Monday, August 25, 2008

Dirty & Dusty

yep. That's camping for ya' right? lol

We went camping again w/ our church, Halogen...but DH was actually WITH us this time. He celebrated his birthday Saturday camping w/ us. We went up an extra night early w/ Pastor & his W, on Thursday & returned Sunday afternoon.

Now, IF you happen to remember last year....I supposed that there is NO swimming in ANY lake in ALL of CA!!! Lake Arrowhead is NO exception. gggrrrr!



Well you CAN swim IF you are a 'card carrying member' of the Arrowhead Lake Association. The lake is pretty much surrounded by privately owned docks....you can swim IF you own one of those docks & ONLY if you own one of those docks! We were unaware of that & asked a local about swimming in the lake. He directed us to a residential area that had stairs that lead down the to the lake. Then we were chased out by the Lake owners police or something. lol

We got kicked OUT! phewy!

That was a bit frustrating...



But we refuse to let that put a damper on our time, right? We went back to camp & I took Berty & friend on a nature trail walk. It was quite enchanting & I wish I had gone again & took a longer hike the next day.




I did take an adventurous 7 mile bike ride w/ some friends, the next morning though. I normally ride 7 miles so it wasn't the distance that was killer. It was the fact that the entire first half is DOWN hill which means one thing---the entire return trip is UP hill!!! My bike is a bit rusty, shall we say, & it can't change into or out of any gear except 3! (which is NOT good for going UP hill) The last third I had to WALK my bike back. lol My friends (except one) also had to walk the last part of the hill. lol @ least we DID it though.

Later we went to Lake Gregory...swimming was allowed there but you could not bring inner tubes or any of your own type of water things in, you could only rent theirs. You also had to pay an admission fee. It was ok though. Later we walked around to the other side & Dh & some friends did some 'fishing', no luck though.

I didn't see any shooting stars, which I always love to experience....but I did see lots of gorgeous stars that we miss here @ home. The campground itself, named Dogwood, in the San Bernardino National Forest, was nice. The employees were always friendly even when they came to inquire about some 'loud screaming children'. heehee. The warm showers were free, most campgrounds I've been too required quarters for a few minutes of warm water. Restrooms were clean & maintained every morning.

The campground also offered a few cool 'activities' such as a slide show trivia presentation on Friday night about the local animals & history. Saturday night featured sketches & campfire songs hosted by the Children's Forest Association. Volunteer students wrote & acted in sketches about the CA Foresters & led campfire songs. It was fun & entertaining. It was convenient that the outdoor amphitheater was located right next to our campground. We'd never experienced a program like that before while camping.

I would have had a better time if I had thought/planned it all out a bit better. I was a bit absent minded this time around. We didn't even bring TOWELS for goodness sakes, or soap or shampoo. oops! I did bring toothpaste & toothbrushes though. lol I wish I would have done more hiking. The CFA told us about a 'fire lookout' point that was near by, open to the public & offered amazing views of the forest. We were not able to make it up, but I hope someday....

There were quite a few games of volleyball played, as well as basketball & football. The fellowship was sweet & the food was great. Of course, no camping trip is complete w/o roasting marshmallows & smores--which we thoroughly enjoyed! ;-)

I also took note that ALL the married men were REAL servants this weekend. I saw the MARRIED men cooking breakfast, letting thier wives sleep in, packing up gear for the return trip, setting up or taking down tents....It was sweet to see such servitude instead of the men ONLY being allowed to relax while the women did 'all the work'. My own darling H came home & let me take the 1st home shower while he & the kids unpacked everything & washed the car.

It made today's laundry marathon all the more bareable! :-D

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