This weekend we took our first family solo camping trip and it was great fun. We drove out of town about 2 hours and did some serious car camping. It was a little tricky trying to set up camp and cook with a baby, but we managed. For the trouble we were rewarded with a breathtaking view of a pine canyon to wake up to, without having to leave our toasty bed. We successfully cooked over the campfire, and the best reward of all was a trip to the hot springs a mere 15 minute walk away. We’re still working out the kinks so that my super tall husband can comfortably sleep on the air mattress, but it was the perfect ending tribute to summer and a tender time for family bonding.
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| For my birthday I got the “garage” attachment for our Hobitat tent. Luke thought it a bit much when we first set it up, but then understood it’s beauty as the weekend progressed. I will say that the spot we set up in didn’t allow the garage to fully extend, which is why it looks a little weepy in the middle. We were working around trees, you know, nature and all. |
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| Here it’s partially opened. As you can see we used it to keep our luggage and as a changing room. |
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| It’s fully opened here, on both sides. If we really get into it we can get poles to hold the flaps out and then it creates a shady spot to hang. I love it! |
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| Almost to the hot springs! |
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| Luke recently rafted this part of the Payette river and they came upon the hot springs that we soaked in. He was a good hubby and remembered the name and location so we could camp here. |
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| We had to ford the shallowest part of the river on the left to get to the hot tub, but it was entirely worth it. |
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| Hot spring shower anyone? We shared the “hot tub” with a lovely couple who adored Porter. |
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| The spring had been dammed up and had a sandy bottom. The shower of warm water was a little intense for Porter initially, but it felt SO GOOD! |
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| He came around. |
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| Ready to make the 20 minute hike back to the campsite. Have I mentioned that I LOVE our Deuter Kid Comfort 2 hiking backpack? I DO! It makes experiences like this one possible, and even easy, with an 8 month old. Not only did it carry our child, but we packed in a change of clothes, a towel, water, a sarong, camera, keys, diaper necessities, sunglasses and there was even a little space left. LOVE IT! And love that my baby loves riding in it. Quality family time camping and soaking in hot springs…tender. |
Idaho is known for it’s wild outdoors, and we decided that this weekend was a great time to introduce Porter to camping. We drove into the mountains for about an hour and had a fantastic time car camping with our friends. The day we arrived was beautiful and perfect for camping. That night was pretty cold, but we made it through by cuddling together under 2 quilts in our awesome new
Hobitat 6 tent from REI. On Saturday we were eventually rained out, but not before an awesome camp breakfast of eggs, bacon, potatoes and biscuits, followed by a great hike.
We knew there was a chance of rain, but didn’t expect it to rain nonstop all afternoon. I decided that we would pack everything up in the rain and head home to sleep cozy in our bed tonight. Good thing too, because the forecast had changed since we left civilization and there were thunderstorms arriving in the middle of the night if we had stayed. It would have been nice to stay one more night, but by the looks of it, we’ll have many more camping adventures in our future.
Not only is camping a great way to connect with nature, friends and family, but most places in Idaho you can find free camping and the National Forest campgrounds are only $15. An excellent vacation whether for 1 night or 1 week. Lovin’ Idaho.
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| Early morning story around the campfire. Chelsea is a great children’s book reader, she does all the voices. |
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| Porter was entranced by Chelsea’s story and even Luke had to smile at her silly voices. |
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| The camping crew: Gary, Chelsea, Sarah, Lucy, Becky, Danny, Luke and Porter. Not pictured, me and Shaun. He was busy doing a 50 mile mountain bike ride to meet us later that day. |
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| The puppet master. |
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| View of our tent from up the hill where Luke gathered firewood. |
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| Luke does his best impression of big foot, and he even has really big feet! |
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| Our new tent the REI Hobitat 6. It’s huge and fit our king air mattress comfortably with room to spare. It did a great job staying dry in the rain and at 6 feet is tall enough for me to stand up and almost tall enough for Luke too. |
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| It’s still spring in the mountains and all the flowers were starting to bloom. |
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| We camped near a stream. It was a huge year for rain in Idaho, so this creek sounded like a raging river from our campsite, but it was no wider than 6-8 feet across and 1-2 feet deep. |
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| Green green green! |
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| Porter loves camping, and he loves Danny too! |
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| Porter wants whatever I have and he wants to put it in his mouth. |
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| The hike started dry. |
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| Chelsea did the whole hike with a napping Lucy strapped to her, excellent workout! |
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| This boy loves to hike! |
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| The crew as it started to rain half way through the hike: Me, Luke, Chelsea, Gary, Becky, Sarah, Danny. Porter and Lucy are strapped their parents. |
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| The hike may have ended rainy, but Porter was comfy with his rain cover on. He was giggling the whole way, and Luke deserves props for ending the wet hike with a smile.
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Danny does some tree felling on our hike.
Not related to this post at all, but Porter practices sitting up.
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