June 17 - 20
Hunter had set the date for the campout at Fairview and let the family know. Bill wanted to go and we told our kids about it, making the plan to meet up at Fairview. We were so excited that Tay and Nae planned to make the trip. I met up with Bill on the 17th. Grandma and Grandpa Syddall, Matt and Angela, and Hunter and Courtney had gone up a day or two earlier. When we arrived, we discovered that Hunter's in-laws were also camping at our site... so technically not a completely Syddall campout haha.
Tay and Nae were driving from CO on the 17th, but their car broke down in Grand Junction. Their car had been having ongoing issues since they had their engine replaced at the first of the year. It's a long story, but Bill and I didn't have phone service in the mountains, so didn't get Tay's initial call. He ended up getting ahold of Austin, who then made the 4 hour (one-way) trip to Grand Junction to rescue them (because - of course - no rental cars available), then drove them back to Shi and Kody's place for the evening. Shi and Kody were not planning to camp, just to drive to the campsite each day. They also had an extra vehicle for Tay and Nae to borrow. Tay and Nae had not planned to camp, but had made a reservation at a motel in Fairview. I was worried about what they might be getting, and my reservations were correct. They stayed the second night in the motel... and didn't go back. They mentioned something about blood on the shower curtain and few other unsavory circumstances. I felt so bad for them. They made this huge effort to come camp with the fam, and had a whole lot of disappointment along the way. Hopefully the good time we had made it worth it {fingers crossed}.
Bill and I had minimal camping gear, since most of ours was packed at the back of one of our storage units, so we pretty much had to beg, borrow and buy what we needed to set up camp.
I am a tent-camping gal. I always have been, always will be. Matt and Angela had rented a HUGE RV with all the trimmings, which was fantastic for their family. Grandma and Grandpa slept with them also. Hunter and Courtney and Courtney's family both had trailers. Britta and Austin and Bill and I were the sole tent campers - although Grace and Jessi slept in a tent near us also. I know this because on the second night we were there I heard a ruckus outside our tent in the middle of the night during which I also heard **someone** puke several times very nearby.
The joy of camping, amiright?
The first evening we were allowed a campfire. I was hoping that would be the case for our entire campout, but we were told the following day that fires were no longer allowed. Boo.
I've done enough commentary so I will let the pictures tell the rest of the story:
Time with family is always ALWAYS worth it.
