Rejoicing and very glad in it!  Oh, so glad to be home, in my little home be it ever so humble, and messy, full of camping dishes to wash and put away, sleeping bags to wash and hang outside, dirty, sooty, smoky smelling, downright filthy socks and pants and clothing to wash......even the few clean items we brought home with us all smell like a campfire.......

But that is ok.  We had a great time.  We got back yesterday from our annual family hunting trip. 

Day one, ETD 7:00 a.m.  Hmmmmm.  Just how do you pack all this stuff in the back of a small Jeep and the back of a small pickup.  6 people, 10 days.  That's 60 outfits----well, some of them you wear at least twice, unless you get in mud, snow, or spill hot cocoa down the front of you.  So, then 60 outfits, and 90 meals, that is if you eat three solid meals up there in the sticks every day.  Which we did.  Purdy much.  Not counting all the snacks you need to keep you going out in the wilderness.  Jerky, granola bars, GORP, (with M&M's of course)

And so, by 10:00 am we still hadn't left, because we had both vehicles full and still a huge pile on the driveway.  So we started putting things back---like extra blankets, a table that I wish we would have taken.....and a few odds and ends.  Mental note:  Next year we buy a trailer to carry all the gear in.

By 10:30 we were on the road, and I almost left the dog home, on purpose.  But she rode in my daughters lap, (she is an 80 lb lab) for six hours.  She barely fit on the floorboard, and half in her lap, but somehow this arrangement worked, sort of. (I needed her for bear protection, that and lots of prayers and a loaded .357 magnum.)

Later that day, as we were nearing Kremmling, CO., I started serenading my daughter.  Actually, I was serenading the dog, so I wouldn't lose my cool----since she was trying to climb onto the seat and kept bumping the gearshift.

"Yippee Ky Yi Ya, lay down big puppy dog,  It's your misfortune, but none of my own, Yippe Ky Yi Ya, lay down big puppy dog,  we'll soon see our campsite, and your new home."

I will have to have my daughter help me remember the rest of the clever lyrics we came up with......we even sang part of it over the walkie talkie to my husband and the other kids.  They were impressed, for sure.

We finally arrived, found our friend Joe who was already setting up his camp in the dark.  So we began also, and after both the vehicles got stuck in the moist ground and it took chains to get them out, we decided to park elswhere.  We eventually got the tent up, our first time using our wall tent from Davis Tent Co., which I highly recommend. (It was sturdy, warm and cozy and about the size of a one car garage, which worked for me.) 

Over the years, we have slept in a pop-up tent camper, and a small pull trailer.  I always tell people that camping in the trailer was like one of those little square games that have the tiles on it....you know, it is either numbers or a picture that gets scrambled and you only have one free space so you have to slide them back and forth to get the numbers back in order....you know what I mean?  Anyway, inside our old camper was like that.  Kid A has to move here in order for the bed to slide out, then Kid B has to climb on the bunkbed, and Kid C has to stand on the table, so you can get in the closet, and Kid D has to go out the door so you can cook, etc.  There will be NONE of that anymore.  We are set for life.  We all fit nicely in the tent with lots of room to move around things.....theoretically.

This year we did take a bit of the old camper with us though.  The propane stove to be exact.  Ken took it out and built a cabinet for it and I am forever rejoicing for this random act of kindness.  I hate cooking on coleman stoves, almost as much as I hate lighting them.  But propane, woo hoo!  I even had a little oven.  3 burners AND an oven.  Roughing it was never so good.

Well, I don't want to tell you ALL the details today, so I will leave it at this.  And I will post some photos for you. 

So glad to be home, beit ever so humble, there's no place like home.

Nancy