Campin' in Grant Grove

Leila and I just got back from our first camping adventure. We went up to Grant Grove on Friday after work and set up our two-day home at Sunset campground. Our campsite was lovely, though Leila might have wished for more level ground (she oscillated between total triumph and bitter frustration with every encounter of inclined terrain). My worst fear was that she would refuse to sleep in the tent. To my bliss, she embraced the tent. Except for naptime. For naps, she preferred to sleep on my back for the second half of our Saturday and Sunday morning hikes. For the first half of our hikes, however, she was content and wide-eyed, observing the beautiful tall trees, fluttering birds and scurrying chipmunks. We made many excursions with the hiking backpack. As it turned out, the pack was the best form of entertainment I had to offer her. Before embarking on this trip, I was sure that having hours on end to revel and roll in the dirt would have been her dream come true. While she did enjoy the dirt, it had its limits, usually defined by her own inadvertant (or maybe intentional) bucketful into her shoe. I learned many lessons on this excursion -- namely, that it's hard work to take a toddler camping on your own. Ambitious as it was, I'm so glad that we did it (even with puking episodes on the car trip there and back). The weather was lovely (especially considering the 105 degree valley temps that we escaped) and tenting it among the trees was refreshing to the soul. If anyone wants to go camping with us next time, the invitation is wide open!



And here's a better glimpse of a handful of my favorite pics from the trip...