An Adventure To Remember!!! Happy 9th Birthday Isaiah!!

CAMPING!!! That's a great word and a great subject! I wish I could post more about it but we don't get to do it very often!!

We went camping at Casper's Wilderness Park for Isaiah's 9th birthday! It was a beautiful 8,000 acre camping park with tons and tons of open space, trees, rocks and fresh air!!! ( For those of you, my blog friends who live in the country, it may seem like I'm making a big fuss about trees, fresh air etc. but we don't even live on an acre! We live in the busy city, on a busy street, so to us, it is a big deal!!!)

(The whole family had asked Isaiah what he wanted for his birthday and his wish had been a hiking trip. So Daddy and Mama were able to organize a camping/hiking trip! Here are Natey and Isaiah, excited and ready!)

True to the title we had an adventure and here it is......



Jumping into the car, we were all packed and soon driving down the freeway. Mama was a bit nervous as this was her first time pulling a trailer hitched to a 15 passenger van! She asked us to remain quiet until we had pulled out of the driveway and were on the freeway. So there we all sat, watching stores, homes, businesses, and cars fly past the window. I pulled out the cell phone, dialed the number of a good friend and was soon talking. It was her birthday and so we had surprised her by singing to her when she answered her phone. Our conversation lasted for awhile until there was a loud noise behind us and then a horrible scraping sound! My sister gasped and Mama and Ryan both said " What was that???" My friend, of course, heard it all and wanted to know if everything was ok! I quickly asked her if I could call her back later and shut the phone. Mama had stopped at the noise and Ryan jumped out of the van. He soon returned telling us that the trailer ball had come unhitched from the van. Now we were stuck! We needed to pull that trailer to the campsite, however the trailer would not go anywhere by itself and the trailer had hit the cement! Turning the the crank to lift it off the ground the pin holding it popped out and out came the handle! Looking up, the GPS told Mama we were only 4.2 miles from our destination! ( How discouraging!) It all happened to fast it seemed like and before we knew it, we were stopped on Ortega Highway and had held up traffic for 2 hours! The Lord sent a highway patrol officer to help us out and to direct traffic and to call for a tow truck. Daddy came from work and the problem was soon discovered and fixed. We all thanked the Officer and Tow Truck man and were back on the road again.



I personally think that the "adventure" was of the Lord to keep us from hitting the horrible traffic we saw on the opposite side of the road when we finally got going again! The cars were at a complete stop and so as soon as we came down the road they all wanted to know what was going on, Mama and I panicked thinking we were the cause of this horrible traffic! There had been a motorcycle accident during our adventure and so we were relived to know it was not us who had caused this! It was kinda funny to watch as Mama drove by car after car shouting "Motorcycle Accident!" but one can't do that forever and so soon Mama gave up. We arrived safely at the site, unhitched the trailer and went to town for some supplies.

Ryan, setting the tent up....(Daddy Mama, the little ones and Katie all slept in the trailer.)

The trailer....

Ryan fixing something on a bike....

My friend, Stinging Nettle( once it touches your skin, it immediately stings you and produces large swollen bumps which itch and hurt, as I found out!).....not really a friend but it was the first plant to greet me, and I would much have preferred another plant's greeting to its'!

We had our first fire when we got back around 11:00pm! Not the usual time for a fire, but with our road adventure we had lost alot of time. We enjoyed a lovely dinner of "Macaroni Bake", a special dinner we can't always have! We roasted "Cheddar Worst" and marshmallows over our fire which took us awhile to get going...we needed liter fluid! Late as it was we retired quite soon.

Cheddar Worst, anyone?

Daddy and Timothy. (That little guy just keeps growing! He'll be one in 7 days!!!)

Two of the group who braved the cold: Daniel and Isaiah.

RyKy and I.

Originally, Ryan, Daniel and Isaiah were going to sleep in the tent. However I was not about to let them have all the excitement and fun! I joined them, and though it was cold and I almost regretted it, when bedtime came again, I was ready for another night in the tent!

I woke up twice during the night, but every time Ryan was always awake before me. (We always try to see who wakes up first when we go camping and Ryan always seems to win. I think he must never sleep!j/k!) Ryan always has a story to share and so, because I was laying in the tent he had used on a desert trip with some guys from church, I listened to his adventures at the desert with Coyotes and such. He did such a good job telling me that at the end of his story, I was almost afraid to go to sleep!

(No, this is not blue screened in...)"After night comes day." True as this saying is we had a lovely view in the morning and afternoon from our screen.

Breakfast.....oatmeal and strawberries with orange juice.

We wanted to take a hike, and though we planned to we never actually did! However we had a great time at the playground! I actually played on it! I'm so glad you all were not there you would have just stood there with your mouth gaping.....really. They had a really neat slide and tire swing. The zip-line and teeter totter were so much fun! ( the Zip-line holds a story in itself...)

Three brothers, or should I say three partners???

Mama, Ryan, Katie and I walked to the park and met up with the ones on bicycles.

Isaiah, loving that tire-swing! ( Don't you love that face?) I really wanted to ride it but I never got a chance!

The last happy moment...

(a few seconds after this shot Natey got to the end of the line and let go, fell and broke his wrist. I felt so bad as you can see, I was right behind him and should have been holding him. Poor guy, but he told me he still loves me, "because" he said, "the Bible says to love your enemies."

Ryan and Caytlin on the teeter-totter and yes, I got on it.....later.

Isaiah's Birthday cake!~ Before..

Blow, buddy, blow!

Two of the many squirrels and rabbits we saw.

Biking was a great source of enjoyment!

It was beautiful out there so I took alot of pictures. I could not upload all of them but here is a link to the rest! http://picasaweb.google.com/beautyforHimonly/CasperSWildernessPark#

Isaiah had a great birthday and we all enjoyed camping for two days, biking, exploring and shooting picture!! It was a special day and even with all that happened...we are looking forward to doing it again as a family and maybe with our church!!!!!

And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are called according to his purpose. (KJV)

Romans 8:28