Fathers & Sons 2016

Here it is, Dave's annual post:

We headed up to the Lehi Stake property this year, which is above Heber. Emily and I got everything packed up to the sound of the boys asking, "Can we go yet?" Once on the road, the boys were content until about Deer Creek, then the asking of "Are we there yet" started up. That lasted until we got there. The campsite is about 1/2 hour outside of Heber and high up in the mountains. On the map it looks close to Heber but you go up in elevation so much that it is actually a pretty long drive. It was a very pretty campsite up in the aspen trees. There was running water and porta pottys, so that's better than just an open meadow we are used to.  On the drive up, we got some rain and the clouds looked very threatening, so I assumed we were going to get poured on. Right when we got to the campsite I cooked dinner as quick as possible so we could eat before the rain started. I think we got lucky because it never rained; just a bit of wind.

The boys wanted to set up the tent so I let them do that while I cooked. They needed a lot of help but it is nice they are starting to put some effort into helping instead of scattering into the woods to play with their friends. We ate burgers off the volcano grill with chips and rootbeer, and then even got a campfire going for some of the guys in the ward who were struggling getting theirs going. Within minutes and the help of our Volcano Grill, we had a fire going so they could cook their Hot Dogs and we could eat s'mores for dessert.

Once we ate and the tent was set up, we set off on a bike ride. It was cool and looked like rain, so I had the boys put on their coats. We headed down hill because our campsite was at the very top of the loops. We got going pretty fast quickly on the gravel road. I stopped once to warn the boys to keep their bikes under control and to not go too fast. I could see a lake not far below where we were and I was curious if we could get there easy on our bikes, so we headed that way. The dirt road eventually seemed to turn away from the lake, so once we hit the asphalt I decided we had gone far enough and told the boys to slow down to a stop. Just as I was telling them to slow down, Brother Bretey and his boys in a truck turned and headed up the road towards the campsite, and I heard Jett wreck behind me. He must have hit his breaks too hard when he saw the car and slid out in the gravel. I headed up to him and he had quickly jumped up and was hopping around crying. I wasn't too worried because he jumped up so quick.  He was not too excited about riding his bike anymore so I asked Brother Bretey, who had stopped to make sure he was alright, to take him back to the top where our campsite was. So we put his bike in the truck and he got to ride up the hill in a truck. Cruise and I ended up walking or pushing our bikes all the way back up. Cruise loved the ride down, he said it was like a roller coaster, but he wasn't so fond of the ride back up.

We got half way up and Cruise saw some of his friends playing in the field and wanted to play with them, so I told him I was heading up to the top to find Jett and make sure he was ok. I found Jett, he was doing much better and was just sitting waiting for me. After I made sure he was fine, I told him to hang out by the fire and just relax and I was going to go check on Cruise. I headed down the road on my bike again and almost sped past Cruise's bike setup in the middle of some trees. I found his bike and started calling for him. I found him 50 yards down a trail. He and his friend had started exploring. I had checked the map on my phone and found that there was a lake just up the hill from where we were camped and I told Cruise I wanted him to come with me to find it. He came with me back to camp and we found Jett. Cruise and Jett both wanted to just play by the fire so I let them stay and I headed up the hill on my bike through a meadow. 

The lake was a beautiful, little, high mountain lake and I could see trout rising all around in it. I headed back down the hill on my bike to get my fishing gear. The boys were still playing around the fire and eating the leftover hot dogs so I headed up to the lake to fish for a bit before it got dark. I fished for about 15 mins and the boys came up to see the lake. They thought it was cool but they didn't stick around for long.

When it started to get dark, I headed back to camp and found the boys hanging out with their friends, David and Collin. Their Dad, Chris Brown, and I talked for awhile before the Fireside started. Cruise participated with the scouts singing songs (maybe a bit too much). He kept trying to get another round of songs to start up when leaders were ready to start the program. They tolerated the program they had prepared and then they wanted to go to bed. I took them back to the tent and they got in and went to bed pretty quick after I gave them each a melatonin. I sat around the fire and waited to make sure they went to sleep before getting into the van where I had set up my air mattress right after dinner. I haven't slept so well camping in a long time. Air mattress in the car is the right way to go for sure. I did wake up at about 3 am because the wind had picked up and I looked at the tent and one of the boys had turned on the lantern but no one got out of the tent so I assumed they were fine and went back to sleep.  I set my alarm for 7 AM so I could wake up before the boys and make breakfast, but of course at 6 AM, Jett opened the door to the van and got into my sleeping bag with me so he could warm up. After about 10 minutes of that, we got up and got dressed and started a fire.

For breakfast, we had cereal and hot chocolate with sausage cooked over the fire. After we had finished eating, every one else started waking up and came over to our fire to warm up. Jett ate breakfast twice and ended up throwing up because he ate too much. He kept on saying, "Dad, my stomach hurts," and I would say, "Ok, stop eating," and he would say, "Ok," but then kept on going. I could't help but say "I told you so" when he puked it back up.

After I had cleaned up breakfast and the tent and all our stuff, we went back up to the lake to do some fishing. Cruise didn't want to fish so he just explored around the lake and Jett and I fished. We caught 4 small Tiger Trout and one 16 inch Rainbow Trout. It was pretty fun.

After that, the boys wanted to go home so we walked down to the campsite and found that everyone had packed it up and gone home. It was like 9 am. I guess no one in our ward wanted to stick around for long. The ride home was long but exciting because the storm that was threatening finally hit with full force. The boys had a good time. I would have had a good night's rest if I had gone to bed a bit earlier and not been woken up by Jett an hour before my alarm went off. The boys said they slept fine by themselves in the tent which is a first for them.