Camping is "in-tents"

Ahh....Home sweet home. Its been a long weekend out in the wilderness, and I must admit, I'm happy to be plugged in again!
Although getting away for the weekend with my boyfriend was something I had been pressing for a while, and although I did agree to go camping, I have to let you in on a little secret. I, my friends, am not exactly what you would call the outdoorsy type.
I am not really a princess or anything. I dont mind getting dirty, or not showering for a few days, but a camper, I am not. I should mention that my boyfriend is a rock hound. Dont know what that is? I dont blame you. Basically it is someone who goes out to sites that are documented as having specific rocks and minerals indigenous to that area. Fascinating, I know. He is no stranger to these trips, but it was my first. So what is involved in these trips are long hikes out to remote (even more remote than the "campsite") areas, lots of hiking up canyons in the middle of nowhere, miles upon miles of what looks exactly the same to me. Wait....this is what camping is? I thought it was just S'mores, hot chocolate and hot dogs at night, and lots of sleep and leisure during the day? Apparently not ;)


Our accommodations








Night one















When we read the weather report to make sure it wasnt going to rain, we didnt bother to look at the wind...oopsy. It was FREEZING cold and my sleeping bag broke. It was a rough night to say the least. The morning wasnt a whole lot better. It was still freezing, the wind is now up to 70 miles and hour, no sleep, no coffee and the campers next to us decided 7 am was a fine time to start shooting. But off we went to search for rocks. I am pretty much less than enthused by this point. I decided that looking for rocks in this weather was not for me, so I stayed in the truck, which was wind free, or so I thought, til the back of the truck blew off. This day is not getting better. Eventually after the boys figured out the truck situation, we decided to go into town to get me a new sleeping bag. Ive seen a lot of crappy towns across California, but the winner by far is....Barstow. Dear god, Im sorry for the inhabitants of that place. Anywho, carrying on..We decided to try another campsite up the road about 30 miles. It was like heaven opened up and right in the middle was the Afton Canyons.


































The rest of the weekend ended up being amazing. We were standing in the most amazing desert scenery I have ever seen. They call it the Grand Canyon of the Mojave Desert. The wind died down, which made the temperature bearable and we grilled chicken, had hot dogs and beans, hot chocolate and S'mores. Now thats what I'm talking about. This is camping! I was super toasty in my tent this time, which made for a pretty good nights sleep. The next morning it was warm enough for a tank top and we headed up to the site to find some rocks. I dont think I have to mention again that rocks arent really my thing, but Im a hell of a girlfriend! Half way into our four mile hike, I found something shiny on the ground. I picked it up and realized it was the most beautiful cluster of crystals. If they would have told me I could find shiny things( I mean after all, dont boys know that girls LOVE shiny things??), I might have actually looked all those times before. Now it was on. After about four hours of hiking and back, I now have in my collection some beautiful pieces I had no idea you could just find on the ground.












































All in all, I had a really good time, and I am excited to do again. There is just one thing I would do differently this time....COFFEE!!

xo
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