Idyllwild Camping

 

 

 

A good place for the tent.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Bundled up and ready for bed. 

 

Hot chocolate on a cold morning.

 

That’s one big lizard!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Mapping out our hike.

 

 

Panning for gold.

 

 

 

 

 

 

We decided to take the adventurous way back down the mountain.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We made the short one hour drive up to Idyllwild for a weekend of camping.  We were greeted with a blast of cool clean air and the fresh smell of pine trees everywhere.

Our highlights included panning for gold, feeding the wildlife around our camp, an adventurous three hour hike, and a trip to the nature center. 

For the girls, preparing the campfire, making smores, and sleeping with mom and dad in the tent are all part of their fun camping experience, too.

I love the fact that we have girlie girls who aren’t afraid of a little dirt.  Sure, they like the feeling of being clean after a shower but getting dirty and exploring nature is tons of fun!  It’s a great reminder to embrace the moment and make the most of any situation.

On another note- after several years of trying to come up with some good camping dinners, I think I finally got it!  I’ll share them here in case anyone’s looking for some inspiration to plan their next camping trip.  It’s true, you can pretty much eat anything while you camp (there are no rules) but there are some meals that are just easier to prepare and eat. 

The first night we had crockpot chili (I prepared it the day before) with homemade cornbread.  All we had to do was heat up the chili and warm the cornbread over the fire.  It was so good and it hit the spot on a cool night.

The second night we had what I called, tacos in a bag.  I’m sure it’s been called different things but that’s what I told the kids we were having.  I prepared the taco meat and beans at home and brought along some shredded cheese, lettuce, and pico de gallo.  Just crush up the chips in your bag and then add all the fixin’s.  Eating this right out of the bag is key!  It keeps everything warm.  It was fun, tasty and the girls liked it because they’ve never had their own bag of chips before.  Doritos or Fritos are best.

There’s no doubt that a weekend of camping takes a lot work, pre-planning, setting up, and tearing-down.  Not to mention the loads of laundry and clean up that takes place when you get home.  However, at this stage in our children’s lives, we will continue to do it because the memories are SO WORTH IT! 

And maybe next year, we’ll even make the long trek to Yosemite?!       

vine-ripened tomatoes are here!

The first 5 years we were married, Morgan and I lived in a little rustic guest house in Malibu.  It was the perfect place to start our life together.  We could walk to our own private beach where we enjoyed a big ole slice of heaven on earth.  Looking back, we have nothing but the fondest of memories.  In fact, we’d probably still be there, if only it wasn’t a tiny one-bedroom. 
The guest house was situated on the back of a large rural property.  The owners (Jim & Shirley, a retired couple) lived in the modest front house.  There was plenty of space and privacy between us- including a long driveway, a little art studio, and a wonderful summer garden.  Every summer, we had the luxury of never having to buy tomatoes, zucchini, yellow squash, or lemons from the store.  The harvest was always plentiful and we were free to pick all we wanted. 
That’s when this city girl truly understood what tomatoes were supposed to taste like!  Since then, all other tomatoes have just been blah. 
That is, until now!  There’s nothing quite like a homegrown, organic, vine ripened tomato!  They are divine to eat, all by themselves, with a little sprinkle of salt. 
The girls were really excited to actually see the fruit ripen enough to pick and then eat.  Needless to say, I’ll be thinking up lots of yummy ways I can use these ruby jewels in my cooking this summer.
This week, the tomatoes inspired me to make this…

Bruschetta Chicken from the Pioneer Woman.  It was simple and so good! 
And not one morsel of tomato was left!