Monday, July 23, 2018

Jellystone Knightstown Campout, Day 1


This weekend, our family ran away with my Mom.  We began testing out her new Camper. She bought it with her inheritance from my Uncle Ron who loved to go Camping. We may even call this Camper, Big Ron. He was my Godfather, and we always got along well, being of geeky minds.  He loved spending time and camping with the boys and 'unclefying' them.  So this was the first campout we got to try out the new camper.   First we had to meet up at the Camper place, because there were a few things left undone.  Mom wanted us to drive "to get used to it".

I drove to the Camper place.  I hadn't driven with a camper trailer attached before. It was really scary for me.  It kept shifting when I transitioned from 25-40 mph. Mostly that was just exit ramps, but still It gave me a case of the willies.  I've never been so happy to see my minivan. You know how I joke, "I'm tired, I drove today."  I made Eric drive the next leg and get it into the campground.  Putting that beast into reverse was insane.


But Woohoo!  After less than an hour on that second leg of the journey we arrived at the Jellystone Campground in Knightstown, IN.  

As we struggled with backing the trailor in, the Ranger came and backed it in and rescued us.  
Ugh.  

As we were dealing with that, I realized it was 12:30, soon it became 1.  We were all Hungry.  
So Lunch was Next. Or During for some. Luckily, we had lunchmeat, chips at the ready.  
No fire necessary.


Our Lovely Campsite! 


Eric and I go on an Ice/Wood run. 
Mom was weirded out that we didn't pack wood or ice, where would we get it.  We also knew it was going to rain soon.
This part we knew, we headed Back Up the hill, for supplies. 
Driving by ourselves. 
It was almost like a date. 
Given that it was a Family Trip, I knew that it would be the only time we would be alone all weekend, so I took this cute picture of us by the Pic-a-nic baskets. 


These pretty purple coneflower was growing outside the bathrooms, which were at the top of the hill.  Luckily, we figured out how to work the bathrooms in the camper, so we didn't use the ones at the top of the hill except for #2 or to shower too. 


Naptime, Ha!
After our adventures, Jacob was getting crazy, and I was toast. 
I tried to get a nap with him, but it didn't work very well.  
He's so cute, and our naptimes are limited, so as it began to spit, I tried to nap. 
Nope.


Meanwhile, the kids broke out the deck of cards, and had some snacks. 


A little rain became a lot of rain. 



Luckily, we have this wonderful camper to hang out inside. 
Nana made this super excellent chex mix.  It did not the survive to the end of our adventure. 
It was Yummy!  
Who knew Chex mix would be such a big hit with everyone.  I'd forgotten.


Meanwhile, my sister sent a peace offering. 
Kani Salad. 
At least I thought it was a peace offering.   She knew I loved this crab/cucumber/spicy may salad that she makes.  And I do.  I knocked it out for my snack, and finished it off with Charlie for dinner. ;)


An Advertisement! 
Thieves- the Bar of Soap. 
I packed this as a last minute idea, thinking we might want some soap with us, as it's Camping. 
Brilliant!  
#AllTheThievesProducts
Remind me that I need All the Thieves Every Time we Camp! 


Charlie couldn't take being cooped up in the rain, so she and Jacob both were ootsy, they wanted to go for a walk.  We let them go for a walk in the rain.  As the rain was ending. 




There they are, as the sunshine broke through, the littles headed to the park just around the corner.
They are walking in the street in this shot.  




Charlie slid on the slide.  
After a rainstorm.  
She was a mess. 


Jacob followed suit. 
Jacob slid on the slide, and he got his djibooty all messed up. 


All the kids got mad and soaked when a second round of storms rolled through. 


This one was even harder rain than the first round. 
Uh Oh. 
We thought our chairs would be protected under our 'porch roof'. 
Nope. 


There's no protection outdoors from That. 
This was my favorite rain shot of the weekend.  


We eventually sent Eric back out to the park after the kids, to bring them in from the rain. 
Lightning was our limiting factor.  I was ok if they played in the rain, but with lightning and thunder, they needed to come back in. 


Meanwhile, our porch flooded. 


Inside, the kids all played Crazy 8s with the Original! 
Nana taught me Crazy 8s, and I taught them, so we all had epic card battles. 
I'm so glad we packed two decks of card. Nana and I resumed our old Gin tournaments of old.  I'd forgotten how to play gin.  But we taught Eric, and we had battles all day, all weekend long.  No points, no gambling, just cards.  Everyone usually cleaned my clock, but I had fun. 
When Jacob won, he was the most cheerful kid ever.  When he lost, he was not. 
We needed to teach him how to be a gracious loser. 



After getting soaked in the rain, the kids were happy to come in and get dry for a while. 

Dinner prep.  
Hot dogs in the microwave for the kids, and leftover pasta for us. 


It seems silly to have hot dogs without being grilled out on a campout. 
Cooked in a microwave seems like a cop out.  But when there's so much rain, there was no hope of fire for dinner.  The kids were happy though.



Mom and Lisa and made this yummy pasta casserole.  Lisa tends to just throw in whatever she had, so there were all kinds of veggies: zucchini, broccoli, mushrooms, yellow squash, onion, in a light marinary with parmesan and penne pasta.  It was kind of like a primavera, I think Giada started it, but my family mutated it.  And I ate the crap out of it.  It had been a long exhausting day, lots of work, my back was Done.  And so I was glad for some yummy home cooking without having to cook much. 


The closest we got to Smores on this campout. 
This was a Smores flavored stout, beer, that Eric and I picked up at the Wine and Table next door to the Kumon place.  So Yummy!  
And since there was no evening fire, this worked for improvising.  


Once the sun went down, the kids were Toast. 
My bunkmate was out cold as soon as I laid down and held his hand. 
Our neighbors (who were very close) were noisy until like 1 a.m., so I slept crappy. 
He's so beautiful when he sleeps. 

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