This past weekend I did something huge... something that took me completely out of my comfort zone... I went camping!
Chris' little brother, Ryan, and another sales rep. , Jason, invited Chris and I to the south shore of Lake Tahoe to rough it with them for a night. I was extremely hesitant to do this because I can count on one hand how many times in my lifetime that I have been camping, and to top it off, none of us were equipped with the items that I deemed necessary for this sort of expedition (i.e. tent, propane lanterns, clothing). But after I saw how excited Chris was to have the opportunity to take this adventure, there was no way I could say no. So after gathering what items we had, we all jumped in our cars to head up into the mountains.
Our campsite was a little patch of dirt, nestled up into a mountainside, in a RV park called Zephyr Cove. It was extremely crowded with campers that came prepared for such an activity. So I felt a little silly when we got out our beds (a couple rafts and one queen sized air mattress) :). That night after a delicious dinner of salmon (one of my favorites) we all headed to the lake so the guys could go catch some crawfish. I forgot my camera at the campsite, but it was fun watching the guys wade around and catch these things with their hands. After about an hour or so of that, we headed back to camp so that they could cook them up. I didn't wait up to taste the fruits of their labor (I unfortunately came down with a horrible headache), but I did wake up to see them hunched over the picnic table laughing and enjoying their hard work.
For the rest of our outdoorsy adventure I will let the pictures do the talking.
Our sleeping quarters.
As you can see, it was an extremely rugged experience. I was very impressed with myself that I made it through the night, and didn't resort to sleeping in the car.
This is the view I woke up to. It was completely serene.
These were our surroundings.
After we cleaned up our campsite. We packed up and headed to the other campground. My brother and his family came down to spend the day with everyone so it was fun having us all together.
Everybody helping to prepare lunch at the new campground.
Mya was quite the little explorer. Ashley had a heck of time keeping up with her.
Twinkee lounging.
After lunch, we all suited up and headed to the closest public beach.
Three shades of blue.
The first beach we went to was a little too much of a public beach. It just wasn't something that got you excited to swim in it. So we then went in search of another beach that was a little bit more up to our standards. After some help from a local, we found a beautiful beach. The disadvantage of this beach was that no dogs were allowed. So much to my disapproval, Chris and the guys snuck in Twinkee. I was a nervous wreck the whole time. I was for sure we were going to get busted. But, as soon as we walked upon the beach, all worries disappeared. It was perfect.
Baldwin Beach
Me taking in the scenery. It was overwhelmingly beautiful.
While Chris relaxed, I took the opportunity to build him a new pair of legs :).
Chris and I frolicking in the water.
Twinkee even got the chance to play Frisbee with the guys.
Love this man.
Well, finally it was time to go back. But Chris just wasn't ready so he decided to stay over one more night with Ryan and Jason while I went back with my brother. The day was long (just like this post :)), but filled with so much fun stuff. I couldn't have asked for a better place for my first experience of truly sleeping under the stars.
