Our Camping Weekend

So how's about I start from the beginning?

I woke Bray up at 9:30 AM on Friday by jumping on the bed saying "Let's go camping, let's go camping, let's go camping!" He was none too pleased by my wake-up methods (especially after I turned on the light) but got up anyways. We were packed and ready to go within the hour (because I'd been packing for two days prior).

I had been conversing with a friend of my dad's who is a police officer around the area where we would be camping and he was telling me where we should go. It took us a few minutes to find it, and once we did we weren't really satisfied with that particular site. So we went back to another area we found and, despite it not being at all what I had envisioned in my mind (unfortunately =\ ) we picked a spot and started setting up our tent.

Empty spot. Not nearly as secluded as I envisioned.

So we broke the #1 rule of camping and put our tent directly underneath several trees. Sorry, professional campers. I wanted a secluded, woodsy vibe out of this experience, and being out in the open just wasn't cuttin' it. And what do ya know... Nothin' fell on our tent!

Happy Hubby

I had Braylen stand over by the tent so you could see how massive it was! My amazing dad rented it for us (as well as an air mattress, electric lantern, and electric stove) and wanted it to be plenty big. It had two rooms in it! We had plenty of space, that's for sure!

See? Tons of space! (I know you can't really tell by the picture, ha)

We had to air the mattress up at a neighboring campsite, then haul it back on top of my car (holding it with our arms stuck outside either window). Don't judge... We got the job done!

Full size air mattress inside our jumbo-tent.

Not the greatest picture of yours truly, but I sure do love that guy.

We set out our tent so quickly (by 1pm) that we decided to go get some lunch and head out for a hike. When I was younger, my mom used to take my brother and I out on the Wildlife Refuge (in OK) several times a year to go hiking. We had this certain trail we took several times because it had waterfalls and an area you could swim in. I knew I wanted to take Braylen there, because he had never been, so we headed out!

Before we left for the hike, day 1!

Buffalo along the way

This is the waterfall/swimming area we went to. (No, I did not jump, ha, the water is too shallow)

Feelin' pretty good 6 lbs lighter!

After the hike, we went back to our camp and took a nap. We woke up just in time to make a campfire. Not that we needed it, ha, we only used it to say we built one. It wasn't, by any means, cold... And we ate sandwiches that night. But it was nice to drink and eat with Husband by the campfire while the sun set behind us. 

Our cozy little fire

We took a nice walk after dinner, played a few card games, and settled in for the night. 

The next day, I left BDR in charge of deciding what we would be doing. He chose to go to the same trail we hiked at Friday because he liked it so much. So that's just what we did! We wanted to push ourselves and go a little further, so we went past the swimming area a ways, crossed the valley before turning back, then crossed the valley again at the swimming area. I got a little sick (from all the diner food we'd been eating) and my tummy was not very happy with me once we crossed the valley the first time, but after a few waves of pain it started to feel a little better and we just pushed through. I didn't take many pictures after we crossed because of not feeling so hot, so please forgive! Overall, I have way more pictures from the second day than I do the first because I forgot my camera the first day out and we had to use BDR's iPhone to get the few pictures we took.

We went up and down this valley twice that day. Yikes!

Moss on a rock at the top of the valley

More moss

Looking down on the waterfall area. You can BARELY see some kiddos sitting on a rock in front of the middle waterfall.

The whole time BDR kept saying "I wish we could see some lizards!" and then this guy showed up. He was so mad at me for "not letting him catch it". ha.

See that big pile in the middle of the trail? Hint: It's not chocolate. Hello longhorn poop.

View of another waterfall area. The perspective in this is so off... It looks like a tiny stream or something, but really the white part of the water is whitecaps from the waterfalls.

Those falls are where we crossed over to the other side the first time (and when I started feeling sick). So no more pictures of the hike after that. We crossed back over later back at the first waterfall area, where we stuck our feet in to cool off. There were so many people out that day (because the weather was so beautiful) that we couldn't really relax and enjoy the scenery as much. The hike from that day was mostly for a fun workout and not as much scenery, anyways. 

We headed straight home for a nap afterward and then broke out the electric stove to do some cooking. Hot dogs and beans, does it get much more campy than that?

After dinner, we walked out to the lakeside campsites to watch the sunset and just... visit with one another. That's mostly what we were able to do this weekend, which is what I so badly wanted. I just wanted us to go somewhere, away from computers and cell phones and TV, and just be. It was so wonderful to get that time with him. 

The only mountain silhouette I know by heart. <3 Mt. Scott

I just think I married a really good lookin' guy, if I do say so myself.

Too close, but who cares?!

Wish we would've moved, like three feet to our left so that tree wasn't behind us, but oh well.

All in all, it was a wonderful weekend. I wish it didn't have to end, but tomorrow it's back to school for the both of us. Only a few short weeks and we'll both be finished and can spend the summer doing things like this on the weekends!! 

This trip has really sparked a new passion inside of me for hiking. I've always liked going, but it wasn't until this weekend I realized how good of a workout it can be, while still being fun. I hate running; bicycles kill my butt; and swimming in an indoor pool (which is what we have available to us) just doesn't sound appealing to me. 

 

This summer, BDR and I have decided we're going to make a list of Oklahoma hiking trails we would like to visit and explore. We definitely will visit the trail we went to this weekend often, especially now that we know dogs are welcome (Luke & Leia would've loved going out with us yesterday... There were dogs everywhere!). I'm really looking forward to having a new hobby with BDR. I love that we enjoy going to the same movies and have that as a shared hobby, but we really needed to find something active we can do together, and this just fits the bill perfectly. 

We both very much needed and thoroughly enjoyed this weekend. I'm so blessed to have him and can't wait to go on many more adventures with him over the next 50+ years! 

'Night y'all!