Seriously, you can't make this stuff up!

This weekend Ryan and I planned an adventure...well, at the time we only thought it was going to be a camping trip but, we soon realized it quickly turned into an ADVENTURE!!! :)
We went to a place we found on-line because all of our favorite spots were full due to the holiday. It was called Barker Recreation Area near Escalante, Utah. A place neither of us have been. We also passed through a bunch of cities we didn't know existed but are sure glad they do like Henry Ville were houses are actually built in the ground and Tropic where I found I want to be buried. They have this great little cemetery nudged up against a cliff right on the main street...if you ever drove by (and the chances are slim) you would have to stop and pay your respects. Anyway, after a 14 mile drive up a dirt road doing switch backs we arrived Thursday Night.
Oh, but 2 1/2 hours into the drive as I was watching The Office on my ipod (Diversity Day) and Ry was listening, he yell, "oh Crap!" and rushes to pull off the freeway. We had a tote tied to the top of the jeep and he said he thought something had flown out...I looked and thought that maybe it was beanie because I put it on top and now I didn't see it, no biggie right? Well, he said, "no, it looked white" With a closer look I noticed that yes, in deed, the 3 pairs on undies I packed were not there! You have it right folks!!!! I ran (well, walked) back up the freeway about 1/2-3/4 mile to find my scibbies strung along side the freeway along with a pair of socks and 2 bandannas! :) I snatched them up and headed back to the Jeep. When an emergency vehicle with light on pulls over and offered me a ride back to my car. "Whites" in hand I climbed in because the man said it, "a short ride is better than no ride at all!" Well, with the tote refastened we were back on the road.
The next adventure comes when to our surprise both cots did not fit in the tent we borrowed. (we have overnight camping gear. We had to borrow more comfortable 3 day camping gear) The tents hooked together to Ry's body slept in one tent and his head in the part where the tents connected! Ok, that is not a big deal the big deal is that Chase decides to find the smallest crack possible in the text and sneaks out at 12:30am! So, we go out to call him and lucky him, he got to sleep in the car the next couple of nights!


Ok, so keep up with me...oh, I forgot to mention that at a 17 camp site camp we were the only, ONLY ones there! The camp host who lives in another camp site down the mountain comes up every day to clean the bathrooms...so, it was kind of like a cleaning service :). Anyway, talking to him one night he said that they have a bear up there but he is usually around the lakes...yes, the 3 lakes we had hiked to and let our dog swim in all day...yep, those lakes! But, he hadn't seen it in a week but just giving us a heads up. Cool, so the rest of the night we talked about how cool it would be to see a bear, knowing very well that if it actually happened we might wet ourselves! More adventure! And, No we did not pee our selves!! Saturday morning Ry woke me up at 6:30 am (I slept with ear plugs in) and asked me if I "could hear that?" well, I could it was really close. So, I unzip the tent window and "Seriously, I can't make this stuff up" 55 feet (we walked it, later) away from our tent was a bear tearing apart a dead tree to eat the bugs. The day before the Camp host tells us that dogs are good to have because black bears do not like dogs because they associate them with packs so just the scent with keep them away...But, do you remember where I said Chase was? Yep, in the car!!! Ry, wondered if he could run there and let him out although Chase would probably just try to play with it and get eaten in the end. So, we just watched him not believing our eyes. And of course took some pictures: Yes, that is the screen to the tent!!! Lets see you get out of your tent to take a picture of a bear!!! :) Anyway, he ate there a few minutes and then just walked off. So, we ran to the car and got Chase and then we had to go to the bathroom and started walking over there but we heard him eating again and it sounded close so we ran back to the car (without a potty break) and drove all around the site looking for him, we were bear hunters but, no luck! Our only picture is embedded into our minds! WE SAW A BEAR, A BEAR!!!! Dead center in the picture you can see Ryan (I know he has a green shirt on and
kind of looks like a tree) but he is standing where the bear was and i am in our
tent...that is how close!
So, it goes on. We drove out of camp and within an hour we went from lush Forest to dry desert! The perks of living in Utah. We took another 26 mile dirt road...seriously we were so out in the middle of no where I was afraid we would never be heard from again! The price you pay for marring an adventure man! Anyway, the road that almost killed it...it took us to these slot canyons in the the desert. But, to get in you had to climb up about 15 feet and wade through water. Chase could do the water part but climbing strait up would be tricky so we opted to walk though these other ones until they became way to tricky for the pup...we should have heeded the warning:
On our way back to camp we stopped at this picnic area to eat lunch called the "Devil's Gardens" it turned out to be a little slice of awesomeness! There were these huge rock formations all over that you could get on and climb! And, just our luck this trip our camera battery died here so, there are few pictures of our random adventure here.
Anyway, it all worked out we made it home alive and WE SAW A BEAR!!! :)
Other highlights:
-Seeing tons of HUGE deer come out in the evening all around the camp grounds.
-Seeing 3 HUGE elk, from a far but still cool.
-Seeing tons of ducks and hearing a woodpecker.
-Seeing a mama skunk and her 4 babies and watching her drop each one down a cattle guard.
-Seeing the 100's of cattle all over the mountain and having to fight them for space on the road.
-making our first dutch oven (just the two of us) meal: pepperoni/sausage pizza with peach cobbler.
-having 5 lakes within a few mikes hike.
-Watching Chase swim like he was born to do it (well, his bread kind of was) all afternoon.
-Actually wearing Chase out! If you know our dog he pretty much acts like he eats crack for breakfast but we wore him out! This is an accomplishment!
-The incredible scenery! We wish that it was closer and more accessible to more people so that more people could see it but then if that were the case it wouldn't be that awesome!
-having the whole camp ground to ourselves.
-Having 3 days of exploring new places TOGETHER!
-Oh, and SEEING A BEAR!!! Seriously, I can't make this stuff up! :)

Special thanks to the people who made this trip possible: My dad, my brother-in-law, Dan, and my friend and neighbor Tammy Bruun! Thanks for letting us borrow your stuff, but now we want to keep it all! ;)