Camping Adventures!

I finally got to mark something off my bucket list! Van Camping! I had put it off all summer, procrastinating, which I'm good at. Finally in October, I knew there wouldn't be many more sunny 3-day periods of time, so I knew if I didn't go in October, I probably couldn't until next late spring. I needed to "pull up my boot straps" and JUST DO IT.

NOTE: The "adventure" was more in the getting ready, than it was to actually camp.

My Van had been parked under fir trees all winter, so first I had to wash it, inside and out.

"Before" picture, but I had already started washing it. It was COVERED from head to toe in fir tree needles! It took forever to get them all off.

Finished! Much better!

And of course clean out the inside, wash bedding, wash windows and dust everything, shake out rugs, and reorganize, plus go through tubs in my shed to get stuff I thought I might need. I spent two days doing that!

Then I decided to finish a little shelf I had started last year, to put over my wheel well, so that I would have a little cooking surface.

How hard is it to screw screws from the top part, to hold the legs on? Apparently for me, it was hard! It took quite awhile.

Voila! Done!

Oh she looked so clean before I brought in all the stuff!

I spent two weeks looking for "safe" places to go by myself. Even two years ago, I felt more brave to go it alone. But now, two years later, I'm not real anxious to go out there alone, to public campgrounds! So I tried to find a place on hipcamp.com, which is kind of like a camping air b and b. Private people and families who have land, or space, even if only an acre, set up camp sites for tenters and RVer's. Some places may have a cute cabin or two, or yurts or dome tents. I felt those types of places would be more private and safe. Of course, they charge an arm and a leg for it! I could have stayed in a motel for the same price (almost).I finally decided on one only 23 miles from where I lived. That way, I was not too far away from my son, in case I needed help!

And bless his heart, he actually came out to the camp the first afternoon, (after I was set up).. to see where I would be, plus build a nice fire for me, and we roasted hot dogs and s'mores. That was the highlight of my day!

Such a nice fire. Such a nice son!

My campsite was at the end of a gravel road, only about 1/2 mile off the main highway, but seemed so secluded and private and was very quiet. I had searched high and low for a quiet place, but many of the hipcamp places in my area were close to a highway it seemed.

I was the only one there, out of about 12 sites! We had just had 3 days of rain, so I suppose camping in the wet (with a tent) wasn't very appealing. I had dreamed of camping in the woods the entire time I lived in Madras (central Oregon which is hot and dry and no woods), and I sure got the woods... plus the bonus was a little creek that ran right by my site. I was parked about 20 feet from the creek. That was really sweet.

I was a little leary of camping by myself, so decided to only stay one night. The check-in time was early on the 1st day, and check-out time was late on the 2nd day, so I had almost 2 full days there. The first day I got there, was sunny and beautiful.

I was tucked in a deep canyon. The creek ran down a little "gorge" (very tiny) and there was a waterfall up a trail. I did a little exploring.

Sweet bench where I sat for a bit, to listen to the gurgling creek.

The waterfall is to the right of the bench, up a little ways, but can't see it in this photo.

Then to set up camp. I must say, at that moment, I was in Heaven!

Looking across from my camp, to the footbridge. So pretty, and quiet and peaceful, and the sound of the creek was music to my ears.

Picture taken from the footbridge.

I brought 2 chairs. Just as I was going to start the fire, my son came. I had brought 3 packs of firewood, and he brought 2! Just think of the work loading everything into the Van! That part was not fun.

Look at the neat round "swing" basket that was in my camp spot! It was hanging from a rather sketchy looking branch from one of the old mossy alders, but my son tested it and it was fine. I never did brave it though.

We had a few hours of a wonderful bonfire, and roasted hot dogs. I had made a potato salad, and brought all the fixings for s'mores. We were both so full of the food, we didn't have room for marshmallows and chocolate. My son headed home around 10 p.m. I was alone.

After the sun went down and it got dark, it became pretty cold. I think that night was 45 degrees. I was afraid I'd be cold in the Van as the heater I brought could not plug in to the inverter, and just in case, had brought lots of blankets! Bottom line: I didn't have a very good night as I was too hot! I had piled maybe 5 blankets on me and wore my clothes to bed, and the entire night, I was literally "stuck" in that bed in one position and couldn't move or turn over. I hate wearing clothes to bed as then  you stick to the covers. It's like being in one of those mummy sleeping bags!

I did throw two blankets off of me, but still was hot most of the night and was too "stuck" in bed to try to get up and take off my (too warm) clothes. I woke up early, probably starting at 5:00. Then would doze, and wake up at 6, then doze, wake up at 7. I finally made myself get up at 8:00! Early for me!

My pretty messy van. I didn't take time to clean up stuff or make the bed properely. This was right before going to bed.

It WAS very cozy inside... just hadn't taken the time to organize it very well.

I woke up to a very misty, cold, damp morning. Typical beach weather really. Being back in that canyon, I don't think anything ever dries out either! (plus it had rained for 3 days 2 days before I camped).  It was soaking wet outside on all of my stuff. Could not sit at the picnic table.. the bench was wet, the tablecloth was wet, as if it had rained (but it didn't)... my camp chairs were soaked, so I felt pretty displaced and grumpy.

No firewood left to make a fire, the heater I did bring didn't fit into the receptacle in my inverter (I was so smug with myself, as was sure I'd have heat if I needed it!). And yes it was cold outside when I got up! My little electric water pot plug-in didn't fit either. It was 3 pronged, and my inverter is not set up for that.. so no hot tea in the morning!

Here I am, sitting on the edge of the Van steps, looking pretty dejected.

I'm trying to look  happy, but it was SO wet and damp! I didn't quite know what to do with myself.

One thing..... when you're camping alone, and wake up in the morning to a pretty dismal day, it's not a whole lot of fun. You aren't sharing it with someone, or laughing about it, or sitting by the nice warm fire or having your cup of hot tea. I just sat there and all I wanted to do was pack up and go home! 

I did sit there for awhile, and enjoyed the creek sounds. My hot water electric pot did not work, so no tea, and I was in no mood to drag out my mini toaster oven and try to cook something. My little cooking "counter" was buried in stuff. I did go for a little walk down the road, along the creek. That was nice.

Some things I did enjoy and appreciate:

• The quiet
• The sounds of the gurgling creek
• The deep woods and huge trees
• The bonfire at night
• Having my son there with me
• Knowing I had managed to do this all by myself

I think by 10:00, I was packing up, and all I wanted to was to get out of that damp canyon and go home and have my hot tea and something to eat! I definitely had not planned the food thing very well. I hated to admit that I DID like the comforts.

As I drove home, I had a whole different outlook on Van camping, and whether I wanted to do it (alone) again or not. I stopped at a little cafe close to home, and got some nice hot chai tea, and by then the sun was out.

Needless to say, I was glad that adventure was over!  I was glad I went though, as I DID get to check that off my bucket list.... and I proved to myself I COULD do it all alone, but it did make me realize that camping alone is not a whole lot of fun. I pretty much thought if I did it again, it would be with my son and his fiance, or friends (if I could find anyone who likes to camp). Also, at my age, it's not so romantic to "camp out in the wilderness" as it was when we were in our 20's and 30's! And no one I know, at this point in time, who is around my age, even WANTS to camp!

And that's my story for now....

Until next time........

ALL CONTENT © PINK PAPER COTTAGE.

PLEASE DO NOT COPY MY PHOTOS AND IMAGES INTO YOUR OWN POSTS WITHOUT FIRST LINKING TO THIS BLOG AND MY NAME.

Camping experience.

Hi all..... just a quick post, since I've been remiss with posting and in pretty much of a fog and funk since my sister's death, and then my husband's cousin's death.

My hubby and I did actually go camping once this summer. It was shortly after my husband's cousin's death and we had already made the reservations and paid, so decided to go.  We had gotten the very last tent site when I called, that was available for the 3 nights my sister and husband were going. It was also right across the road from their site! I think it was fate that we were able to get that spot. You see... we have a new "toy" and wanted to try it out and figured this might be the last time this summer we could do that.

Here's our new old toy.  It's a 1999 Dodge Ram 1500 Mark III Van and we found it just by accident. After we got rid of our 5th wheel trailer, we didn't plan to really get anything else, although we had thought how nice a van would be for some short travels, but really weren't going to pursue it!  I saw it for sale on the side of the road, checked it out, it was in very good condition and low miles, and hubby loved it, and voila! we bought it with money we had earmarked for some kitchen remodels! Oh well.... we had to make a choice and decided having a little fun was more important than a kitchen remodel.

Since the van kind of just "fell into our laps", here we go again... hopefully with something we can actually use!  (And we HAVE used it, alot already).

And it worked out just fine.... except for one thing........ THE BED is way too small for two people. I mean.. we knew it was small(ish) but thought we could make it work.. but NO... it did not work! It was the back bench seat that folded down into a bed. The first night camping was so miserable. I didn't get ANY sleep! Hubby did of course, as he was the one hogging the blankets or throwing them all onto me when he was too hot.. or kicking my face with his feet (see.. we/I thought sleeping head to toe in that narrow bed would work better, but no.... not... nadda.)

So we need to put in a new bed that we/someone can build. I think we could do it as I've checked YouTube and there are some very simple ways to build a bed, but we both are so unhandy and lazy when it comes to building things. Sigh......... wish we were both more handy. I have even bought us a jig saw, sander and an electric screwdriver... and we already have a circular saw.... so how hard can it be???? (may never get done if it's left to us!)

But we did, in spite of the bed, have a nice time camping, and it was very good for my soul to get up in the mountains and by the lake and just breathe the fresh air, and renourish myself. Such beauty and peace there.

Nice big campsite with power, so we could use our CPAP machines!

Crane Prairie Lake and Resort.... south of Sisters, Oregon. Gorgeous views!

This is the view from our campsite through the trees. You can just barely see the mountains in the distance. It was wonderful!

2nd morning. I slept in the Van alone so I could lay diagonally across the bed. My hubby slept in my sister's and her husband's RV as there was a queen bed they weren't using. I had  MUCH better sleep!

See how misty this photo looks? It's not my camera, it was COLD the 2nd morning, probably down in the 20's! Bur.r.r.r..r

This cute little chipmunk visited us when we set up on the table. The campground was FULL of chipmunks everywhere. What a home for them, as food and snacks galore! This one managed to get into our cookie bag and drag a whole cookie off to his/her hidey hole.

We spent most of our time walking around, back and forth to the store (or the restrooms that were kind of far away!) and walking a few lake paths...... and EATING of course! That's the best part right? No campfires allowed so we didn't get to have our traditional s'mores.

I did alot of relaxing and sitting by the lake in the sunshine.

My sister went kayaking. I was going to try it, but after almost no sleep the first night, I just didn't have the "want to" or energy to do it. It's still on my bucket list!

I'm very glad we did go camping as it was a nice get-away from the reality of life's recent tragedies. We had been hoping to go camping with my sister long before this, but never have had a trailer to use or camper, etc. With just having bought the Van, it was perfect timing and I'm so glad we took advantage of it. Was a very memorable weekend.

ON ANOTHER NOTE:

Through my grieving and sadness, my yard has been a pure joy for me. I haven't kept my flowers as nice as I usually do, but the lushness for awhile, and my little fountain, have been such a delight for me. Our grass is finally coming in better, and my raspberries and lilacs bushed out so wonderfully.

This is my favorite sitting area.

Here's the progress of our little patch of lawn. This photo was taken in August, and it looks much thicker now.

And thanks to my wonderful blogging friend, Marilyn, of Mountain Top Spice, I am privileged to enjoy one of her beautiful "plate flowers" that she makes  using vintage dishes. You can see it there in my little garden area, on the green post. She was so sweet to mail it to me a few months ago, and I just recently was able to install it in my garden.. and I love it so much! 

Thank you so much Marilyn! If you haven't visited her blog, please do so. She is a wonderful photographer, and her gardens and whimsical delights are such a joy. She lives in northern Idaho, and I hope one day to be able to visit her in person.

I've been finding much solace in crafting and creating lately, and have been pretty much glued to my craft room. And that's another story and another post............

Reflect upon your present blessings,

of which every man has many;

Not on your past misfortune,

of which all men have some.

~Charles Dickens~

~Marilyn~