Car Camping.

During my childhood, we did a lot of car camping.  Car camping is very different than camping camping because, for one, there is a car there at all times.  This means you're not hiking or rafting or taking a boat or a train or a plane to your camping destination.  Car camping is slightly more luxurious than camping camping in my family because you can bring "the brown boxes" which hold awesome things like various colored trays to eat on, dish towels, and the occasional egg carton.  Though eating every course of a meal out of a Sierra Club cup sounds exotic, I think it's pretty cool to eat on a yellow tray, the likes of which you might find in a school cafeteria (though it probably wouldn't be yellow).

During my teenage years, it seemed as though car camping occurred less and less (which is fine, because it meant there was more and more camping camping and even the occasional stay in a hotel).  So, the past few years, I've been begging my dad to take us car camping so I could use my dinner tray and look at the egg carton and then sit in a camping chair (I hope the differentiation between car camping and camping camping is clear, because I don't feel like I'm doing a very good job--camping camping is when you have to carry everything in, most likely in a backpack or raft or canoe, making camping chairs and egg cartons a little harder to come by).

Finally, on this last vacation home, I was able to persuade my dad--and more importantly, my mom--to take us all car camping.  We went up to Hendy Woods which is relatively close to home.  Sadly, Hendy Woods is on the list of parks to be closed soon, due to California's financial issues.  It's super lame, because it is so pretty.  It's full of redwood trees, which is awesome because that provides shade and keeps it nice and cool (just a small change of pace from the Grand Canyon in Arizona).

Anyway, I was super stoked that I was able to get my car camping in, and super grateful that my parents have all the equipment to be able to do stuff like that.

I must say that when we were there, I did remember one little detail about car camping that I had forgotten.  For me, the "car" in "car camping" is especially important.  You see, as I went to go to sleep in the tent that night, I remembered that I just don't do that--sleep in a tent, that is--unless we're camping camping.  And so I got up out of the tent and went and slept...in the car.

Just keepin' in real.

[caption id="attachment_975" align="aligncenter" width="640" caption="Oh, you know, just dying of heat in the car while Dad went and bought paper towels."][/caption]



[caption id="attachment_961" align="aligncenter" width="640" caption="super healthy."][/caption]



[caption id="attachment_963" align="aligncenter" width="640" caption="helmet-less bike rides, but only for those over the age of 18 (the young ones got caught by the lady in charge of the campground)"][/caption]

[caption id="attachment_964" align="aligncenter" width="640" caption="never looked better."][/caption]



[caption id="attachment_966" align="aligncenter" width="640" caption="mmm, raw chicken."][/caption]



[caption id="attachment_969" align="aligncenter" width="640" caption="Mykel doing dishes: normal."][/caption]

[caption id="attachment_970" align="aligncenter" width="640" caption="Stacy doing dishes: weird."][/caption]

[caption id="attachment_968" align="aligncenter" width="640" caption="Dad doing dishes: super weird."][/caption]



[caption id="attachment_973" align="aligncenter" width="640" caption="What's up, Casper?"][/caption]



[caption id="attachment_974" align="aligncenter" width="640" caption="super ready for s'mores."][/caption]

j

[caption id="attachment_997" align="aligncenter" width="640" caption=""I'm the luckiest girl in the world...""][/caption]

[caption id="attachment_986" align="aligncenter" width="640" caption=""...because Stacy is my sister!" (Bonus: shirtless jake)"][/caption]

[caption id="attachment_998" align="aligncenter" width="640" caption="Straight up model right thur."][/caption]

[caption id="attachment_999" align="aligncenter" width="640" caption="Lookin' good, covered head to toe in insect repellent."][/caption]

 

[caption id="attachment_987" align="aligncenter" width="640" caption="What's a family reunion if we don't get to see Tom's glowing skin?"][/caption]

On the drive home, we got to spend over half an hour following this awesome truck going 20 mph. Highlight of the day, FOR SURE.

Car campers unite!