in the third week of October we bought an awesome 'back of your SUV air mattress' that was marked down on amazon. Even though it was cold outside .. I wanted to go camping with it. We drove through the traditional 'touristy' campgrounds in town in an attempt to keep it simple; but they were ALL completely packed. we ended up having to drive all the way up sand flats, past the park and into the forest to find a spot that would work.
since we got a mattress for the vehicle, we weren't going to sleep in the tent in the picture above. we actually just set that up the day before; to save our spot and ensure nobody would take our site. you have to do things like this when you live in a town where the tourists never leave.
I love a campfire
we're lucky enough to live 15-20 minutes from awesome in any direction so even though the kids weren't going to camp - they were able to drive up after dinner. It was fun to have them partake in the campfire, the s'mores & fun times; then go home to their comfy beds.
leaving the 'truck sleeping' to us ...
it got quite a bit colder than I thought it was going to 😌 we woke up and there was ice on the inside of our windows. reminding me that we were camping up at an elevation of 7k or 8k. next time, we'll bring more blankets! haha. After we turned the car on and warmed up a little, I'm pretty sure I took my favorite picture of all time. (above)
after we warmed ourselves up, we ate head-size cookies from my work (above, bottom right)
our campsite was conveniently connected to the forest
so we also got to go on a little hike
our campsite was conveniently connected to the forest
so we also got to go on a little hike
don't forget to look down .. or you'll miss amazing things.
before we headed home, we also walked the nearby 'porcupine rim' which overlooks castle valley (below)
