And again, we had an unplanned camping weekend out to Belva Deer! Dad and Mom pulled out last Monday and Eric and Drew and I ran out there for supper on Tuesday night. They mentioned they would like to have us come out and join them so when Joe got home Thursday off we went! Eric came out Friday night for supper and a game or two of Bocce ball. It ended up being a little bit of a reunion of sorts then on Saturday as Mom’s two brothers and their wives and Dad’s twin sister and her husband came out for lunch and to visit through the afternoon. It’s always fun to visit with my wonderful and fun aunts and uncles and we don’t get to see them often enough. Drew made friends with the neighbor kids and had the best time. The weather was absolutely beautiful all weekend. Beautiful temps all day and perfect cool campfire weather at night. The only thing that could have made it better would have been rain. Fun times camping – again!
When we got the camper home today I spent the afternoon cleaning it, with a little “help” from Drew! We scrubbed down counters and sinks and toilet, dusted every surface, vacuumed the carpets and scrubbed the floors. I still have to wash the bedding and make the bed back up and we’ll be all ready for next weekend as we’re off on our annual Clear Lake trip. Fun times with friends and a car show to beat all car shows. 1,000 cars or more in a parade around beautiful Clear Lake on Friday night and then the show on Saturday in the middle of the town of Clear Lake which sits right on the water. We look forward to this every year – the car show is fun but camping with great friends we see rarely is such a treat! And this year Joe’s sister and brother-in-law are going to visit us and check out the car show on Saturday. We are really excited for the weekend!
It’s so easy to make. The night before I soak the oats and mix the rest of the dry ingredients together. Then all I have to do in the morning is dump the dry ingredients in the oats, add the wet ingredients and the apple, stir it up and bake. One thing I did discover the other day though was not to forget to add the dry ingredients. I mixed everything up, baked it, sat down to eat and what a surprise! It was edible but just barely. I didn’t even realize what I had done wrong until I went back to the kitchen with my empty plate and discovered my little bowl containing the baking powder, sweetener and cinnamon. I doubt I make that mistake again! Another tip – when I warm up the leftovers in the microwave I only warm for about thirty seconds otherwise it gets rubbery. A great filling breakfast and it will perfect in the winter – a nice warm filling breakfast! You can find the recipe at www.briana-thomas.com/cran-apple-oat-cake/. I have found lots of great recipes on her site and she also has a great cookbook full of recipes I can’t wait to try.
We have been camping for years. At least 25 I would say. Our camping friends have changed throughout the years. Our campers have changed throughout the years. But still we camp. We got our first camper after Joe roofed a house for a friend. In payment, they gave him a camper. An old, dilapidated little camper actually. All the water lines were ruined and the refrigerator didn’t work. It was pretty much falling apart. But, we were young and thought we had hit the mother load! And we had so much fun in that little falling apart camper. We had friends who also had a little old camper, although it was in much better shape than ours, and we spent the weekends at one campground or another with them and their daughters. Their two girls and our two kids were so close in age and had so much fun together. They were from a neighboring community and the kids would never had gotten to be friends if we hadn’t spent so much time camping together.
That’s why we camp. We have made friends throughout the years with people we probably would have known as acquaintances but that would be it. Instead, when you spend weekends camping together you really get to know each other. In a whole different way! We have developed lifelong connections with these people and our kids have developed connections with others that they wouldn’t have in any other way.
It’s different now that we only have one little to take along. And times have changed too. At one time there would no less than four kids and usually many more and those kids would take off in a “pack” and hit the playground or go hiking or ride their bikes all over the campground. They had to check in so we knew they were okay but otherwise were free to roam. They would inevitably make new friends from around the campground. Friends they probably would never see again but they still touched each other’s lives for a day or two. They also spent most nights in a tent and not in the camper. They had way more fun together in the tent away from parents! Camping was a whole different world for them and they loved it. Even as they got older they would want to come with us and camp.
Today is not quite the same. All of our camping friends are our age and so their kids are either teenagers or are gone and so Drew doesn’t get the same experience as our older kids did. And times have changed. You don’t just let kids roam today and check in once in awhile. It Drew wants to play at the playground or ride his bike, an adult goes along. There is no letting him take off on his own and explore. But he still makes new friends. The last time we camped he met the little girl who was staying next door with her grandparents. They would ride their bikes and play with chalk and had a great time. Over the weekend we visited my sister who was camping and Drew spent the evening playing on the play equipment set up where we could sit and watch. He loved playing with a group of kids he’d never met before. Kids don’t get to do that much anymore. We have to be too much on guard at all times to let them make friends with strangers.
Saturday saw us heading south to Lake Rathbun. My sister was camping and asked us to come spend the day. So, off we went for a nice, relaxing afternoon and evening spending time in another campground! We have camped at Lake Rathbun but never at Island View and what a beautiful campground. We would like to stay there sometime – it was so nice. Beautiful views of the lake, huge sites and playgrounds in the middle so you can sit at your site and watch the kids play. Perfect when you have littles!
