O'Neill Park

Back to O'Neill! And this time we were prepared! Bring on the dry camping! This trip, like so many of our other trips, was just an excuse to have a quick weekend away. We were there February 21st - 23rd, with our camping buddies. And this time around our main goal was to get out and HIKE! So, hike we did.

We spent the Saturday bumming around the site, the boys chopping wood, or playing Frisbee, while the girls read and just relaxed.

Now Sunday was our hiking day! We packed as much stuff up before heading to bed Saturday, so by the time we got back from the hike we wouldn't have too much to do. Our original plan was to take a "easy" route up the hill, and a "moderate" back down. Best laid plans and all that... We ended up taking a pretty steep trail, Live Oak Trail, up to the top of the hill. I was not prepared for this. It kicked my ass. It was not fun.

However, once we got on the flat hilltop, with a view overlooking RSM, it wasn't so bad. The whole rest of the hike was downhill, thank goodness, and it was pretty enjoyable.We did have a slight "emergency" on the way down. The Husby hurt his foot/ankle, so we stopped to have our handy-dandy emergency ready buddies take a look. They were prepared to wrap his foot, but he decided to just work through it, and take it easy heading down. The last leg of the hike, on Coyote Trail & Homestead Trail, was wonderful. It was tree covered and all green. And downhill. :-) Round trip the hike was around 4 miles. 

 

We made it!!

Things we learned on our 8th, quick, Camping Adventure:

1. Damn it! I guess we didn't pay attention to our last trip because here we go again: Hiking is tiring!! Good Golly!!
2. Sunscreen. Must apply sunscreen. On my face. MUST!!!
3. Packing up the night before is really helpful for a quicker departure the next day.
4. You can never have too much dip. You just need to remember to bring a comparable amount of Frito's.

Stay Tuned! Coming up Next: Back to Casper's for a Frederick Birthday Celebration!!

O'Neill Regional Park

Dry Camping. Boondocking. RV Dispersed Camping.

Dry camping (boondocking):

Is camping in a campground or any area without water, electricity, and sewage hookups, including parking lots or driveways. In the United States, most campgrounds operated by the US Department of the Interior and most state and county campgrounds do not have full hookups for water, sewage, or electricity.

Whatever you want to call it, we needed to become more familiar with it. Earlier in the month we booked our Anniversary trip for Big Sur, where we would be dry camping for 4 nights/5 days. We have never done this before. I like electricity. I really like lights. I like being able to see at night. This could really be an issue. In an effort to be better prepared for our anniversary trip we thought a dry run (get it? Dry run? Dry Camping? heeheehee) would be best. We are lucky enough to have a great little campground right down the road from us, O'Neill Regional Park, where they do not have hook ups. This was the best test run for dry camping. The only downside was that we had zero free time. The Husby was working EVERY weekend from Labor Day on through our anniversary trip (and after, for that matter) in November. However, we knew this was non-negotiable. We HAD to do this while still being pretty close to home/civilization. So, he took a weekend off. October 11th - 13th. 

It was by far the most unorganized, most slapped together, hair pully-outy trip ever. EVER. We forgot just about everything. We both had the attitude of its only 10 miles away...it's only the next city over...its only O'Neill...it's only 2 nights....it's only... This was our downfall. We didn't leave our house until after dusk. We didn't bring fire wood. We only brought fire needed foods. We forgot our dog leases. We left our house hungry. I think the list had like 3 more items on it, but I must have blocked them out. By the time we got set up, it was after 8pm and we were grumpy, cold, and starving. As mentioned earlier, we weren't far from civilization. We had In&Out for dinner. I had a shake. While camping. I added Baileys to said shake. It made everything better.

After all the drama the first night, the rest of the trip went fairly smoothly. We were able to figure which items pulled the most battery power and how far the battery would take us. We found out that the overhead fan, which I love, sadly, sucks up the most power. That and the Fridge. Everything else was fairly minimal.

Always futzing with something ;-)

Puppies enjoying some sun.

Our camping buddies joined us for the day

We had a pretty decent site - #41

Finally got firewood!

Poor cold puppies lol

Shush! I'm not a morning person!

Things we learned on our 5th camping trip (1st Dry Trip):

1. Do not arrive at the site hungry. DO NOT.
2. Regardless of how far or how close the campground is, you still need to prepare your trip ahead of time.
3. We do not need to have the lights on inside the trailer when we're not in it. ...kinda fee like that one's a duh. Oops.
4. In & Out is always good. 
5. The fridge will last 36hrs without a hookup. After that it beeps every 10 seconds. It still keeps the insides cool-ish, but not for long. 
6. 36hrs really isn't that long. Uh-oh. 

Stay tuned! Coming up Next: Big Sur Anniversary Trip!