Camping in the cold

We've been wanting to go camping for a while now. But, this summer was pretty crazy (you know, just getting married is all) and we couldn't find a time to make it work.

We got tons of camping stuff for our wedding. Brock gave us a tent, a huge cooking griddle and the grill to go with it. Brock's parents gave us a camping kitchen.

Cody gave us a dutch oven.

Brittney and Randy gave us a camping kitchen and a little camping portable stove with propane.

We packed up all our stuff after work on Friday, borrowed an air mattress and some other things from Trev's parents, and headed to Strawberry Reservoir.

It took about an hour an half to get there, and the sun was going down by the time we reached. then it took us another hour to find a camping site.

Strawberry Reservoir is so incredibly beautiful. It was so amazing to drive around in the mountains and watch the sun set.

We found a campsite in the dark, set up the tent, air mattress, made a fire and started to cook the tinfoil dinners and the dutch oven peach cobbler. It was freezing (about 30 degrees when we pulled in).

I thought we'd be fine with quilts and Trevor is a heater. So I took 3 thick quilts (I thought this was overkill) and we set up our bed.

As soon as the fire was out, it got soooo cold.

I was shivering so badly, couldn't sleep. It was pretty miserable, and Trevor was cold as well (Trevor being cold is a pretty big deal).

Trev got so worried about me, about 1 he decided our best bet was to grab the portable stove Brittney and Randy got us for our wedding we were supposed to use to cook for breakfast, and instead burn it in the tent to keep us warm. 

It worked so well! It helped warm up the tent. We thought maybe the fumes were going to kill us, so Trev unzipped the top vent to let some air out - and ice fell on us. It was that cold. 

We finally got some sleep, and I was cold but survived. Trevor was really cold, colder than I realized - since not all the covers were on him so I'd be warmer. What an amazing husband.

I, of course, had to pee in the middle of the night. It was so cold and I didn't want to go outside, but it was an emergency. Trevor said he'd come with me, and I told him I could manage alone. He insisted - I needed someone to protect me. So he grabbed the ax and came with me to protect me. My knight in shining armor! He has his concealed carry permit, and he carries most everywhere we go. But when we go camping? He forgets. We heard lots of scary sounding animals pretty close, and it honestly made me kind of nervous. And we had no gun. Just an axe.

This is what we found in the morning:

But it's so beautiful! Worth being cold all night for.

Trev, making a morning fire for us.

Cutting wood. He really looks like true mountain man.

Our new dutch oven!

Trev got the adorable idea to carve our initials into a tree. He's so freaking cute!

"TBS"

Driving on the way home. Dirty, cold but happy.

On the way home, we drove super slow with the windows down on the dirt roads through the mountains. It was beautiful and perfect.

We had so much fun. I love camping, but especially camping with Trevor.

Love,

Brittney