Tuesday, October 9, 2012

Camping at Big Bear.

And this is what happens to chips at 6500 feet above sea level. Silly chips.
Sometimes, when you have gorgeous scenery and no willing models,
you have to whip out the tripod and do the posing yourself. 
My laptop and I sat on these rocks and worked on my latest novel. Bliss, I tell you, bliss.
Oh, hey!
I finally got a chance to break out my fuzzy sock collection again.
I'm a once per year type of camper. 
The wilderness is cool and all, and we all know showering isn't my favorite activity, but three 
days of sleeping in a dirty tent and peeing into a hole in the ground is really all I can take. 
But I'm SO glad I sucked it up for this camping weekend at Big Bear.
Because, seriously, we were awed by how beautiful the mountains were 
(and I got to see some amazing fall colors! Score!). 
The weekend was awesome, except for one minor terrifying experience.
Let's start at the beginning...
So, we arrived Friday afternoon and the temperature was 70 degrees.
Jump to 9 or 10 PM and BAM...it was in the 30s. I could see my breath. 
I packed 8 blankets. Literally....EIGHT.
And when I crawled into our tent to sleep (in my long underwear and sweats) 
I wrapped all eight of them around me (sucks to suck, Ryan). 
Luckily someone had an extra sleeping bag, because I was still so freezing
I was convinced I wasn't going to survive the first night. I thought I would perish and Yoshi and Dobby would be left to run my blog, which would've been bad news bears 
because they don't know how to type. 
Anyway...in the morning I convinced (read: coerced with threats) Ryan to get up
at sunrise to do a little photo session with me. A session made extra interesting
by the fact that the restrooms at our campsite had NO sinks and NO mirrors.
Oh, hey, unwashed face and unbrushed hair. 
After breakfast our group split up. Some went hiking, a few went rock climbing
and I went to the top of a giant rock to take in the stunning view and do some writing
(and though I eschewed hiking, I still managed to slam my knee into a rock and bleed).
When the hikers returned to the campsite for lunch, we discovered we were one (wo)man down.
She didn't go hiking with the group and she didn't leave with the climbers and no one
had seen her since breakfast. But it was only noon, so we shrugged it off.
Fast-forward a few more hours. Five o'clock and still no word. And her cell phone was off.
And it was getting dark. We were all pretty worried. Worried enough that we called
911 and reported her as a missing hiker. They called the helicopter and had us 
divide up and form a search party. It was a pretty terrifying.
Just before the Sheriff arrived, the climbing group arrived back at the campsite...
with our missing girl in tow. Apparently, she'd gone for a quick walk that morning
and jumped in with the climbers as they drove off. No one saw her get into their car and
none of them had answered their phones, which sent us into a slow panic. 
Upon their return there was a serious celebration (and some apologetic phone
calls to the authorities). Definitely not something we imagined when we planned
our camping trip. Communication is key, people!
But we all survived and Ryan and I made it home
Sunday afternoon to give our puppies some big hugs and kisses after
their first weekend being home alone. 
And to take some much needed showers. 
Oh, shower, how I missed you so!


22 comments:

  1. Glad your friend was safe and well. That's scary! Your photos are really pretty. I would be afraid of bears and other critters though, lol. Heather

    ReplyDelete
  2. That is gorgeous. You guys look amazing. And you can't go camping without a little bit of action. Glad to see everything turned out okay.

    Thanks for sharing,
    Cody
    solemnsound.blogspot.com

    ReplyDelete
  3. Camping is one of those activities that SOUNDS fun, and IS fun once a year haha. Glad your friend was ok and you all survived :) Gorgeous pictures!

    ReplyDelete
  4. I love camping. These pictures are breathtakingly gorgeous. Glad the friend is safe and well.

    ReplyDelete
  5. Great story, great pictures - camPing is always nice vicariously! :)

    ReplyDelete
  6. Looks like a nice spot you picked out to type. Love Big Bear, my best friend just moved up there, she loves it. But I'm with you on those freezing temps...yikes! Love your pictures with your husband too. They look so not posed and natural.

    ReplyDelete
  7. Looks like a nice spot you picked out to type. Love Big Bear, my best friend just moved up there, she loves it. But I'm with you on those freezing temps...yikes! Love your pictures with your husband too. They look so not posed and natural.

    ReplyDelete
  8. Looks like a nice spot you picked out to type. Love Big Bear, my best friend just moved up there, she loves it. But I'm with you on those freezing temps...yikes! Love your pictures with your husband too. They look so not posed and natural.

    ReplyDelete
  9. I LOVE those pictures. It's so gorgeous there! And I especially love the ones of you & Ryan! I'm obsessed with that plaid blanket.

    ReplyDelete
  10. Glad your friend is okay! I was laughing the entire time b/c that's totally something my friends would do ... oops. Love the plaid blanket and your couple shots!

    ReplyDelete
  11. I am the type that likes the idea of camping, but it reality I can only do it for 1 night. Anything more than that and I'm done. Your pictures are fantastic! I love them all! You also look amazing for not looking in a mirror before those photo shoots.... wow, just wow.

    ReplyDelete
  12. first, I'd love to write my novel in the wilderness. That sounds like out of a movie.

    second...that's so so scary about the missing girl! I'm glad everything worked out okay. Stuff like this just makes me think of how much harder life was before cell phones ;)

    ReplyDelete
  13. that is definitely terrifying. i felt my heart start to race just reading the story!

    And I'm with ya on camping once a year. i always look so much more forward to it!

    ReplyDelete
  14. what a crazy story! I am glad everyone was alright, I was getting pretty worried in the story!

    ReplyDelete
  15. Oh, how your posts make me miss California! I'm a Riverside, CA-turned-Austin gal and posts like these make me remind me why California is so great! Love your writing, lady. Keep it up!

    ReplyDelete
  16. girl.. next time you can come to big bear and stay in our cabin (:


    but shoot... this makes me want to camp now! *think of running water, ashley

    ReplyDelete
  17. I am going to have to look later at the pics as they don't show up @ work. But can I just tell you that when I read it the first time I swear I thought "coerced with treats". It made a much more funny and fun for you story. LOL!!!!!

    ReplyDelete
  18. these pictures are lovely. What camp site did you go to? did you see a lot of other people there?

    ReplyDelete
  19. you and your hubby are GORRRRREOUS! like seriously, swoon! Camping is for sure on my Fall bucket list... this looks like so much fun!
    xx
    Here&Now

    ReplyDelete
  20. First off, I love your boots. And secondly those photos of the two of you together are precious!! xo

    http://dreamingenfrancais.blogspot.com

    ReplyDelete
  21. Wow! What an adventure! Those are going to be some good stories and some amazing photos to share with the grandkids!

    ReplyDelete
  22. What a story!! Love the photos and I adore that headband!! You make everything look so cute!

    ReplyDelete

This is the part where you tell the pups how cute they are.
...but seriously, thank you so much for stopping by and for your wonderful comment! I read them all and try to respond as often as I can. We hope you visit again soon :)