Here are a couple pics from that trip with Molly.
We are planners and we had pretty much everything planned out. We bought a small carrier hitch to put our supplies in. Camping for 5 people makes for a lot of stuff. We couldn't use the back seat at all because that is where the children must ride. We couldn't store stuff on top because that is where the cots and foam mattresses for the small people travel. Yes, we like to have some conveniences like good night's rest so we don't try to kill one another the next day. Which proved useful in more ways than one. We woke up all ready to load up and get the show on the road. It was going to be a great day. No trip is complete without those questions that make you wonder....like, Cecilia asking, so we are camping in the woods? We manage to get the truck and carrier all loaded. We loaded up the cots and mattresses and discovered our tie down straps were too short. So we used the ever useful parachute cord. Which would become very handy later. Kevin thought he would do a test of the cots tied down when he went to get the boys. He had a small panic when our very full truck needed to have the boys sleeping bags, an extra bag on loan from Noelle for Cecilia and all the boys stuff. Blankets, toys, clothes, books and whatnot. But, he made it fit. So we were off like a herd of turtles. It should be noted, when I woke up I wasn't feeling very well but, thought it was just because I needed to eat something. We planned on making a stop closer to the bottom of the mountain for ice and gas. When we stopped I looked at the hitch and the pin we used went right through the hole and the thing was barely hanging in there. What? I filled up and paid for gas while Kevin messed with it. He said there is an Auto Zone in this complex so we can stop there. We pulled up, no Auto Zone--apparently it moved. So we went to an Ace Hardware and got a new pin and some straps to use for the cots if we needed. Which again would come in handy later. At this point I was running a fever, was having stomach cramps and felt generally awful. I told Kevin I am going to need to take some medicine. Since there was a Walmart next door I went in to go get some Advil Cold and Sinus, our cure all medicine, he asked if I would get him a Coke while I was there. Here is the thing about the Advil Cold and Sinus, you have to purchase it from behind the pharmacy counter. Guess what, the pharmacy was closed for lunch. Really? I got Kevin his Coke though in the self checkout. Which initially randomly declined my card then asked for me to do it again then before I stuck my card in and it went through? Odd, I checked my account and no fraud happened surprisingly. I go out to Kevin, my butt is dragging like I have a steam engine tied to me. He is out there chatting with this guy. I thought this guy was helping him. Turns out he was being the exact kind of annoying to Kevin. He asked Kevin, so you all going camping? You think? So Kevin tells him yes and where we are going. He proceeded to tell Kevin what a mistake it is to go to Mt Lemmon and we should go to a million other places he was talking about. Kevin told him we have three kids and long distance isn't what we have planned. The man was suggesting New Mexico and all these other places and wouldn't just leave it alone. Kevin just got done fixing the hitch in 95 degree heat with high humidity and this guy wouldn't leave him alone. I stumble up with a Coke and a disgusted look on my face which the man took as a sign to stop talking and go away. I told Kevin about the lack of medicine still. So we went to a Walgreens which was near. I was able to get some medicine again through the pharmacy because it has ingredients drug users like to use for making meth. I always feel I have to justify why I am using it. It is dumb. I told Kevin I need to use the bathroom thinking maybe a bowel movement will improve my stomach pain. We go to the door and you need an employee to put in a code. Really? So I said forget it, I will go on the mountain. Kevin said, no we can go next door at Safeway. Okay. Stumbling along to Safeway I go to the toilet. By the way when we pulled out of that parking lot we saw the dang Auto Zone. We are off again like a really, really, really, slow herd of turtles at this point. I started feeling better once the meds kicked in around the mid-top of mountain. We thought we would drive through Rose Canyon Lake area and see if we could find a good spot, if not we would go to the one we spotted in Spencer Canyon. We sat in line for awhile waiting for a group of 4 cars paying and clogging up the line. Come to find out, we couldn't drive through unless we paid $9. So we turned around and thought to check out our spot in Spencer Canyon first, if it wasn't available then we would do Rose Canyon Lake. Off again. We talked to the rangers about the spot we wanted and they said it was open and we paid. They asked, do you want a map? Ummm, we just explained that we have been before and described our spot in detail. No map thank you. Off again. We get to our spot and discover it is taken. Crap. That sucks so we loop around and consider the other spots and decide on one two over because there is a family at the one next to the one we wanted. We were standing out there assessing things and the lady from the site next to the one we wanted came up and said they were leaving soon if we wanted that spot, which was very kind. It was kind of a lower spot with not as steep climbs to the toilet and a safe area for the kids to play and it was perfect. So, the task of unloading began. All the kids helped out which was fantastic. Everyone was getting along and it was all coming together quite nicely.
I showed them this activity one of my classmates did which the kids loved. You cut the bottom off of a water bottle, put a sock on the end of it and stick the sock end in a bowl with dish soap in it. Then they blow on it from the drinking part and make big bubble snakes.
We noticed the group next to us had clothes and whatnot hanging out to dry, but it is monsoon season so it is understandable. Monsoon storms are quick and furious generally speaking. Kevin went ahead and put a tarp up over our tent, using the straps we bought at Ace Hardware and I put the easy-up together also. We had an enjoyable evening having dinner and loving the cooler temps. We bought this container of green pellets for William and Matthew to find. William loves finding these treasures. Much like his brother at this age. So he would find them and we would secretly toss them back out again to find. He said at one point when giving some to Cecilia it is giving happiness. Too cute. It should be noted that later when she changed into her Pjs at the bathroom they fell out of her pocket in the bathroom and went down the stairs. They are all over the tent and in the sleeping bag too. Happiness everywhere. Here is a picture of some from the trip. Notice the cut on Kevin's hand is from this thing called a watermelon cutter. It is like an apple cutter but huge for a watermelon. It cut him.
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We decided to buy a portable DVD player and the Lego movie for them to watch together in the tent while Kevin and I could enjoy a beer gazing at the moon and stars. They loved it and we loved it. Perfect.
At 430 am the birds awoke. All of the birds at the exact same time with everything they have been holding in saying since bedtime. We think they say things like, Good morning, how are you, where did you sleep, how did you sleep, how was your tree, were you cold, are you hungry, did you see Jim or Susan yet.....all of the birds at the same time. It is a frenzy of noise. Which is fine if you want to wake up then and you want the children to wake up then. We did not and we did not want them to either, we bought some time until about 630 ish.
I got up and made coffee, got breakfast going of pancakes, bacon, scrambled eggs, juice and fruit. It was just gorgeous and lovely.
We got everything all cleaned up and Kevin and the kids went for a little walk to check out the turkey noise and location while I had a little quiet time with my book, the much calmer birds and my coffee. Then, it happened. ONE CLAP OF THUNDER. One. Then hail immediately following the clap. I ran to the tent zipping up the windows frantically. Pulling all the chairs and everything I could under shelter or into the bear lockers--you put your food etc. in there to keep the bears from getting it or you. After hail came torrential downpour. Okay, no big deal, it is monsoon season. Except for on Mt Lemmon, that means something different. Kevin and the kids came running into camp. Running at 8000 feet mind you. We are all huddled up under the easy up waiting for it to pass. Here is a video of us and the hail and rain.
The area is flooding quickly. Our rain gear is in the tent. Our extra tarps are in the tent. Our umbrellas are in the tent. Water is rapidly approaching our tent.
Here is a pic of what it looked like after everyone left the easy up
I spot a stick and start digging trenches to divert the water as best as I could away from the tent. Kevin is doing the same with another stick. We are using logs, pine needles, trenches, everything to divert the mad rush of water coming at our tent. We finally decide to take the kids up to the car because it is getting really cold for them. We put them in the truck and go back to trying to protect our home. Finally, we go inside the tent. There we are, soaked, cold and bewildered. It rained solid, heavily for over 2 hours. Almost everything that was on the floor of the tent was soaked. We discovered we had a hole in the front by the door opening and possibly the seals at the bottom are worn out couldn't handle the epic level of water that happened to us. The good news is that it wasn't dripping from the ceiling with the awesome tarp job Kevin did and the tent was holding up there. There were large puddles in the corners of the tent and towards the back and in the middle due to the slight decline, where our bags were. You could have swam in it. I stripped off my soaked clothes was down to my bra and underwear to prevent hypothermia. Kevin went up to check on the kids while I searched for dry clothes. I found 2 items that were close to the top of my bag. 2 items. Did I mention I only brought one pair of shoes? I started to triage clothes (as Kevin put it), clothes that could be possibly dry if hung out and clothes that don't have a chance of drying and can be used to soak up water in the tent and the very small category of dry clothes. Kevin came back and we did the same to his bag too. The kids clothes had some of the same issues but their bags were more on the foam mattresses and had a better chance. Their pjs had issues. So the task began of throwing clothes to soak up water. It seemed like it might be letting up some and we decided to head up to the truck to check on the kids. They were hungry and restless. We decided to put on our dirty socks, they were the only dry ones and I put on my dirty bra (all our dirty clothes were in the truck in a bag--hiding from bears) and dried my mostly clean one in the vent in the truck and Kevin tried to dry his shirt while we waited for the rain to stop. As soon as it seemed to be at a sprinkle we threw together some lunch for the kids and went to the task of wringing out clothes and pulling everything out of the tent to be saved and up to the truck. Cecilia pops out of the truck and announced the little one just wet his pants. Really? We put him in swim trunks that were in the truck and hung his shorts to dry. We dried out the floor of the tent the best we could and hung clothes, sleeping bags and everything else that could be saved on the tarp lines.
We made laundry lines with the parachute cord we used for the cots. We tied tarps to the easy up to create a bigger shelter. Kevin and the boys went to the General Store in Summerhaven to get ice. Cecilia and I stayed back in the event of another storm so we could save the tent. Kevin and I had previously built up the area around the tent to prevent further flooding of the tent. We were prepared for another flooding if it happened. We were not going to quit at the first sign of diversity.
Cecilia and I played some ISpy while watching the skies for further damage. The group next to us had gone through a storm possibly the day before because they had tarps everywhere and clothes drying. They had just placed their shoes out to dry right before the THUNDER clap. They proceeded to pack up camp after the storm cleared. There was another couple that had a camper and they left too. They gave us a huge sheet of plastic. We were not giving in. While Kevin was out, the camp host stopped by, not to check on us, wanting us to pay for another night. I explained we have already paid another night. He said, you know it is going to rain. I said, yes I know. He drove around in his golf cart checking the toilets and came by again and said, why don't you just pay me now so I don't have to come back. I said, we did pay. I said Kevin will be back soon with the truck with the ticket thing. He said well I have to check. I said that is fine, but we are not paying for another night because we already paid. When Kevin came back with a roll of duct tape for me to fix the seams and the hole, ice and lollipops for the kids, I told him of the man. So within a couple minutes the man comes back and Kevin let him have it. Kevin was pissed about him harassing me to pay and they hardly even come by to take the trash or do anything. Careless and inconsiderate people take advantage and stay at the campsites without paying and make it difficult for honest good hearted people. It is annoying. So we proceeded with our afternoon. It turned out to be a nice afternoon and we played catch and games. Kevin had a great idea of drying our clothes in the truck with heater blowing full blast. We spent the next couple hours rotating clothes. Dried pjs and warm clothes first, then the niceties, like underwear. I felt pretty victorious with a pair of dry underwear dried with a vent. At least we would be dry for the night and warm.
Here are some pics of the duct tape fixing.
We made dinner and did our night routine. During dinner we discussed that we have the code to the cabin we are getting married at and we could just go there and be warm and dry our clothes. The kids cheered and said let's go. We were joking of course and the owner of the cabin lives across the street of the cabin. Wow that would suck having to call off the wedding location. Kevin and I sat out having some drinks reflecting on what a day it was. We had plans to do a lot more exploring and hiking, but survival took the forefront. We like to think the kids learned a valuable lesson of survival and perseverance and not giving up. While we were sitting out there, camp prepared for the worst, the only ones in the camp (too proud or stupid to leave) up comes a truck into camp. It was up the hill across from us. It was 930pm. Weird. It pulled up to a spot, then reversed back and backed into a spot. We had seen several people come and drive around the area we were at and left--probably from the sight of all our stuff drying. But, this truck pulled into the spot and sat there for awhile with its lights off. We got very suspicious. Kevin went into the tent and got his weapon and handed me the knife. Yes, this really happened. We moved the lantern so it would cast light on them if they came down the hill. They finally exited the truck and it was a woman and a man with flashlights seeming to be arguing about where to set up camp. We said oh they are just normal people coming to camp at 930pm. We kept the weapon and knife nonetheless. Then I said, what the heck is that. It was a skunk. A skunk. We saw according to Matthew, 14 wild turkeys, but this was a skunk. So Kevin and I grab our stuff and move back away from skunk. The little stinker seemed to vanish into thin air. Not the kind of thing you want to vanish. We finally located him at the camp next to us moving away. We sat back down in our spot and laughed that we were so concerned about the people we were not looking out for skunks or bears. Thankfully no bears on this visit. William had this little bear in his animals and we kept him out as our guard bear.
Here are some pics of the turkeys.
My health thankfully improved by Monday afternoon. I would keep getting stomach cramps but no fever so that was good. As I write this now I am better. It may have been a food thing or something. Kevin went to put the shoes and cooler away before bed in the bear locker and he was face to face with the skunk. Both made eye contact and took off thankfully in opposite directions, more thankful was that Kevin wasn't sprayed by the skunk, that would have been the icing on the cake. Especially since we had no change of clothes, baby wipes and we shared zipped up sleeping bags. When we went to bed that night we hoped for the best and knew we have prepared as much as we could have for the rain. Luckily, no rain happened at all, despite the fact the forecast when Kevin checked it in Summerhaven was 60% chance every hour until 9pm. The winds picked up which is wasn't windy at all the whole time we were there. We had a branch fall on the tarp above the tent that scared us to death. The ravens and turkeys were busy through the night and woodpecker was working on the biggest hole he could ever make. At 430 am the morning crowd was in action talking about the evening, the storm and the crazy people who are still in their campground. We got up around 730 and got camp cleared up and loaded and out of camp by 1130. Here is what our truck looked like all loaded up.
There wasn't a gray cloud in sight and it was a gorgeous day. We discussed at breakfast time staying another night even. The kids all had a great time. We had a great time. We are proud of as a couple who face any challenges put in front of us and we don't argue. We are a great team that have the same line of thinking whereas neither of us think our idea is better then the other. We get frustrated but realize some things are just out of our hands and to deal with the punches together united. We are very proud of our children. William even in his big 3 1/2 year old self helped clean up camp. Matthew and Cecilia were awesome helping us load and unload the truck. It isn't fun all the set-up and take down, but they understand that they have to put in the work too. Here are some pics of the happy kids.
When we got home we had to wash everything, all the clothes, all the sleeping bags. We had to set the tent up again and wash the walls and inside off of all the mud and grime. It was a mess. We set the foam mattresses out to dry. It was a success. This was our first family camping trip, just the 5 of us. I look forward to the next one. We learned a lot of lessons for the next one and to add some things to our camping gear. Shovel. Duct tape. Sand bag-bags. Put clothes plastic bags before putting in bags in tent. Keep wet weather gear in truck. Pine needles make a great blocking agent for water flowing, we diverted a lot with pine needles. Watermelon is better cut up before you camp and in cooler or you have no room for it. Don't set up camp between two bathrooms, may be convenient but when the breeze comes, no amount of nature can cover that stink up.
If you have a hole in your tent, put a tampon in it. This thought came to me later, it would have worked. If you forgot butter for grilled cheese, the cooking spray works great as a substitute. If you forget about the watermelon thing, a steak knife will cut a watermelon in half. There is no way we could have brought the dogs on this trip. We thought about it and what a disaster that would have been. Wrigley is slightly afraid of water. Oh and the weather for the night if we chose to stay, rain.
Here is what the site looked like after we left. Made us kind of laugh with the space where the tent was.
When we got home and got everything settled, rain storm moved in. The disaster weather on Monday and the gorgeous weather on Tuesday is reminiscent of El Tour de Tucson 2013. Crazy weather. Oh and the green balls of happiness are everywhere. Guess who didn't check the boys pockets before throwing everything in the washer....they are in the dryer, in the driveway from the tent, in pockets and they may even show up in the dogs poo. If that is the worst that happens, it is the price to pay. The next time we will be up on this mountain it will be when we join our two families as one. We will be at this cabin celebrating our love, our love for our life, family, friends and getting out there and having fun.
Not running from adventure, but headfirst into it! Happy Camping friends!!
