Camping in Castle

  We finally went on our first camping trip with just our little family since Carter was a baby. I was a little nervous to go by ourselves. As you may know, camping as a parent is very different than camping as a child. As a child you don't realize all the packing and organizing that needs to be done in order to make a trip go smoothly. Everything is just exciting and fun. As a parent it's extremely stressful being responsible for everything and I don't usually relax until I'm in the car. Maybe that's why I always start to fall asleep soon after we start driving... Anyway, since this was something we hadn't really attempted before we decided to go somewhere low key to make sure we could do it. Like, 2 hrs away in the foothills of Castle mountain, in the middle of nowhere, by a river. Southern Ab had just had some major rain storms that had washed out a lot of the main road. So lucky for us we were the only ones crazy enough to drive through a washed out road with some places that had boulders the size of our tires. 
 Lucky for Mark my dad use to take us 4x4ing all the time in our land cruiser and I have fond memories of driving through rivers and up and down steep mountains. Memories where I was the child and my dad was invincible. My mother's memories may be a little different... I recall one camping trip in Australia, to a place called Madman's Territory. I remember driving down a steep mountain in the dark of night, on a narrow rocky road with five of my siblings and our dog in the back of our small Toyota, while my mother was in the front, hunched over, covering her eyes and probably having an anxiety attack. Us kids however thought it was the coolest thing ever. Again, it's interesting how our perspective changes. This camping trip also may or may not have involved 2 of my brothers almost stepping on red belly black snakes (one of Australia's most venomous snakes), and my dad being chased by an extremely long water snake. Despite these, it was probably the best camping trip of my childhood. There is something about being in the middle of nowhere with just your family and nature that really bonds you together. I wanted to have that with my family.
  This forestry park has paid campsites just off the highway with people and toilets that we passed on by. We wanted to really get away. We crossed the river a couple of times. There's nothing to get your heart rate going faster than crossing a river in your truck and feeling it pick you up and carry you a foot or so. After driving about half an hour down this crazy road we found the perfect spot off the main road and right on the river. There was a fire pit from previous campers and a beautiful meadow that had been grazed down by a herd of cattle. They actually came and visited us while we were camping there. The meadow was full of wildflowers. There were wild blueberries, strawberries, thimble berries, and mint all living together. There were also various other herbs and interesting plants growing all around us. The river was beautiful, although ice cold. The weather was perfect and the scenery breathtaking. It would have been paradise...if it weren't for the bugs. They seemed to have multiplied from all the water as some horse back riders that passed us told us they weren't usually that bad. As long as the fire was going it wasn't bad but the constant buzzing around our heads was enough to make you go mad. For a couple of weeks afterwards if ever I felt a tickle on my skin it would be followed by a slap, just as a reflex. There were mosquitoes, hover flies, house flies, no-see-ums, and the worst GIANT horse flies. For those who don't know what they are here is an excerpt from wiki-
"Horse fly bites are painful, the bites of large specimens especially so. Most short tongued (short proboscid) species of horse flies use their knife-like mandibles to rip and/or slice flesh apart.
Horse fly bites are more immediately painful than that of its mosquito counterparts, although it still aims to escape before its victim responds. The flies are very agile and adept at flying. Their bites may become itchy, sometimes causing a large swelling afterward if not treated quickly.
They are often not deterred by attempts at swatting them away, and will generally persist in attacking until they secure their quarry or are killed. Many often will give chase to their intended targets for a short time."
So next time we would definitely bring a netting canopy of sorts to take refuge in during the middle of the day. We dug a hole for a toilet which the kids thought was exciting.
 We spent half the day doing some more 4x4ing and we didn't even get stuck! Then we escaped by the river.
Mark and the kids went for a swim in the river and waded across to the other side. They convinced me to join them. I think I know what frostbite feels like. I thought my legs were going to burn off. But after going in and out a few times it doesn't feel as shocking. We made clay masks, skipped rocks and had contests of who could stay in the water longer. It was a beautiful day.
 I loved just being out in nature with no-one around. At least until a couple passers by asked us if we had a gun or bear spray...Mark didn't know he was allowed to bring his gun and we didnt realize we were in grizzly territory. Mark didnt sleep that night and we left the next day. There were no traces of bear anywhere but the thought that we had no way of defending ourselves if there was one was a little too much adventure for our blood.
 We stopped at Glenwood ice-cream store on the way home to top off  the perfect camping trip. I hope my kids will look back on it with fond memories. I know I will.
 Check out our slideshow:

 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oKQUTLkYaqU

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