Summer Camp Out 2016

This summer we chose to go camping at our camp for our big planned camping weekend with uncle Kevin. The weekend before we built a second tent deck. We still needed to screw down 7 boards because we had run out of screws. we did that and cut down some of the trees that were knocked down by the creation of the road in. It struck me as I walked around this time how big this flat area at the end of the road really is. There is plenty of room here for quite a large cabin and a grassy area if we ever wanted to do that. 

We needed to cut back some of the trees because they leaned over the deck where our tall tent would need to go

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Here is a picture with the tent deck complete with tent. the left side of this tent is facing the hill that goes down to the brook. Behind the right side is where we had to cut back the brush. The tree you see in the right foreground had some low hanging branches that needed to be cut back. Kevin stood on the wooden chair set to reach them with the chain saw. That made me a bit nervous. 

Doing all that work made us hot so we decided to explore the brook a bit. Kevin started moving some rocks to make it so we could cross the brook without getting our feet wet. Well, we like to move rocks in our brook so we moved a whole bunch. 

You can easily cross now without getting your feet wet. It does not keep the water in but just to the right of the rock it comes up to my knees so Tonia likes to swim in the hole we made. We found nice large flat rocks and started carefully dropping them in front of each other unsuspectingly and soaking one another with the resulting wave. 

It was a nice warm weekend and we wanted to go out to the reservoir for a little swim. Just as we were getting out and pumping up tubes for a little float a man from the electric company who owns the reservoir informed us that we could not swim or float on our floats there.  The difference between a Kayak which apparently is allowed and a tube we do not know. So we went back to the brook and played in our water. 

Tonia's friends Gavin and Grayson came to camp for a day with their mother Courtney. 

They enjoyed playing in the rocks and dirt. Gavin was a complete mess when he went home. they stayed for lunch and dinner. 

I am very sad to report that we were having so much fun that I did not get any pictures of Sara and Kevin. Sara was only there for Friday night and Saturday morning. 

               

Here is the first tent deck we built with Kevin's tent and the tent for Roxy next to it. Roxy moved around a lot at night and each morning we found her curled up in her tent with the tent upside down and wrapped around her. Silly Roxy. Roxy went in the tent easily I just told her to kennel and she went right in. 

     

Here is what the camp looks like from the road in. That tent you see has the picnic table inside. The screens were no match for Flymageddon 2016 though. Wow were there so many many many flies. We need to research a way to repel the millions of flies that descended on our camp! we ended up just removing the screens because they were not helping at all. 

The new grill or new used grill came in very handy this weekend and is a great addition to the camp. Thank you to Charles coworker Al who provided that and the white chairs for our camp. 

                                   

It was much easier to make our morning coffee on the side burner. We also tried to finish the walls in the outhouse but the generator was having difficulty starting so Charles brought the generator home so he could clean the carburetor. The only thing left to do is perhaps make one more shelf in the storage shed and to make the two walls on the inside of the outhouse. I also need to bring up some mothballs to keep the insects out of our gear. I hate the smell of mothballs but I think it will be necessary. 

Also new this trip was using the Dutch oven and stand. it was a bit difficult at first but we made a really good potatoes and ham gratin in it the first night. Charles made a super huge fire so it took a lot of time to burn down to usable coals. Note to self, 2 pallets in a small fire ring will crack the big rocks. my nice big rock at the front of our fire pit is now a medium size rock with many smaller rocks around it. I am a bit sad about that. 

Katie's Birthday and Another Tent Deck

Today we went to camp for a cook out for Katie's 16th birthday. We also almost finished a second tent deck for our family camp out in two weeks. We had salad and sandwiches for lunch and hamburgers and hotdogs for dinner. We also tried chili cheese fries but our fire was too hot and we scorched the bottom. I brought up a lantern, broom, trash can, and a toilet paper holder for the outhouse. As promised here is a picture of the pallet wall

I think it turned out awesome! 

I used a garage hook for the lantern so we can take it down and use it if we want. 

     

Here are some pictures of us building the tent deck: 

Even Tonia helped! 

   

Here is the completed deck 

This deck overlooks the hill to the brook. 

Outhouse interior

We were up at camp again this time for a picnic with my brother Andrew and my mom. Andrew helped us break apart pallets and we started and finished the back wall of the outhouse. We were so busy I forgot to take photos! so I will have to get some of the progress next time we go up. We are hoping to go up Aug 14 for Katie's Birthday. Sara actually wants to bring a couple friends to hang out at camp. I am hoping to get a tent deck built and the outhouse interior done before camping August 29-31. I have a lot to do to get ready for this trip at the end of the month. I need to get all the camping supplies organized and decide what we will keep in the small shed we built. I have been working on the menu and shopping lists. Uncle Kevin will be coming up for our annual camp out.

Outhouse: Cutting the doors

So we are up at camp to do some serious work... yeah right... 

 

Yep working hard

Totally getting lots done...

Here is view from our "work site" 

Mom's mother day present was a hammock for camp and we hung it just past the wood pile. 

Tonia is running around like usual!

Charles has made a make shift work site with all kinds of fancy tools and a generator that works even if we have to prime it with starter to get it going. 

We were able to cut out the doors! The frame wall you see in the middle is the separation between outhouse and shed. the shed faces the brook and the outhouse faces the logging road. when we packed up we put all the tools in the building. 

Tonia was so tired on the way home that she didn't even care that the window was open and her hair was flying everywhere. 

The Outhouse

It has been a year since we purchased our camp. The girls are really wanting a private place for when nature is calling. Yes when nature calls we actually do want to go inside. Charles came up with some plans for an outhouse on one side and a storage unit on the other. I made the Outhouse sign using my wood burning kit.

I wanted to have a rustic feel on the inside so we picked up some used pallets to line the walls we have currently done the back wall photos to come soon. It was hard work breaking down the pallets but since Charles obtained the generator he just tacked them up with a nail gun.

Here is the trailer filled with pallets

This is Charles supply list for the outhouse he was comparing costs for just an outhouse and a shed and an outhouse together. 

Sara is helping Charles build the walls of the outhouse. We built the walls at home and then put them on the trailer to take them to camp. Charles put the wall and roof framing up by himself. I am still not sure how he managed that alone. I was at Girl Scout encampment while he was working on it. The next weekend I helped him add the walls and roof. 

... and by helping I do mean taking pictures. No just kidding I held screws and boards and got him tools as he needed them. I like how when we work on a project together I can decipher grunts and pointing and know what tool he needs. It's a handy skill....

Here he is working on the roof. 

Daddy is tired from a day at work at camp while Tonia enjoys her dinner. 

Katie and Tonia were with us this trip. 

Granddad visits Camp Criscione

Tonia and Granddad

This was dad's first visit to Camp Criscione. 

Dad and Roxy 

Lunch time! We made a picnic with sandwiches. 

Tonia and granddad played in the forest. 

The New Sign

 Today we installed a new sign for Camp Criscione. For Christmas I asked my friend Stacey to have her brother in law make a sign for our camp and gave it to Charles. we even installed solar lights on the posts. They were under $5 each at Lowes, which I thought was a good deal! 

We used some metal fence post holders to hold up the sign. Charles was concerned because the land at camp has many rocks but the metal stakes went into the ground just fine. 

Here is Charles putting up the sign. 

It is April so many of the trees are still bare from winter. Tonia had fun finding rocks in her bucket. Tonia keeps breaking buckets with her rocks because they are just not strong enough for what she wants to do with them. I will have to look into getting her a stronger bucket for camp.

 Tonia has a curious way of doing most everything she does. here she is using sticks to carry her bucket. Pshhh handles who uses those!?!? Handles are for non-campers, here at Camp Criscione we obviously need to use sticks... duh!

Here Tonia has found yet another stick this time a bit larger. She is guarding daddy while he makes the camp fire. "YOU SHALL NOT PASS!" well no...we might need a bit more of a roaring fire for that reference. 

Katie has found herself a stick too. Sara however has been a stick in the mud about coming to camp. She is too teenager for camp I guess. 

Of course Roxy would not let us go to Camp without her!