written by Corey L. Stokes
As he summer comes o a close, we head out for our last few hurrah’s! One good thing about it for me is the cost doesn’t follow me home! In our world living on a budget does not mean you have to live a dull and boring life. Nor does it mean that you have to go into debt o have fun; And boy did we have fun! Here are a few memorable moments from our Fourth Annual Back to school Camping trip.
This year the Stokes Family annual back to school camping trip started with a potential disaster! It stated out with a lesson that we will never forget, and ended with us having the time of our lives. If you follow me or my wife on Facebook, you’ve probably seen some of the what we experienced in El Dorado, KS. But, there were some things that just didn’t make the Facebook posts, such as how our children entertained us with a puppet show. The Weekend was truly amazing despite the rocky start.
Remember that car you saw on the highway. You know the one I’m talking about, the one that looked like it was about to burst all over the highway! And remember when you saw clothes scatter on that busy highway a few miles further down the road? Well on this trip that was us! Unfortunately during the moment we didn’t think to take pictures. But imagine me running from the car one the side of the road to pick up our belongings that had spread out 1/4 mile of he highway, So not fun!
Adventure 1:
While packing for this trip we realized that we didn’t have the keys to the overhead storage compartment. However, we ( and by we, I mean me) decided to use it any. We loaded it up, latched it down and off we went. During local travel (travel up to 50 mph) things went well. When we hit the highway however, and we started driving (65mph and up), our unlocked X-cargo, did not stay closed for long. First we heard it open, then saw in the mirror, our belongings flying behind us on the highway. Cars swerved to prevent being hit with the “flying Stokes debris” as we pulled over to stop the rain and recover our belongings.
Luckily this was the worst thing that happened during the trip. We went on go to the camp site and our days were full of swimming, relaxing and chatting it up with the neighbors. Or nights were spent by he fire enjoying each other’s company. Our highway disaster wasn’t however, the only thing that happened that plagued our trip. There is a reason that they tell you to make sure your items are locked up and food storage is put away at night while camping. Normally we have not had any problems with local wild life, but this trip we found out why this rule is so important.
Adventure 2:
During our first night, we had a few visitors. Although, the dogs warned us (all night) we didn’t get there in time to stop the raccoon’s from chowing on a package of hamburger buns, some hot chocolate powder, and oatmeal. We now know, raccoon’s can open zippers! “Zip tie your zippers!”
The raccoon’s, visited nightly but they were unable to feast like they did the first night.
Despite a few trips to the local store to replenish food and safeguard our belongings our time here was a blast! We spent our either enjoying each other’s company in the piece and quiet, except for chirping birds and arguing squirrels, or at the lake enjoying the water and the children. All in all we had an outstanding 4 days in the El Dorado State park in Kansas. Here are some of the pictures :
Since camping was not really part of our backgrounds, we look forward to learning something new with ever trip. This year there are a few things that stand out as tremendous learning experiences.
Lessons Learned
1. Don’t try to pack meals for the entire trip. pack for the first day and first morning. while you are out exploring the town make a Wal-Mart or grocery store run to the next few days worth of meals. Here is some of the meals my wife whipped up on the camp site
2. Even if you think your things are secure use zip ties!
3. Weather the facilities are great or terrible. Midnight bathroom emergencies, are even worst when it is pitch black. Invest in a 5 gallon bucket and the accompanying seat/cover and don’t let modesty get in the way of nature! Besides its pitch black, who can see!(if you really want to know I’ll tell you).
DIY notes (Look for this on a future post)
During the trip our only neighbor, when they the campgrounds, gave us their left over wood. As you can see in the pictures, the fire was amazing. But I did salvage couple of pieces, lets see what I can come up with!
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Corey Stokes 