking forward to seeing all the stars!--in fact, my planisphere is already packed in the camper!!

Glad to hear you and your family had a great time and great weather. Our group camper there a couple of years ago and it was a totally different experience, but rumor has it that it was all Viking's fault.
 
btw, if you can't find lawndarts, try Blongo

[McCampers]

We do get the burn ban here every year because its so dry, we've been ia a drought for alot of years now. Once it gets a bit hotter here we'll only be able to cook with propane when camping, no charcole or wood burning fires.

I didn't think you could burn sand?  Why would they have a burn ban if there is nothing to burn?  Just curious.

[AZsix]

I didn't think you could burn sand?  Why would they have a burn ban if there is nothing to burn?  Just curious.

I think your idea of the desert is different than what it actually is. We (at least I don't) don't do much camping in the desert during the summer when the temps can be 110-118. But even so the desert does have a lot of brush and cactus that will and does burn every year. Most of the camping here in the summer is up in the mountains among the trees. If you watch the news you will see that we have forest fires every year and many times they destroy homes and businesses. It's up there that the fire restrictions kick in. There are also places where riding atv's is forbidden during high fire alert.

[McCampers]

I think your idea of the desert is different than what it actually is. We (at least I don't) don't do much camping in the desert during the summer when the temps can be 110-118. But even so the desert does have a lot of brush and cactus that will and does burn every year. Most of the camping here in the summer is up in the mountains among the trees. If you watch the news you will see that we have forest fires every year and many times they destroy homes and businesses. It's up there that the fire restrictions kick in. There are also places where riding atv's is forbidden during high fire alert.

Oh I see,  So you camp in the part of the desert that has the trees and brush.  I'm thinking of some "Lawrence of Arabia-type desert"  Shifting sand dunes, Turkish prisons and that sort of thing.  LOL

[GrizzlyTaco]

Ed, sounds like you had a great trip, how were the desert flowers? We'll be heading out friday to Joshua tree for the weekend..should be in the hi 80's /low 60's

To be honest with you i didn't notice the desert flowers. Have a great time in Joshua Tree. We've passed it before but never stopped.......

[GrizzlyTaco]

Ed--congrats on your first trip for '08. If you're willing to drive to Moajve Narrows, you need to come on some campouts with SCCampers--we'll be joining oreo57 and about 9 other families at Joshua Tree this weekend. This will be our 4th or 5th trip out this year! I'm really looking forward to seeing all the stars!--in fact, my planisphere is already packed in the camper!!

Glad to hear you and your family had a great time and great weather. Our group camper there a couple of years ago and it was a totally different experience, but rumor has it that it was all Viking's fault.
 
btw, if you can't find lawndarts, try Blongo

I cant blame it on Brian (TheViking) I know how funny we must have looked trying to set up the PU in 45 mile an hour winds. :J
On our maiden voyage we camped with a bunch of the SsCampers at the Mojave Narrows, that was a great time. We would love to camp with you sometime, our only problem right now is our days off. My DW has Mon and tues off and i have Wed and thurs off. My DW has only beeen working this new job for 5 months so we'll probably have to wait til she get  a full year in at work to get vacation time. So right now we get short trips in when we can, but we'll camp with everyone soon........Ed