Playing with guns

I had the fun opportunity to go camping with Dave and Stephanie at Soapstone this weekend. We met a little before five yesterday evening, but packing kept us from leaving until just after seven. The drive was beautiful; the sun didn't start setting until we'd gotten through several country songs and a long stretch of aspens. But when the sun finally did go down, it went down fast, and by the time we reached camp, it was dark.

Anyone who's been camping with me will know I spook easily. Well, as soon as we stopped the Jeep, Dave requested silence because he'd heard something. Sure enough, there was a herd of sheep somewhere in the distance, and the loud bleating of those closest to us combined with the united, ghostly cries of those farther away created a feeling that even Dave found creepy.

But all we had to do to chase our fears away was build a fire. Nothing spells comfort better on a dark wilderness night than to keep company around one of these. It was quite cozy.


This fire was too small for us, however. But no matter; it was nothing a bit of lighter fluid couldn't fix.


Mmm. . . . Toasty. 8-)

Yet after deciding on just using my tent and setting it up, we neglected the fire for a little while and placed our chairs in the darkness behind the Jeep. The stars had come out, and if that wasn't spectacular enough, sheet lightning could be seen directly across the basin, over Lightning Ridge (which it turned out wasn't too far from where I'd hiked in a bad storm the second day of the Fifty this year). The view inspired deep philosophical discussion, and shortly before the Milky Way came out, we returned to the fire to view the stars from there.

But truthfully, everything between that and bed is a blur to me. I know we talked a lot, and Dave and I shared a bottle of Martinelli's (Dave! Bicky stottle! ;-D), but other than that, I can't really recall anything. Oh, we did have s'mores. Well, "half" s'mores; our chocolate was all melted and there wasn't enough for all three of us. But the marshmallows were good! Mine caught on fire, so I never had to wait long to eat them. Gooey goodness. ^_^

The tent fit us all comfortably; I'd been able to fit five guys in my three-man dome before, so we certainly had no shortage of space. It was my first time camping with a girl in the same tent (aside from family campouts during my wee years), but it really wasn't very different. Even still, Stephanie and I jokingly insisted that Dave sleep in the middle. :-P

Before long it was morning, and we were hungry. Steph enjoyed her own breakfast of yogurt and cereal, but Dave and I weren't so lucky as to be able to just whip ours out of the cooler. With teamwork, we threw some eggs, cheese, and sausage into the Dutch oven, stirred it all up, and got the coals going . . . then waited a couple hours.

In the meantime, we occupied ourselves tending the fire. We'd run out of lighter fluid (it was totally worth it!), and all the wood was damp. So although the fire did remain warm throughout the day, it was very smoky. Very, very smoky.


When the smoke permitted us to sit by the cooler without choking, Dave and I also enjoyed a spirited game of chess. We both played well for having not done it in a long time: my queen thrashed his front lines, and his rooks and knight gave me such grief as to keep all my other forces in. In the end, it came down to his king becoming surrounded with both black and white pawns, and I moved my queen in for the checkmate. Good game!


And with the end of our battle, breakfast was ready! Mmm . . . scrambled eggs, cheese, and sausage. It tasted better than it looked, and stuck with us for quite a while. ^_^


Satisfied with our meal, we proceeded to find an adequate spot to play with our guns in the nearby fields. It spooked some horses and most likely annoyed the shepherd who owned them very much, but we had a blast with the nine millimeter Luger and .30-06 Remington 700 (it was a Remington, right Dave?). Good, loud fun.





Before long the clouds moved in heralding rain. This meant we would have to go soon, but it afforded a beautiful view either way.


Our last big adventure was dessert: a triple chocolate Dutch oven cake. It didn't take as long to cook as our breakfast did, but there was still plenty of time spent waiting for it. Thankfully a gigantic beetle landed on Stephanie's foot; it provided all the entertainment we needed during that time.




Spencer, you probably weren't able to watch the video, on account of your slow connection, but it's probably a good thing; an alternate title for it was going to be Spencer's Gonna Kill Us. See, we spent three minutes burning and squishing the poor beetle to death. Sorry, buddy. ;-)

But hey, you can't argue with the results! Time passed quickly, and before we knew it our cake was ready.


It looked like poo when we dished it up, but no one was complaining. Heck--Stephanie likes it runny. ;-D


And what delicious poo it was! It was a very heavy dessert--the kind that makes you feel all icky after you eat it--but it tasted great! We're definitely doing that one again. :-D

We finished with just enough time left to strike camp before it started raining. I think all three of us can agree that the funnest part was getting the fire put out. ;-)



The drive home was just as beautiful as the drive up. We're blessed to live in a place where mountains, lakes, and forests are so easily accessible. I'm going to miss it on my mission--a lot.

But even better was just spending time with Dave and Steph in the outdoors. It was quiet out there--nothing but us, and the occasional ATV. I'm glad they let me come with them. They're one of those couples whose family I know will always remain close to my future family. When I was a little kid, I often wondered what the term "family friends" really meant when my Dad used it in reference to a family in Heber we sometimes visited, whose father he had known since before any of us were even thought of. But these days it makes perfect sense thanks to the Highams, and I hope this camping trip was only the first of plenty more.