Finally! Camping Trip!

I do apologize for the delay on this post. I know quite a few people have been waiting for the details of my "First" official camping excursion. lol

Did Jess freak out because of the bugs? Not really.

Did Jess get twitchy because of the dirt and mud? Not a bit.

Yay me!

Day One!

So starting with Sunday, November 1st. We got a bit of a late start, because we stayed up too late on Halloween, and had errands to run and a car to pack up. After packing up the car, and picking up Niceguy, we dropped by his parent's place to pick up the heater. Knowing it was going to be cold, this was a very important detail. We left at about 4pm. =)

An hour and a half later, we arrived at the coast. The sun was just setting, so we were in a hurry to get to the campsite. Knowing that we weren't going to make it, we stopped at our favorite fast-food place. Full and excited, we got started on our last half hour of driving to the campsite.

After checking in, we followed our trusty map to our campsite. When I booked the site online, it
said it was a "Large" site, able to support a 12x12 tent and up to 8 people. With the way the site was laid out, with the picnic table and parking spot, we couldn't have set up my 5x5 tent. So popping on the headlights, we shifted the picnic table off to the edge of the site, and wow, a 16x16 spot opened up!

I pulled out the tent, and Niceguy worked on getting the lantern lit. We set up the tent, and unloaded the car, proud of how quickly we'd gotten the tent set up. It was barely 6:30pm! We were also surprised to discover that the tent wasn't a 10x10 as we'd expected, but a 12x12! Such a great find!We hopped in the car, with the intention of heading into town to pick up breakfast for the morning, and firewood for the camp-fire, but the car wasn't in the mood. Battery was dead! Poopy! Niceguy went searching through the nearly empty campground, and was able to find someone willing to give us a jump. Thank goodness!

In town, we picked up necessities. Water, munchies, and lots of goodies for breakfast. Ham, eggs, bacon, sausage, juice, and apples. We were so excited about our breakfast the next morning....

Back at the campsite, Niceguy got the fire going, I pulled out UNO, and we settled down for a calm evening. Clear skies and no wind. It was so beautiful. We could hear the ocean waves crashing only a few hundred yards away. *sigh* I wish we were still there.

Anyway, we're listening to some music, and chatting by the fire, when a rustling behind me brought the conversation to a halt. Turning quickly, we managed to catch a herd of raccoons raiding our picnic table, and stealing our fast-food leftovers. Niceguy took nearly 60 pictures, lol.

We let them finish eating the food, and scared them away long enough to pick up the garbage.

We were both anxious to get down to the beach and build a fire, so we bundled up some wood, grabbed the tunes and games, and headed for the beach. Tide was in, and the water was only about 15 yards away, but we found a wonderful spot surrounded by driftwood. We relaxed and enjoyed the stars for a few hours before heading back. It was nearly midnight at this point, and we were both getting tired.

Upon arriving back to our campsite, we hear a rustling noise. Niceguy runs to the tent with the flashlight just in time to scare away several of our dinner-raiders. My cooler bag is tossed to the side of the tent. Odd... It was in the tent when we left, even though I'd told Niceguy to put it in the trunk.... *smirk* Opening the bag, I am met with what's left of our breakfast. Sausage. Everything else is gone. Wait, the bag was in the tent. "Uh, there's a hole in the tent.... A big hole...." Nothing we could do about it then, so we shifted our Rubbermaid bin in front of the hole, and went back into town for more food and firewood.

The raccoons made an effort to locate the food that we'd stashed in the trunk. They wandered all over the car, and chewed a little bit off the top.... (*not thrilled about that*)

It was very very cold that night, so we used the heater and didn't bother changing into pj's. Sleeping in jeans is just not comfortable. lol Plus, Niceguy accidentally left the heater on all night. One can of propane down.

Day Two!

The next morning, we skipped breakfast and headed into town to hit up Walmart. We needed a repair kit. No such luck. Repair kits for tents are seam kits. We bought some tent-tape, and grabbed some lunch. Don't ever buy firewood from Walmart. It's more expensive than Safeway, Thriftway, or the campground. Plus it burns too fast.

Back at the campsite, we wandered down to the beach. I learned I'm more coordinated than I was as a child. Walking across several driftwood logs to cross the creek, and not killing myself. It was fun, and I made the trip across several times during the week. Anyways, we collected some small driftwood and tinder, and hid it near our spot on the beach. Then we headed back to the campground.

Grabbing a sandwich, we sat around the campsite and just relaxed for a bit before heading down to watch the sunset on the beach. BEAUTIFUL! We were both so grateful that the weather held over from the previous day.

I am sorry this group of pictures is out of order. After spending 4 hours trying to get this post up and fighting with my laptop, I lost the desire to fuss with it anymore....








Running out of firewood, we headed back to the campsite, not realizing it was only 9pm. We were completely out of firewood at the campground, so yet again, we headed back into town for more firewood. (*Just to note here, we went into town at least twice everyday for stuff.*) After a short fire at the campsite, and some twitching caused by the raccoons sneaking around us in the woods, we decided to just call it a night.

Day Three!
Niceguy and I enjoyed all the perks the campground had to offer. =)

Skipped breakfast again, and ran back into town to pick up more stuff. We picked up a pellet gun from Walmart in the hopes we'd be able to scare away the raccoons. As everyone knows, I am not okay with people shooting at animals, so needless to say, we aimed near, not at them. That is, until the guy at Thriftway informed us later that night, that ANY kind of gun, including an air-gun, is illegal in Oregon State Parks. I don't think I really need to explain how quickly it got buried in the trunk.

Moving on.... Had our campfire on the beach, and as we started running out of our firewood and collected driftwood, Niceguy said he wanted to buy me dinner at my favorite diner. Seriously folks, it is my favorite diner. Not just in Newport, but ANYWHERE! This was Niceguy's first experience there, and he agrees. They are AWESOME! If you're ever in Newport, OR, you HAVE to visit "The Newport Cafe". There's an old Ferrari parked out front, rather hard to miss. They are open 24 hours, even though the rest of the city basically shuts down.

After stuffing ourselves, and getting nice and warm, we headed back to the campsite for bed.

Day Four!

Woke up to birds singing, and the sun out. The weather had been just beautiful the whole trip so far. =) Skipped breakfast again (*Yes, AGAIN!*), and headed into town to pick up everything we'd need for the afternoon and evening. The wind had started to pick up, and we were warned that a storm was rolling in, so we bought some extra firewood and grabbed Subway on our way back to the site.

I guess I should point out here, that the campground had running water, toilets, and showers. A big plus for me! So we were able to shower everyday. Thank goodness!

Anyways, we sat around the campsite for a few, and headed down to the beach to watch our last sunset of the trip. Needless to say, it was gorgeous, but cold. The wind was whipping, but it made the fire that much more amazing. Niceguy is my "Lord of the Flame." He loves the title, and it is well deserved. We ran out of driftwood and the firewood we'd brought, so headed back to the campsite. Again, back earlier than expected, nearly 9pm. We normally stay on the beach until almost dawn when we go, so these early nights were odd for us.


At this point, I was thankful that we hadn't had a raccoon sighting in 24 hours.

We spent a couple of hours sitting in front of a warm campfire that kept blowing embers at us, before Niceguy started chomping at the bit because he wanted just one more fire on the beach. So we grabbed the beach-tent to help block some wind, and our remaining firewood, and went for a hike down the beach. We chose a different spot this time, because the tide was so far in, we were unable to reach our other spot without getting soaked. The 50 mph winds were insane! Sand was blowing everywhere. Trust me, setting up the tent was a challenge, and we lost our utility shovel immediately after setting it up. Never did find it.

Niceguy dug a hole in the sand with some rocks, and setup a very small fire. We enjoyed watching the embers sail up the beach and the water crash only feet away. Before long though, the fire started to fade, and the wind was too much for us, so we packed up and made the trek back to the campsite.

Finished off the night cuddling up in the sleeping bag, and watching the tent whip around us in the wind.

Day Five!

I woke at about 8:30am to the rain pounding the tent, and the side of it smacking me in the back. I'd apparently unzipped my side of the sleeping bag, and was getting pelted by cold and damp fabric repeatedly. I got up and made a quick lap around the campsite making sure everything that wasn't nailed down was still there, and crawled back into bed.

At 10:30, I was up, there was no stopping that. The tent whipping around me was just too loud. Niceguy of course was still snoring quietly. I blame his stint in the Army for making him a very sound-sleeper.

I started loading up the car, and basically brushed off breakfast again grabbing an apple to munch on. With the car nearly loaded, Niceguy rolled out of bed mere seconds before I planned to deflate it with him in it. lol

The wind was really pushing the strength of the tent poles, but it held up well. Standing was not a bright idea, as you'd get smacked by the rain-fly and poles hopping up and down on top of the tent. Plus, many bugs had joined us in the night to escape the rain and wind. After several minutes of fighting the weather, we got the tent taken down, and THEN it stopped raining.... *grumble*

After 4 beautiful days and one rough night, we were left with a muddy and soaked tent. We were both covered with mud, and the car seemed to wheeze from all the gear as we pulled away from our site.

I can thank Niceguy for making my first camping trip the most amazing experience. He spoiled me rotten and even said it was the best camping trip he'd ever been on. We are so anxious to do it again. If it weren't so cold, we'd be out there right now!

So there you go, my first camping trip. Hope reading this novel was as much fun for you, as the trip was for us.

Love to all!!!