The Blanch Herd: Monte Cristo Campout

Paul and Kim invited us to camp with them in early August. The original plan was for Red Canyon (a Blanchard favorite), but due to some health things that came up, they decided to stick closer to home at Monte Cristo Campground. It worked out great for us to join them for dinner and a campfire on Wednesday evening, and then head home to sleep there so Gregg could work on Thursday.

We did some babysitting and prepping Thursday morning, and then hooked up the teardrop and headed up the hill. It only takes us about 45 minutes to get there from our house, but it feels like we're in another world. It's at least 20 degrees cooler than home and the firs and aspens and gorgeous wildflowers were such a lovely change of scenery. We had a spot "next door" to them where we set up our trailer to call home for the next couple of days. We brought skillet veggie lasagna and garlic bread for dinner. Then we enjoyed banana boats and s'mores on the fire for dessert. It had been raining all day and was still chilly, so it felt good to sit close to a roaring fire. That night it rained again while we were in bed, but the trailer kept us toasty and dry! Good job, Gregg!

Banana boats!

We had this fun bench in our campsite. It made for great photo
shoots and "canoeing".

I woke up way before the rest of my Tearanosaurus dwellers, and after laying there awake for about an hour, I decided to try my hand at an escape plan without waking everyone. Both kids slept through my under-the-bed maneuver to retrieve my clothes and shoes and my sneaking out the door. Gregg rolled over when the latch popped as I opened it, but he rolled back and fell asleep again. I wandered around the campground a bit, and then started the charcoal for breakfast. It was quiet and cool and calm and they just slept and slept and slept. Eventually, the rest of the world woke up and we ate breakfast of biscuits and gravy. We lounged around in the sunshine for a good part of the morning before heading out on a little exploration drive on some nearby dirt roads. We made it to the top of Mt. McKinnon (elevation 9081) but couldn't reach the top of Monte Cristo Peak (about 100 feet higher) by road, though we did circle it. We came back to camp for lunch and naps and reading and visiting. The rest of the day was more playing and exploring and eating and visiting. When it started to get dark we noticed that Jupiter was very visible, so Paul got his spotting scope out and set it up in a field so we could see the moon plus the moons of Jupiter. And then we got a real treat and saw the rings of Saturn! I showed Cal and Sam the Big Dipper, and Cal spotted a satellite. Callie and Sam absolutely loved this part - they talked about staying up late and seeing the stars and planets as their "best" of the trip. We got tucked into bed late and again stayed snug and toasty and dry all night long.

Good morning teardrop!

Matchy matchy piggie tail girls. :D

Cute little lunch date.

These huge piles of logs in the middle of a field
was a great playground for all the kids of the
campground.

Saturday morning started a bit earlier than Friday, but we made the most of it by going on a little walk/hike through the D loop and out of the campground on a dirt road to the top of a gravel pit nearby. We got to see and enjoy the sunrise there and as we started to head back to camp for breakfast, a little bit of rain started to fall which made for a spectacular rainbow to guide us back. It was beautiful! Callie and Grandma promptly named it the "Rainbow Hike". We came back for a smorgasbord breakfast of bacon, pancakes, scrambled eggs and corned beef hash. Yum! It started sprinkling again so we headed into the trailer for yet another round of Apples to Apples. The sun came out about the time we were getting antsy to move around again, so we went for a walk through the campground. Then we came back to camp and roasted hot dogs for lunch, then packed up camp and headed home.

Sunrise hiking!

And then the rainbow came out to guide us back to camp!

Who knew a life jacket could provide such
endless hours of entertainment without even
any water around? She wore this thing all over
the campground "just in case she fell in the water."