In God's Country...

Last week, John invited us to go on an over-nighter with him and the wee-berns to Valley of Fire. We got off work a little early to pack up all our gear, threw the dogs in the car and drove out there--only four stops and two hours later than we had planned--we were in keeping with true Michaelson tradition.

When we got to Valley of Fire (about 7:30pm) we were informed that ALL of the campsites were FULL. We drove around and checked-and indeed they were. However, the park employee did tell us of an un-marked campsite about six miles outside of the National Park, that was NOT patroled by the park rangers. So, if there were to be any problems along the way, NO ONE would know about us or be available to help. (a little daunting with three children in tow). But the boys decided that they weren't put off by that spooky warning and decided to give it a go. We traveled out of the safety net of the National Park boundaries and into the wild. We soon found a flat enough area and decided to pitch our tents. It was then that Jon figured out that our lighter did not work (our two responsibilities this trip were fire and smores), so we traveled back down the bumpy road to our neighbors in a camper (who incidentally were German) from whom we procurred, after much gesturing on Jon's part, a packet of matches. From there, everything went pretty smoothly. John made a fabulous (very meaty) duch oven dinner and Jon serenaded us with his guitar.

We were only visited by one unwelcome visiter in the night-a desert fox that stole the dogs' food. I mean, he actually ran off with the bag. It was pretty neat to pear out our tent window and see him like 5 feet away munching on some kibbles and bits.

In the morning, Gracie made us a yummy hot breakfast. Then, Jon gave all of us a turn to shoot one of his rifles--even Aidan gave it a try. It was a blast-thanks for inviting us John!