Family Camping Trip - Dell

We headed out on our first family camping trip with the trailer.  As we were pulling out of the driveway the thought crossed my mind that I may enjoy the planning, packing, and the logistical aspects more than the actual camping.  Shannon has mentioned I may be a bit of a romantic ~ building little white picket fences in my mind, versus what our life really is.

When we initially discussed buying a camper Shannon was quite firm that campgrounds were not in our future.  We were going to camp out in the wilds, nowhere near civilized society.  So our first trip was planned accordingly.  As we drove up this incredibly bumpy, dusty road I was certain we'd be alone, surrounded by a gurgling brook and open blue skies.  An hour and a half later we arrived at "the spot" to find another camper parked right next to where we planned to spend the weekend.  There was no going back, so we settled in for the next few days.

We spent the following day searching for fish and lakes while feeding the mosquitoes.  Saturday was Shannon's birthday so he got to choose how we spent the day.  Now, I am a point A to point B hiker.  Wandering over hill and vale ain't my gig.  But Shannon.....he loves exploring the countryside.  And explore we did.  We found elk and deer at over 10,000 feet, a giant spring spewing from the mountainside, tepee rings, wildflowers that boggled the imagination, and a rock hillside up which my boys scaled - starting a small slide in the process that momentarily stopped my heart.

While it wasn't quite the romantic trip I envisioned when we first purchased our little #homeaway it was a successful weekend - even when our freezer pooped out with all the birthday ice cream inside.  I can't wait to head out on another adventure.  Meanwhile I'm striving to keep my expectations realistic. Skipping through fields of daisies singing The Sound of Music probably is not in our future.....at least not without some small catastrophes along the way.  

Early morning fishing ~

Clear blue skies ~ crystal waters ~ and a million mosquitoes

Changing tactics....surely they'll bite on a mosquito.

Joshie and his socks ~ fashion trends must begin somewhere.  

In search of cool water ~

#bouquetsfordays

One of my little guys on fire duty since the bigs were all fishing ~

The best thing about trailer camping ~ we almost stayed clean.

"So, we chased elk through that saddle. But today we're headed up the hill right below that snow."

#burningquads #mountainspringsnevertastedsoyum

"I'm not even tired at all.  Like, I could hike for another day. I mean, I'm kinda dizzy right now, but I could still hike for another day."

Studying rock formations.

This was the funniest ever.  Nickles' swim trunks tore the first day, but he refused to wear anything else for the duration.  Hence, his right cheek was perpetually hanging out.

This was just a couple hundred yards from the headwaters, which were gushing from the mountainside with this quantity of water.

A little mountain goat.

We are so small amidst God's magnificent creation.

I cannot even come close to explaining this profuse wildflowers.  Had we even been a week later I am not sure that there would have been as many blooms.  

My eldest son, who enjoys not shaving for a few days here and there.  

The Maiden Voyage

So. Back to the camper story ~ a friend gave us a camper a few years ago. It had a bit of water damage and was generally kinda gross yucky not clean. I liked the idea of a little camper, but would not sleep in this one.  Call me a snob. So, in typical Nistler fashion, Eric and I did minimal research and dove right into remodeling it. It turns out that when there's minimal water damage showing, there's major water damage behind those walls. As we removed the interior paneling, the entire wall crumbled. Not a project Shannon had the time or the energy for, we gifted it to a 'friend'.  Curiously, he still speaks to us.  

Anyway, we decided we'd buy a camper after Christmas.  It made sense at the time.  So one wintry "Emergency Travel Only" day we set off for Kalispell since there were a few up there we wanted to peek at.  The salesmen were super impressed as they skidded around the lot in their golf cart, toting us to look at all their travel trailers.  We ended up getting a pretty good deal on one smaller one that seemed as though it would serve our purposes well.  We didn't want to spend a ton of money on something that we weren't even sure we'd enjoy or use.  

Now that it has finally stopped snowing in Montana, we are beginning to test out the new digs.  When Maria, Pat and their family were visiting from Michigan, Shannon took the boys out for one night and the girls out for the second night.  I'm not sure how much sleep the adults got, but the kids sure enjoyed it!  

A morning hike on top of the world ~

It appears as though they're eating the good breakfast I sent - Gatorade and Oreos.

Shannon said he never knew buns could be so funny - hot dog buns, that is.

Morning light~ and not an elk in sight.