I didn’t grow up camping but have been about a dozen times in my life. D and I had talked a lot about making the most out of summer and getting outside as often as we could, exploring this lovely state we live in.

So, what better way then to pack up our sleeping bags and tent along with a few other essentials and as D would say, ‘hit the ol’ dusty trail.’

Our first camping trip was about three weeks ago. Since we didn’t have a tent yet, D had been researching ways to convert the back of his pickup truck into an area that we could put our sleeping pads and sleeping bags and rest our heads for the night. After some research on the internet he came up with this:

You sleep on the top and put all of your gear {dry food, cookware, camping stuff, etc} below.

D and I also realized that we needed to be pretty organized because the whole idea was that on any given weekend we could literally decide last-minute to pack up and go camping. So we bought plastic containers and labeled them appropriately as such:

And filled them with our goodies…

One of D’s favorite things to do while camping is cook meals over the fire so we came up with what we were going to eat for breakfast, lunch and dinner.

To save space I combined the ingredients that I could and put them in jars and plastic containers.

Once we were all set, we packed up the truck and bright and early the next morning we took off for the McKenzie River. D had a couple campgrounds in mind but as we pulled in we quickly found that we may have a problem. Most of the campgrounds were already reserved. Crap, lesson number ONE! So, we turned around and headed to the ranger station about a mile back to ask them if they had any recommendations for where we might camp. The ranger told D that there were tons of old logging roads and we could turn down any of then and camp. He pointed us in the direction of what he thought was a good one right on the river and off we went.

When we arrive we quickly found that this ranger was right. It was exactly what I always envisioned camping to like. Out in the middle of nowhere. The kind of camping that required a shovel if you know what I mean.

We decided this what exactly what we were looking for and we began to set up camp.

By the time we were all set up it was close to dinner time and on the menu tonight was vegan chili!

One of D’s new toys is this cast iron pot. It’s really fun to cook in!

Here is the vegan chili simmering. By the way, both D and I agreed that this was by far the best chili we have ever had! Maybe I should share it on the blog!

After dinner was finished and the dishes were done, I decided to try to squeeze in a little reading before it got dark.

and then, we went to bed.

The next morning we woke pretty early and already had the plan to go on a long hike with the pups. We took what we needed and left what we didn’t, each secretly hoping it would be there when we returned.

We headed back to the ranger station to ask them for a good trail and he pointed us in the direction of one that went up to an alpine lake and since I absolutely love hiking, especially when there is a lake at the top, I was really excited to see where this was going to take us.

When we got to the trail head we parked and looked at the map. We decided that an 8 mile out and back would be good and figured out where the turn around we be, locked up the truck and headed on our way, leaving the map in the truck. Lesson number THREE! Never leave the map in the car!

The hike was beautiful. Exactly what I had been needing. I grew up just off the I-90 corridor in a suburb of Seattle called the Samammish Plateau and at one point in my life I was going hiking up to four days a week. There was a trail right outside of Issaquah near where I lived, and I would drive out there in the early morning, hike the trail as fast as I could, and return home to get ready for work. I also grew up going hiking with my dad.  I realized how much I missed hiking as we started getting deeper into the forest. It was incredible!

And we finally figured out how long it takes Maddy to get tired. You see, this little pup is like the Energizer Bunny, she keeps going and going and going until you hit 11 miles. Then she’s done. We also discovered she is scared of bridges. D had to carry her over all of them and there were about five or six.

After 12 1/2 miles, two tired dogs, no lake, and one yours truly nearly breaking her leg, we arrived back at our truck, tired, happy, hungry, and ready to sit on our bums around the fire.

After dinner we ate smores made from vegan marshmallows, gluten-free graham crackers {which are super yummy!}, and decadent coconut dark chocolate.

Later that evening as we were settling down I noticed headlights driving down the dirt road towards our campground. This wasn’t necessarily anything out of the ordinary, when we arrived at the campsite there was a nice fire pit already made so I am sure it was a site that had people camping there often. As the car got closer I noticed it was driving slow and the windows were tinted. The car was a bright purple-pink Buick looking thing and as it crept by I got an intense feeling or women’s intuition if you will. The Buick drove by slowly and began to turn around. I could tell it was creeping D out too as we both stood there holding the dogs back as this hooptie pulled a three-point turn and slowly drove off. We sat there for a minute and then looked at each other with similar looks on our faces. That. was. weird. We sat back down by the campfire and tried to pretend that we had put it behind us but I just couldn’t shake the creepy feeling. D and I talk about other things, funnier things, but all the while I couldn’t get the purple-pink Buick out of my mind.

As the last bit of light tucked behind the tall evergreens, D started to put out the fire and we got the dogs in their warm jackets and put them away in their kennels for the evening. Then we both climbed into the back of the truck and crawled into our sleeping bags. As I laid there thinking to myself D asked me what was wrong. At first I said nothing but then after a little pressing I told him I was really scared. The car really freaked me out and I couldn’t shake this really intense feeling that something wasn’t right. He tried to reassure me that everything was fine. He said it was probably just kids looking for a place to party. I nodded trying to convince him I believed what he was saying but he could tell I wasn’t going to sleep well tonight.

“Do you want to leave?”

“No.”

“Babe, do you want to leave cause we can if you want to?”

“Don’t be made but {very long pause} but yes.”

“Okay. Let’s pack up.”

It’s was 9:20 pm. We jumped out of the back of the truck, packed up everything, got the dogs in the back seat of the truck and were on the road for the three-hour drive by 9:38 pm.We arrived him just before 1 am.

Lesson number four. Well, this is a two-part one; a) always listen to your instincts and b) never let me watch another episode of Criminal Minds again. Ever!

Stay tuned for Part Two next week! Camping on the Metolius River.