Richards Family Blog: Camping Adventures!

This hasn't really been a camping year for us. We have been so busy getting ready for our child care center that we really haven't had time to get away. We decided we need to take one last camping trip for the year since our center will open in August. We were also excited because Dustin's Cousin Jennifer was coming with us.

So we always, always make reservations for our camp sites. However, this time we thought we would just go up and find one of the non-reservable site. Mistake #1. Out plan was to go to Warm Lake. We arrived around 6:30 and EVERYTHING was taken. No problem we thought, we'll just find another campsite along the road. After a little while with no luck we were feeling desperate so we went to Stolle Meadows. Stolle meadows was in a fire a few years back and was completely burned down. In the end, it was our only choice so we found a camp site near the meadow and set up camp. The trees were all burned but it was very quiet and pretty anyway.

We had a great time with Jennifer. Benjamin slept in the tent with Jennifer. Apparently he was talking in his sleep and when she woke up he was staring at her. He's a funny boy. In the morning we decided to take a 3/4 mile hike to the hot springs. No problem right? Well, we made it to the hot springs and then our 12 year old dog, Acey started frothing at the mouth, panting insanely hard and then couldn't walk. She was unresponsive and we seriously thought she was going to die. She had heat exhaustion.

She wouldn't drink so Dustin pried her mouth open and we poured water in to make her drink. We also poured water on her back. We got her to move a little but she was weaving all over and soon she was down again. We decided I should take the kids back to camp with Jennifer and Dustin would stay with Acey. There were a lot of other hikers that were concerned about our dog too. I went back to the trailer and got a blanket in case we had to carry the dog back. I hiked as fast as I could and about half way up the trail I found Dustin and Acey. A lot of hikers I passed were giving me updates on our dog. When I found them, Acey was laying in a cool stream, breathing freely and trying not to fall asleep.

While I was gone, a bunch of hikers gave Acey there water and made extra trips down the trail to get cold water (the water along the hot springs was too warm). A vet tech also came along and checked Acey's vitals. By that time she was stable. She also said that most dogs that come in with heat exhaustion don't make it. Another kind hiker also picked Acey up and carried her down the trail to get her to the cold stream. We were very grateful for all the help.

When I arrived I gave Dustin a cold drink (he had given all his water to Acey) and we let her lie in the water a while longer while we ate a picnic lunch. When we were finished, Acey was able to get up and hike back to camp. Sadly, this will be Acey's last hike in her lifetime. She just can't handle it anymore. We are so happy she made it back. The kids both cheered and ran out to her when we came back into camp. We are very happy to have our girl back and healthy!

The camping adventured didn't end there! We let the boys go play in a little stream and then came back and had a delicious dinner. After dinner we roasted marshmallows and had 'smores. Just as we were putting away the 'smores things we heard thunder. We put away all the chairs and got the dogs situated for the night so they would stay dry. Just as Dustin and Britton were putting out the fire, the rain started. Then the rain poured, and pounded and came at the trailer sideways. We had a pretty great storm. We were all feeling pretty happy that we had a hard side trailer! We played games and listened to the thunder.

Caden didn't sleep well that night. He was up for about two hours. I couldn't figure out what was up. He doesn't usually do that. Well, the next morning Dustin was holding him and playing with him and he discovered Caden had a brand new tooth! His first tooth. We had no idea it was even coming. He didn't get swollen gums or anything. It was a great way to end our camping adventure.

Caden with Jennifer. We were using the cheap camera so the picture is blurry, darn it! We loved having Jennifer with us. An extra Caden holder was great!