Uintahs Camping Trip

Other than Girls Camp, I've probably been camping a handful of times in my life. It was NOT a Mortimer thing to do. The last time I went (again, not to Girls Camp) was the summer of '99 when John and I hadn't even been married a year. It was right after the "Blair Witch Project" came out and I was completely freaked out. It took a whole decade, but I finally agreed to go again with John's family. I would've said no, but Katie was so excited I couldn't disappoint her. We went with John's brother and his wife (Doug & Beck and their kids), John's sister and her husband (Jen & Brandon and their son, Alex) and John's cousin (Cherie and her husband Jonathan -- who entertained the kids by chasing them, Great Man!-- and their 2 boys.) Katie was the only girl... poor thing. She had a blast though.

As for the hating camping thing, it's not that I hate the outdoors. I don't at all. I love hiking and doing the whole nature thing. I love going up to Jackson Hole, Swan Valley or down to Moab and staying somewhere nice, but having outdoor adventures in the day. It's the sleeping in a tent,the no-showering thing and the cleaning up once you get home that I can't stand. I'm such a terrible sleeper anyway, but camping is like pouring salt in my insomnia wound.

I did have fun. Some of the highlights -- the scenery, the food (John's siblings/their spouses go all out and cook great stuff), the cousins playing together, walking the 1.7 miles around Mirror Lake, seeing Mt. Baldy, Dick's Diner in Kamas, hanging out with the adults and seeing John and my bro-in-laws, Doug and Brandon, build a dam in the Provo river than watching John fall into it. The lowlights -- getting 2 - 3 hours of sleep, the rain the last night and packing up in it the next day, the dirt, going in to the "biffy" and literally throwing up on the floor while I sat on the toilet because it smelled so bad, having to clean said throw-up while staying in the nasty bathroom and later doing the squat thing in the woods because I didn't dare ever go back. Too much information, I know, but it's the only way I can REALLY get my point across at how awful that bathroom was.

Oh, and did I mention the lack of sleep? For most things, I'm pretty low maintenance, but when it comes to my sleeping, I'm as high strung as a kite. I looked like a freak, I'm sure. I had my black ski cap, my eye mask, ear plugs AND Bose ear phones so I could listen to my sleep machine. I took my sleeping pill. And still, I could hear John snoring, the kids from the other tents crying, the dog down at the other camp site, people talking around the fire, Katie waking me up every so often to make sure I was still there and of course, the rain. I've got freakin' Spidey senses when I sleep.

Here are some of the best photos from the trip. I did promise everyone we'd join them next year, but I can only commit to one camping trip right now. And I may end up at the Beaver Creek Inn near Kamas at night.

Cobblerest Campsite along the Provo River

Jen brought her Mexican hammock which entertained the kids for hours

Ethan

Katie and Ethan at Mirror Lake

View of Mt. Baldy

More Mirror Lake

Cousins: Henry, Katie, Ethan, Issac and James (not pictured: Alex and Will)

Why Alex was not pictured

Freezing cold Provo River

Dam(n) Beavers!

This picture does not do justice how funny it was when John fell in the river.

Baby Will and John

Final day and we were wet and disgusting. Will, Doug, Ethan, Beck, James, Cherie, Henry, Jonathan, Issac, Jen, Brandon (not pictured: Alex, asleep again!), Katie, me and John