Annual Ashby Family Camping Trip

Every summer we go camping with Mic’s family. Last year we went to Lake Powell where we melted for a wk. Seriously it was SO hot. So this year we decided to go somewhere a little cooler. And boy did we choose somewhere much much cooler. We headed up to Fish Lake National Park.

Mic and I left a day earlier than everyone else so we could enjoy a day/night to ourselves. It was nice to get away and to the beautiful outdoors. Sadly this was our first camping trip of the season.

When Nate and his family got to our campsite we decided we’d head further up the canyon and see if we could get an actual campsite with water & bathrooms* (port-a-potties, puke) and less cows. Who knew cows made such annoying noises, lol.

We found an awesome campground area that we ended up being the only people at so that was nice.

Lots of fishing, high altitude hiking, 4-wheeling on the ATVs, and hanging around a campfire. So nice to get away and enjoy the great outdoors with family, and get away from tv, cell phone service, facebook, etc.

The high altitude kinda messed with my pregnant body but I took my iron pills so I don’t know if that helped my lack of oxygen or not. The first couple days we did a lot of exploring and hiking around, but I soon realized that was a bad idea and took it easy the last couple days.

I don’t sleep as well on an air mattress as I did pre-pregnant but even with less sleep I’m still glad we were able to get away. Sophie had the time of her life, being off leash and exploring the surrounding woods. Luckily she always came back after her “adventures”.

We fished in a couple little ponds, but didn’t have much luck catching anything over 6-8”, so it was mostly catch and release but the kids had fun trying to learn to fish. Mic used my “lucky pole” and got a bite at one of the ponds, and I hadn’t had much luck, so being the nice husband he is he handed me the pole so I could reel it in. Little did he know though, that he’d actually caught a big one. I was struggling to reel in this fighter, and Mic thought I was just pretending to suck at reeling it in, and tightened the reel because my line kept going further out, instead of reeling the fish in, he was taking off with my line. After another attempt to tighten my line, I finally got the fish close enough that we could see just how big this fighter was. Neither of us could believe it but we’d caught a 16” fish! Who knew that little pond even had anything worth keeping in it. Mic let me take the credit for catching the biggest fish since I’m “Lucky Lisa” when it comes to fishing with him or my dad. But really Mic caught the fish, I was just fortunate that he let me reel it in, which is the real fun.

Camping was fun, but definitely a lot colder than I would’ve liked. 30*’s, during the nights and 60*’s during the day, except the day we drove to Capitol Reef National Park- which was super warm and beautiful with all the red rock formations. I’d never been so I was glad we were able to go. It rained every day too while we were camping so we spent a lot of time in the tent or Nate & Natalie’s trailer.

On the first night at the campground Keagan crashed his bike and hit his forehead on the handlebars, so despite wearing a helmet he got a huge gash in his forehead. After I cleaned it up really well (boy head injuries bleed a ton!) I could assess the damage and see the extent of the gash. I told his parents he’d definitely need stitches, so at 9:30 at night they had to head down the canyon and find a hospital/clinic that would be open at that hour. We were hours away from any type of town. I was thankful for my experience with wounds from clinicals in the ER, and knew which types could heal on their own, and which were deep enough for stitches.

Not sure where we’ll go next summer but there is talk about staying in a cabin rather than tents which would be nice, since both Brook & Keith, and Mic & I will have 6+ month old baby girls. So excited for Mic’s brother and his wife, they are due with their first baby as well, just two weeks after us and just found out that they are having a girl also! The Ashby family needs more girl grandkids. Our two girls will be #10 & 11 of grandkids with 7 boys and with our girls there will now be 4 nieces.

Mic’s sister had her 6^th baby two months ago, so the Ashby family will have 3 new grandkids in 6 months! That has never happened before, I’m not even sure that they’ve had 2 babies born in the same year. 

Keagan pre bike accident

Kate & Sara

Love reading our hammock

Mic always balancing on something while fishing

the 16" fish I reeled in :)

Soph's spot for the long drive home

Soph assisting with building the fire

Glad I brought Soph a hoodie bc it sure got cold!

The kids riding around camp NASCAR style

Mic helping Jaden put on his helmet. Safety first.

Part of the group, lots of ATVs.

Me & Soph posing for a picture, she didn't actually ride on an ATV thank goodness.

Mic teaching the kids how to fish.

Silly Jaden, as always.

The kids loved riding in the back of the truck.

Holy Baby Bump! 22 wks along.

Mic, Baby Tyler & Logan checking out rocks for Mic's rock collection.

1920's Cabin in Capitol Reef. 

Doing nails with Sara & Anika.

cute Sara & Anika

Love our little family. Last day of the 5 days of camping.