Storeybook Camping Trip

Comments 6 by Rebecca Bollwitt

Our First Tent Duane and John picked me up from work on Friday afternoon then we all headed East on HWY 1 and didn’t stop until we saw Cottonwood Mall. No, we weren’t camping out in the Wal-Mart parking lot, we just needed to get some provisions. We bought two sleeping bags, tarps, rope, a tent, chairs and stocked up on food for the weekend. By the time we got to the campsite we realized by looking at our wallets that we could have just flown down to Vegas for the weekend for the same amount we just spent.

Friday night was overcast but the rain held off. My sister and her kids were camping at the same grounds and their site was only about 200 meters away. The kids would come running up to our site, completely over stimulated by being out of the city, in the woods, near a lake and well, full of marshmallows. We had some good times, played some badminton, kicked around lots of dirt and scoured the paths nearby for the biggest juiciest slugs.

Cultus Lake

Saturday morning Jen and the kids packed up and headed home, while we got a visit from Duane’s dad and his wife who brought us morning coffees and a new tarp. The tarp we originally setup over our eating area was less than ideal and upon first glance Duane’s dad said something along the lines of, “So I brought you a new 20′ tarp to replace this one, what is this a 2 x 2?”. He then proceeded to string it up from the trees spanning across our entire site – it was the best tarp-job ever and we agreed that next time all we need to do is pack a “dad” and we’ll be okay.

Later on that day Duane’s mom and grandma stopped by – their hometown of Chilliwack is only a few minutes away from the lake. He and his mom have such good-humoured relationship and the same dynamic spans all generations in his family. His grandma is hilarious and would really like to see Duane with a nice girl so ladies… head over to www.duanestory.com to find out more.

For lunch I made the boys some sandwiches, which John immediately tossed on the fire to toast. Best. Idea. Ever. Campfire toasted ham and cheese bunwiches mmmm, we’re so going to have to do those again. A short while later we were joined by Duane’s sister and her family. His niece and nephew experienced the same joys mine did just the day before. With their uncle Duane to take them down to the lake they were in heaven – exploring, climbing and of course giving us all heart attacks when they got too close to the drop off to the lake or the crackling fire. His family really was hospitable, although I think they were just worried about us being out in the rain. We were then brought dinner and treated to more dry firewood before saying goodnight.

Steep Path to the Lake John and I went for a walk that evening and decided it was time to jump in the lake – at this point we were so dirty and full of campfire smell it was for fun and our own wellbeing, really. We grabbed Duane and walked down a neck-breakingly steep path to a private stretch of beach below our campsite. Jumping in was easy, trying to regain feeling in your frozen limbs was tough. Being the troopers that we are, we stayed in for quite a while and enjoyed the scenic mountain views from across the calm and foggy lake. Climbing back up the path was a challenge, but having done it a few time already during the trip we knew just what root systems to grasp to pull ourselves up and which rocks were steady enough to be used as footholds.

Campfire at Cultus The final night around the campfire was dry, the skies let up for a bit and allowed us to relax and enjoy drunken campfire ramblings. It was a great time but we’re glad to be back home and showered – I tell gotta tell ya, you probably didn’t want to share the car ride home with the three of us being dirty, stinky, and campfirey. There will be another trip as after purchasing all this gear we decided that we are now committed to at least another camping expedition this summer. Big thanks to Duane’s family for stopping by, to Duane for driving and initiating this little trip, and to John for not harming himself with the hatchet while chopping wood (we haven’t got him a Care Card yet). Here’s to another drunkcamp and remember, what happens at drunkcamp stays at drunkcamp.

*A few of my pics are up on Flickr in the drunkcamp set, and I’m certain official photographs of the weekend will soon be up on Duane’s Flickr as well.

Current Contests on Miss604
*All contests are open to residents of Canada only, unless otherwise stated. Contest timelines are published on each individual post along with entry methods. Some contests may only be open to those 19 years of age and older. Winners are announced on the contest blog posts. Contest policy »

6 Comments  —  Comments Are Closed

  1. DuaneSunday, June 10th, 2007 — 7:30pm PDT

    Fun times! Thanks for coming guys..

  2. the duane storeyMonday, June 11th, 2007 — 1:13pm PDT

    […] spent the weekend up at Cultus Lake with John and Rebecca, and I had a great time – check out Rebecca’s entry for all the details. We drank an impressive amount of booze considering we were there for only two nights. Most of my […]

  3. Keira-AnneMonday, June 11th, 2007 — 1:59pm PDT

    Hey Becks! Looks like you guys had a great time. I really enjoyed reading your recap of the weekend. Hopefully next time I can make it out with you guys! I keep forgetting to read your blog, and that’s rather strange of me. I’ll make a point of linking you today. Hope things are good with you 🙂

    K-A
    xoxo

  4. JennyMonday, June 11th, 2007 — 3:55pm PDT

    Can I borrow your sippy cup please 😉

  5. gusgreeperWednesday, June 13th, 2007 — 10:47am PDT

    i love the Spill photo on Duane’s flickr.

  6. RebeccaWednesday, June 13th, 2007 — 10:54am PDT

    Ah yes, this pic here 😛 I had a bit of an …”issue” with spillage in those chairs.

Also on Miss604.com
«
»