The Schumaker Camping Adventure

Well, this weekend we decided it was time to dust off the old tent and camping items and bring our boys camping up in northern Arizona near the Heber area. It had been close to 10 years since the last time my husband and I had gone camping in our tent, but I was excited because I knew just how much our boys would love it!!! I just envisioned them being able to roam and explore, fish, help Dad build the campfire, roast marshmallow and make smores, and spend two nights sleeping in a tent!!! It was a beautiful picture in my mind!!

It started with Bryan calling me Friday morning telling me that I should be checking the weather channel since he heard it would be raining all weekend. I checked and it said there was only a 20% chance of rain. I figured it wasn’t that bad and we decided to forge ahead with our plans.

The boys were sooooo happy…about ready to pop with excitement as they waited for Dad to come home from work so that we could head out. We got on the road at around 5:00 pm and really had very little traffic. It was going to be a great weekend!!! As we were heading up the mountain we could see very dark clouds off in the distance and then streaks of lightning….which worried me a little bit. Then the rain started pouring on us, but only lasted a few minutes. Then right where those ominous dark clouds and streaks of lightning had previously been, reigned a beautiful double arched rainbow! I snapped a few pictures while driving.

We arrived at the campground at around 7:30 pm and it was dark, but there was no rain. The air was fresh and the smell of pine trees was glorious! We found our site and started unpacking and setting up the tent. The boys immediately began roaming and searching for sticks with flashlights. It was exactly how I had envisioned it. All went smoothly. Bryan and I actually got the tent up in great spirits without snapping at each other even once! We built the fire, set everything else up, got out the marshmallows, graham crackers, and Hershey bars, and the boys used the awesome long sticks they had found to begin roasting marshmallows. The night was blissful…

Until it came time to sleep. The double sleeping bag Bryan thought he grabbed was really only a single therefore we didn’t have enough sleeping bags and I ended up being the one left to freeze….hmmm.

The campers next to us didn’t want to abide by quiet time hours and laughed and partied well into the evening.

I am almost POSITIVE an animal resembling a bobcat walked stealthily past our tent right where I happened to be facing.

Then I had to use the potty. It was dark. It was cold, and I just thought I had seen a bobcat. I held it as long as I could, but finally gave in and crept outside……all I can say is simply NOT good!

The morning was beautiful. The sun was shining. The boys were excited beyond measure to jump out of the tent at the crack of dawn and go explore. They rounded up a bunch of sticks to make a “humongous” fire that night and thought it was the coolest thing to run around outside in their pj’s! I cleaned all the dirt out of the tent. We had some breakfast and went for a hike which was GREAT!!! We laughed ourselves silly at our son, Landon, who at 4 years old, was super determined to drag for over a mile a log (literally)that was nearly the same size as him back to camp for the fire that evening.

Next was the FISHING TRIP and that is truly where things started in their downward trend! Follow with me…

Fishin’ for catfish with chicken blood that Landon picked out at Wal-Mart?

Dead fish and crawdads (or something) along the shoreline.
Kids bored ‘cuz there are no fish and therefore start playing along the shoreline.

Kid falls into water along muddy, green, murky, fish gutty shoreline. COVERED with yuck!!! (How do I NOT have a picture of that?!)

Then….the rain!

We head back to camp and the rain pours harder. Daddy gave Landon a shower and then we decided that we would pack up and pull out of camp since we had no desire to sit in our tent and stare at each other! Our boys, however, were not happy and the tears were very sad. But, with a little bribery of a trip to Circle K (yes, we ARE classy) and gift somewhere along the line, the boys tears were dried and pack up is what we did.We spent the rest of the day on a road trip through a part of Arizona we had never visited before. It was a beautiful trip and I was reminded over and over again how amazing our God truly is!!! True beauty only comes from and through Him.

We finally got home at around 10:00 p.m. and we were all exhausted and a bit crabby….but overall, it was a
Memory of a Lifetime!

Psalm 36:3-9
The Lord merely spoke, and the heavens were created. He breathed the word, and all the stars were born. He assigned the sea its boundaries and locked the oceans in vast reservoirs. Let the whole world fear the Lord, and let everyone stand in awe of him. For when he spoke, the world began! It appeared at his command.



Isaiah 42:5
God, the Lord, created the heavens and stretched them out. He created the earth and everything in it. He gives breath to everyone, life to everyone who walks the earth.