Camping

We started this last weekend off by camping up in the Alpine Loop with my family. We all decided to on a whim on Friday and it all worked out for us to go.

American Fork Canyon, the Sundance area and the back side of Mt. Timpanogos are so beautiful. We haven't been there for a while and it's funny how quickly you can forget how beautiful a place is.As we were driving up late Friday evening, we were kicking ourselves for not going there more often.

We got there just before it got dark and squeezed in a very short hike to an awesome outlook near our campsite. Soren was determined to do it on his own and did not want to be held at all.

My dad made his famed "camping hash," which is potatoes, carrots, onions and bacon or italian sausage made in a dutch oven and topped with ketchup. We marveled at the stars, roasted s'mores, let Soren stay way up past his bedtime and then sat and listened to the crackle of the campfire.

In the morning, after a not-so-good night's sleep (my parents say a baby waking up in the middle of the night is definitely part of the camping experience), we ate more camping hash for breakfast, then introduced Soren to the Reed family tradition of the camping treasure hunt. It's one of my favorite memories of camping when I was a kid. (Neil, Shawn, and Annie, do you remember?) We ran all over the place to find the clues, and ended up finding the treasure (Salt Water taffy) in Soren's pack-and-play in the tent. He was really upset when I put him in there until he found the candy. Haha.

Mom says that the key to a good treasure hunt is to make the kids tired out from running all over the place, and it worked. We took off after the treasure hunt and drove the rest of the Alpine Loop (Mt. Timp was PACKED! Don't go there on a Saturday!) and Soren was out like a light.

We are definitely going again soon.