Stanley camping trip

June 17-19
We had been planning a trip with Joan and Cam for quite some time.  There was talk of Yellowstone, the Olympic Peninsula, Coeur d'alene, and the Owhyees, but ultimately we ended up in Stanley.  Joan and Cam had a great camp spot right by the water.  By the time we got there on Friday, everything was ready for us..they had gathered fire wood, started dinner, and set up camp (i.e. the RV).

We enjoyed a nice evening walk and then hung out by the fire.  the boyz had fun running every which way and since there was no one else around we didn't have to worry about them.  All though, Chief went crazy trying to hunt the ground squirrels and could cover quite a bit of ground if you weren't watching.

When it was time for bed,we had to pile on towels and clothes as bedding because we forgot the blankets and the generator on the RV wasn't working.  I stayed plenty warm, but I might have been the only one.
Saturday started out nice but ended up being an overcast and rainy day.  Joan and I were hoping for warmer weather and sunshine and hadn't packed for rain.

We had  a fire and cooked biscuits on sticks and then had homemade jelly with hem.  They were delicious!!  However, there was a bit of a learning curve to cooking them and I lost 2 to the fire.

We had used up most of the firewood so we went for a drive to collect more (technically, I slept in the truck while everyone else gathered wood).  When we got back Jonathan stacked he wood up to form a wind barrier for the fire. It was still raining so we had lunch in the RV and played cards.

 

In the evening, all sorts of wildlife came out and we saw a whole herd of elk and lots of sandhill cranes.

 

We were ready to sit by the fire, so Joan came up a with an idea to keep us dry.  Ultimately, Jonathan came to our rescue and carried out the pan and secured the tarp.  We were pretty cozy.

Sunday morning was beautiful!  We roasted more biscuits and Jonathan attempted fishing.  I'm no sure why, but he didn't have much luck!

Joan was snapping pictures on her camera and caught this funny one of Tucker.  Luckily, he was out of juice and the sweatshirt came out un-scathed.

We wanted to take advantage of the nice day so we went for a little hike. Not 5 minutes into the hike Barney found himself a patch of snow to roll in and then found a not so friendly creature.  I heard a noise and looked over to see a small animal that I thought was a badger standing next to Barney.  I called for Barney and as he came closer we soon discovered that the animal was a porcupine!  We grabbed the other dogs and Jonathan and Cam de-quilled him with a pair of pliers (luckily Jonathan comes prepared)  He had about 15 in his jowls, and they came out with out too much fuss.  After that he stuck pretty close to my side.

When we got back we ha salmon salads for a late lunch and then Jonathan and I packed up.  Just as we were about to load up, Joan discovered something was wrong with the tire on the RV.  So Jonathan and Cam changed that before we finally headed home.