When I think of camping, I envision a river, lake, or bay playing a major role in the camping activities. I imagine hiking in the woods, picking berries, swimming, collecting shells on the beach, and drying ourselves off at the campfire at night.
Camping in the Southwest is nothing like the Northwest.
The ground here is bone dry. This is what we were hiking on – salt from cedars. It crunched as we went along.
The girls still managed to collect treasures along the way – most of them new to me. The corkscrews belong to a tree which I believe is related to the mesquite. They reminded us of corkscrew pasta.
They also found some bones from an owl pellet. We dissected one of those last year (from a kit).
The sunset was gorgeous. I find that I’m indoors too often at sunset to actually enjoy it. Note to self – step outside for sunset.
Even though there wasn’t a beach nearby, the girls did get to cool off at the splash pad. It’s El Paso.
The campfire is always my favorite part of camping. I could sit around a fire pit every evening – if only we didn’t live on post. There is something so mesmerizing about watching the fire dance around.
The girls of course made S’mores. Is it really camping if you don’t have S’mores? I was also introduced to banana boats, which I had never heard of.
You take a banana, unpeel one peel. Put some chocolate and marshmallows on it. Close it back up and wrap it in foil. Then throw it into the fire for a bit. When you decide it’s done, pull it out and eat it with a spoon.
