Guest Post by Charlie: My Camping Adventure

Hello everyone, it's Charlie again, sharing all about my camping trip with Mama and her family.  Not only did I get to go camping for the first time, but I also got to ride in Mama's new truck for the first time.  It was pretty cool. :)

I figured we'd hop in the truck and head right up to the campground, but there were a lot of errands that Mama and Papa had to run first.

One of the first things we did was to stop by Taco Bell for lunch.  I shared Mama's favorite with her, a burrito supreme.

Next we had to stop at a hardware store so that Papa could grab some last minute items he needed.  He parked us in the shade and rolled down all of the windows.  Mama's daughters listened to a fun Adventures in Odyssey episode that told the story of Joseph in the Bible. 

Rontu and I looked out the window while we listened.  There wasn't much to see, but it was still nice to get some fresh air.

The trip was beautiful, but really long.  It felt like we would never get there!!

But at last we arrived!  Rontu and I were SO glad to be out of the truck!!

I immediately put on my backpack and started exploring.  Mama had told me that she had a special tent just for me, but I had to find a good spot to set it up.

She said that I had to stay in the same campsite and that I wanted to look for a nice flat spot so it would be comfortable to sleep on the ground. 

After a while, I found the perfect spot, just next to a big rock and a group of trees. 

Mama was busy helping Papa and the girls get their own tent set up, so she told me I could try to set mine up all by myself.  I figured it couldn't be too hard.  I have to admit, I chuckled a bit as I worked.  Maggie had begged and pleaded Mama to come on this trip, but Mama had decided it was my turn.  The thought of Maggie sleeping in a pink camo tent was pretty humorous, though.  I mean, you guys know her...can you imagine how annoyed she'd be to sleep in something like that? ;)  Maybe she should be thankful she couldn't come after all.

Getting the tent set up was a little more difficult than I had thought, but I kept trying... 

...and at last I had it all set up. 

Once I had all of my stuff unpacked and ready, I felt pretty happy.  Charlie Hathaway, camper extraordinaire! ;)

I tried out the camp chair that came with the tent.  It was a little small, but still better than sitting in the poky pine needles. ;)

I decided to take a picture of my campsite.  Hailey has been trying to get me into photography for a long time, and she let me borrow her camera for the trip. 

So I did get this one picture of my campsite.  Not bad, right?  To be honest, though, I was so busy having fun that I pretty much forgot about the camera for the rest of the vacation. ;)

Shortly after I took my one trip picture, Mama and her family headed off to their dinner with the rest of the humans from their church who had come too.  There was a slight delay at first.  Middle Gal fell and got a really bad scrape, so Mama was feeling pretty stressed by the time they took off for dinner...late.

I, on the other hand, had plenty of time to rest and relax while they were gone.  I raided Mama's snack bars in the truck when we got hungry.

Before I knew it, night had fallen and it was time to try out my new tent. 

Rontu and I were nice and snug in there with my thick zebra stripe blanket.

We conked out pretty quickly and slept hard all night.

It was so peaceful sleeping outside.  I've officially decided that camping is the best thing EVER!! ;) 

The sun rose early, and Rontu was ready to get up much earlier than I was.  

I didn't really want to leave my warm blanket, but part of me was just as excited as my dog to get up and explore. 

At first, I just put my boots on over my pajamas. 

I grabbed my Froot Loops (the "breakfast of champions", right?) but realized that I had forgotten to bring any milk...or a bowl and spoon, for that matter.  I munched on a few dry ones, but that was hardly filling.

I checked my ice chest and quickly decided that my options for breakfast were pretty limited.  There was only one choice.  I'd have to see what the humans were having and see if they could spare something. 

I quickly got dressed and then said, "Come on, Rontu, let's go get some breakfast."

We wandered over to the picnic table where all the food was.  We found some eggs, but I had no idea had to work the camp stove to cook them.  I couldn't really reach it anyway.  And I couldn't cook it over the campfire because there wasn't one started.  Besides, Mama had made me promise to stay away from campfires this weekend.  She was afraid I'd melt my plastic. ;) 

At last, we found some of Papa's sister's homemade granola.  Mama noticed me creeping about and very nicely poured me a cup with some milk.

It was delicious!

As if that wasn't enough, Papa fixed us some scrambled eggs and sausage.

Yummy!!  (By the way, the black thing on the plate next to the sausage is not a bug...it's a little cooked piece of sausage.) ;)

Later that day, while the humans were busy, Rontu and I decided to do some exploring.  The area around us was so amazing.  I couldn't wait to see as much of it as I could.  If Hayden had been there, her imagination would have been hard at work. ;)

The trees were so beautiful...I felt like I could spend the rest of my life just enjoying the wonders of God's creation.

I loved all the moss on this one.

There were more stumps and trees to climb than I could ever hope for. :) 

Here I am, Queen of the Mountain! ;)

Then I tried a trick that Papa's brother-in-law had done years ago (Mama showed me a picture).  You climb up between two trees, bracing yourself against both as you climb.  

Rontu didn't like it that I was so far up where he couldn't come.  He was much happier when I came back down. ;) 

After a while, we took a break from our hiking and climbing.   

I leaned against a tree with Rontu by my side and listened to the caws of the crows and the ocean-like sound of the wind moving through the tree branches. 

Later that afternoon, Rontu and I went and visited the cabin where Papa's parents were staying.  They were in Cabin 16.

The cabin had a nice little kitchen.

There was some delicious-looking watermelon sitting on the kitchen table.  I almost snitched a piece, but then realized it would be too hard to clean up from the sticky watermelon juice on my own. ;)

There was a sliding glass door in the kitchen that led out to a deck.

It looked so calm and peaceful out there... 

...Rontu and I decided to go outside and take a peek.  We stood on the table so we could get a better view. 

When we were done outside, we went back in and looked through one of Mama's daughters' crossword books. 

Mama and the girls had been at craft time, and when they came back, they brought me this necklace that Mama had made me.  The necklace wasn't quite finished, though.  Mama said she wanted to wait until we got back home so she could add some clasps to the end.  She didn't want me to have to stretch it over my head every time I wore it.

Isn't it cool?  I'm so glad Mama knew me well enough to use natural, outdoorsy colors.  I would have had a hard time with something too girly. ;) 

On our way back from the cabin, we stopped by the General Store to look through the little gift shop. 

I had to leave Rontu outside because pets weren't allowed.  

There were some really fun things just my size, like these cute little lanterns.

When I saw these Bear claws for 99 cents, though, I knew I'd found my souvenir. ;)

I went outside and sat on the "Liars Bench" at the front of the store.  Mama's daughters were playing on the playground next door, so I had to wait for them.  Rontu was over watching them.

Mama took a quick picture of me with my newest treasure.

I was a bit disappointed when I realized it was just plastic.  It's still pretty cool, though. :} 

While we were in "picture-taking mode", Mama snapped a few photos of me in front of the campground entrance.  I loved this big wooden bear statue. 

And here's the sign right next to him.  Yep, we stayed at the Trinity Lake KOA.  Now you know. ;) 

Ta-da!!  Here I am! ;)

I didn't really get any other pics from the trip.  We were so busy enjoying ourselves, we kind of forgot to stop and take pictures. ;)  The last couple of days went by in a whirlwind of activity.

Before I knew it, we were on our way home, watching the pretty plant life zooming by.

There were a couple of times on the way home that Middle Gal didn't feel too good, so we stopped and pulled off on the side of the road to let her rest until she felt better.

The second time we pulled over, Rontu and I climbed out and explored for a little bit.  Oh, and even though those plants have "leaves of three", don't worry...it wasn't poison oak.  I checked with Papa first. ;)

When Rontu and I finally got home, Emma and Hayden were waiting for us.  They couldn't wait to hear all about my trip.

So while I unpacked, I talked about everything we'd done.  Rontu made himself right at home, curling up at the foot of the bed.  Hayden stroked his fur while I pulled things out of my backpack.  

Mama had already helped me unpack and put away all of my clothes, so thankfully I didn't have too much to unpack.

As I took everything out, I showed my goodies to my sisters, like my bear claw... 

...and my necklace from Mama.

Then I handed them their souvenirs: a couple of pretty beads Mama had left over from her craft time.

As I started to put my books back on the shelf, Emma told me, "We have some news to share with you, too."

"Just before you left, Mama told us that we're going to have a new family member."

I was shocked.  Mama hadn't said anything to me the whole time we were gone.

"Maybe she was too busy," Hayden suggested.  "You know how stressed Mama gets when she's camping..."

"Who's coming?" I asked.

"All we know is that she's another cousin of ours and she'll be staying in this room with us, at least temporarily," Emma answered.

"Did Mama say when she was coming?" I asked again.

"Sometime later this week," Hayden informed me.

My thoughts spun as I took my hat off and finished the last of my unpacking.  I was excited to meet a new family member, of course, but I was a little nervous too.  I also worried about about how we could fit three dolls in this room.  We'd recently gotten it rearranged and it was just right.  I found myself wondering who this new cousin was and what she would be like.  I guess I'll just have to wait and find out!

Well, that's about it.  I hope you all enjoyed hearing about my camping trip! :)  I'm sure someone on the blog will keep you informed when our cousin arrives.

Talk to you some other time. :)

~Charlie