Campfire Stew

1 pound hamburger, browned and drained

1 can mixed vegetables, drained

1 can condensed tomato soup

1 can condensed vegetable beef soup

1/4 cup water

1/4 tsp garlic powder

1/4 tsp onion powder

1/4 tsp salt

1/8 tsp pepper

Mix all ingredients together in stew pot.  Bring to a boil.  Reduce heat.  Cover and simmer for 8-10 minutes.

Serves 4

Goin Fishin Chex Mix

4 Tbsp butter, melted
4 1/2 cups any type of chex cereal
1 cup tiny pretzel fish shaped crackers
1 cup bite size cheese crackers
1/2 package (1 oz size) Ranch dressing and seasoning mix
1/4 cup grated parmesan cheese

In bowl, stir together butter, cereal and crackers until evenly coated.  Stir in dressing mix and cheese and until evenly coated.  Microwave on high for 2 minutes, stirring after 1 minute.  Spread on waxed paper and cool about 15 minutes.  Store in airtight container.

Serves 12

I forgot to take pictures!

We took the new camper out for our first camping trip this weekend. Packing is so easy now! All the necessities stay in the camper (toothbrushes, soaps, dishes, non perishable food, even our clothes). Beds will stay made. The only thing I have to do to hit the road is stock the fridge with the perishable food stuff. takes about 15 minutes max. It's so great and very little stress on me. The stress and work of camping is what made me dislike it in the first place. Camping was not relaxing for me, it was a pain in my behind. But now (insert a chorus of angels singing), no stress - at least not till we get to the campsite.......

John and I don't always get along on road trips. He is, under normal circumstances, the easy going one, no stress, no worries,...I, on the other hand, worry about everything, stress about everything, and need order and routines and lists, I like lists. We switch personalities, though, when we are traveling. He gets so stressed that I'm pretty sure at any moment his head is going to spin right off his head and go flying into outer space. I don't think I ever get that bad, he might think differently though. Backing this new 30 foot trailer into the campsite proved to be a little bit difficult. We reserved a spot online and it was a good spot, but online they don't show you the little curves of the driveway. We got a crooked spot, not really crooked, but just enough to make it difficult for us. And they lined the camper driveway with trees so that made it even more difficult cause we HAD to keep the truck on the driveway as we backed the camper up. A nice old guy that was camping near us came and helped us navigate the camper backward. We even let him give it a try. We felt better when he said the layout of the driveway and trees wasn't any good and he had a hard time with his efforts.

So, the camper is parked, the jacks are down, its all leveled, and the slideout is out - that took about 15 or 20 minutes. That's it, we're done. We are camping! It was too hot to stay outside unless you were in the lake. I don't swim in the lake (most everyone knows my snake story...and if you don't, it's not something i can tell, i have to act it out). So the kids and John are off to swim and I'll just soak up the AC for a bit. That was the weekend. We grilled outside and washed dishes inside! That was real nice. Christopher and I both started and finished a book and read a gazillion magazines. Katie and John brought books that were bigger than the dictionary, so they didn't finish theirs.

To pack up, all we did was sweep the inside and pull the slideout in. Again, no stress! Even the moment we were dreading most wasn't bad - the emptying of the gray and black water tanks. We were scared and grossed out before we started. But it was SO easy and neither one of us vomited or were splashed with yuck!

I forgot to take pictures this time. Not sure where we are going next, but I'm ready and I'll take pictures then.

Camping

We're back from camping. I didn't get to head out to the campground until about 7:30. It was a little over an hour away. I got lost a couple of times. It was dark (I hate driving outside of our town in the dark). Needless to say, I was not in the best of moods when I finally got to the campground. So, I just loaded up on Benadryl and fell asleep in the hammock.

We were at the same campground where I had a "too close" encounter with a snake a few years ago. I'm sure I've reenacted the story for most people that would read this. We only saw one snake this time. Christopher saw it first. We were going up some stairs on the side of a mountain. Christopher was the most energetic, so he was quite a ways ahead of the rest of us. The snake was right next to the stairs. I guess Christopher scared it because it slithered off under the stairs. I don't know how I found the composure to make it up the rest of the staircase, but I did.

That was it. The rest of the weekend was uneventful. Wish I could say the same thing for the next day at work. No such luck, it was VERY eventful.

Camping

I'm going camping this weekend. I don't want to. It's so much work. It isn't relaxing for me at all - before, during or after. But everyone else enjoys it. What would be relaxing is if I could stay home this weekend while THEY went camping. No one liked my idea though.

I am sitting on the couch now, waiting for the clothes in the dryer to get dry, so I can put another load in there. Because my dear husband thought he was helping by doing laundry and took the load in the dryer out and put another in. However the load he took out wasn't completely dry yet. And the load he put in didn't get completely dry either. So, I get to stay here until one of the loads gets dry and I'll put the other in. Then I get to drive to a campground I have only been to one time in the dark. Have I mentioned I don't want to go camping this weekend?

While I'm gone, my house sits here dirty, more laundry needs to be done, the lawn needs to be mowed, and I need groceries. If anyone finds themselves in need of something to do, stop by.