Camping at 11 Mile

This weekend, Justin's office had their annual camping trip, so we tagged along to 11 Mile, just past Woodland Park, Colorado. It was soooooo much fun!!! It went by so fast, I can't believe I'm already home! I've got the camping bug, and I can't wait to go again!!

Here are some of the guys:

Here's Justin and his new fishing buddy, Eric (and his little girl, Sadie, a Vizla):

So, Bailey doesn't quite understand that he can just gracefully and politely walk through the water. It's hysterical. He looks like a banchee.

Here's a quick view from our campsite...I LOVE IT!!!!!!!!!!!!! Can I live at a campground, please? Bailey and Marley keeping me company while the "daddy's" fish. Some of the guys around our campfire...
I totally love the fact that this kid on the right is sticking his tounge out...classic!
Justin decided to take a nap with Bailey...here is the result...SO CUTE! Some of the guys...I had a blast!!!

Taylor Park Camping - Weekend #2

We loved camping at Taylor Park Reservoir so much that we went back!!! I didn't take near as many pictures this time, but we got some great shots of an amazing rainbow!! (And check it - you can see 2 rainbows in the 2nd and 3rd pictures!

Camping at Taylor Park Reservoir

Justin and I went camping again this past weekend, and boy was it a trip. It actually almost ended before it even began!

We were supposed to leave work at 4, and be on the road by 4:30, and then hit the campsite by about 7:30 pm. What we didn't calculate was the fact that we had to toss our bags with toiletries in the car and stop for groceries. We didn't get on the road until 5, didn't hit Walmart until 5:30, and weren't even on our way until 6 pm. At that point, we had to decide if we wanted to drive 3 hours in the rain to a place we'd never been (mostly on unpaved country roads), and then set up camp in the pitch blackness. We voted no.

So we had 2 options - drive all the way back home and go up the next day or find a campsite near where we were and camp for the night. We figured since we'd already packed everything, already had all the groceries, and were already about halfway there to just camp. So we drove to a nearby campsite we'd been to before and enjoyed and then our trip started!!

Here's Justin working on getting our dinner started - we hadn't eaten since about noon, and that's another reason why we didn't want to drive 3 hours and then set up camp. Who knows when we would have eaten?

Bailey would not wind down! This is one of those rare moments where he wasn't up and alert. I LOVE camping!!!

When we finally made it the next morning, here was our amazing view!

It was a bit physically demanding to set up and tear down our tent and equipment twice in one weekend, but it was worth it!

This is my new desktop background - Bailey and I went on a hike after we set up camp.

There were some amazing flowers all around - this was my favorite shot!

I took a picture of myself just so I would have proof that I was there, and Bailey just happened to turn up in the background!!

The guys getting dinner started on Saturday after they went fishing.

Here are the "kids" - Cooper, Bailey and Shelby!

Saturday night Bailey kept pacing back and forth by the tent and wouldn't relax. Turns out he wanted to go to bed. So I let him in the tent and went to check on him 10 minutes later. He was passed out on my cot with all the blankets and pillows. So I helped him out by throwing a blanket on him and he never emerged!

Check out this first video for my discovery of my silly dog:

The next morning, we had the car all packed up - I think Bailey wanted me to know he was ready to go home!

We stoppd at a lake on the way home so the boys could go fishing one more time - Bailey wanted to run in the water of course!

I had Bailey tied up next to me so he wouldn't take off after Justin. He didn't like it at all:

He vigilantly watched after Justin and wouldn't stop crying!! Here's where he was...

And here's where Justin was.

So for fun, I let him off the leash to see what Bailey would do. He TOOK OFF after Justin like a bat out of hell! I caught some of Bailey's trip back to the shore:

So I finally had enough of the crying and put him in the car. He remained alert for a while...

And then he finally got sleepy after he lost sight of Justin and took a nap...

Camping really takes it out of him. But what he doesn't know is that I'm the one that has to clean up all this mess!!!!!

First camping trip of the season!

I'm taking a break from packing the apartment (since I start moving tomorrow!!) to watch Law & Order: SVU. And I realized that it's been over a month since our first camping trip and I still haven't blogged about it! So let's all take a trip down memory lane, back to May 7th, and I just happen to have pictures to help us along!!

Bailey in front of our tent - a safe distance from the fire. We moved him closer later that night when it got colder.

He just looks like he was born to be outside.

Here's the haul - Justin and Greg got the food all on their own, and they didn't forget anything!

One of the views from our campsite.

Justin's friend Greg chopping the wood.

Pretty fire - came in handy when it got REALLY cold!!!

It was cold enough to bring out the sweatshirts and winter hats - ON MAY 7TH!!!

Bailey got cold too - so we moved him closer to the fire. So those are embers you see flying around in the pictures, not ghosts. :o)

Here's our campground from the car - a good, safe distance!

Bailey wanted to know why Greg and Justin went camping and didn't take him.

All in all, it was a nice weekend! Now back to packing - pictures to follow later this week!

Return to Blogging

And it feels good to be back! I was still pretty busy over the past month and made sure to keep taking pictures. I knew one day I would be able to have my computer fixed and could upload photos.

Fortunately for me, both of Justin's parent's are I.T. geniuses! One night over dinner, either Justin or I mentioned my problem, and his dad said "well bring it over and I'll take a look at it". My first thought - if he can do ANYTHING for free, then it's worth it! It's not like he could make it any worse. So I brought it up to them on a Friday night, and then by Tuesday - he'd fixed it! He even updated my version of Internet Explorer and put Microsoft Office 2007 on it. And all for free, which was just awesome of him!

I cannot express in words how EXCITED I am to have my computer back! I've been alternating between my BlackBerry and my iTouch for internet and I can't tell you how much I underestimated opening the lid to my laptop and being able to type normal and see things in full scale! So if I can give out any advice, cherish your computers!!

And so now, I’m relaxing on the couch with my dog while uploading pictures and, of course, blogging. I can’t wait to get back into blogging and posting the fun random thoughts and pictures. And to keep up with everyone else! But in the meantime, I kept myself busy by going camping twice, hiking and dressing up Bailey. Oh yes, I'm one of those dog owners. But at least I take him to do "manly" things, like camping. It was a great finish to this summer. Enjoy!