Initially I had planned to have a fairly rigorous off road camping expedition (rigorous as you could get with a couple young kids at least) but a fireban combined with a forecast of consistent rain caused us to tone things down a bit.
We decided instead that we would take to opportunity to camp in grandma and grandpa's backyard in Lethbridge. Hayden and fyn were excited to join me out in the tent while Kirsty and Zettie were able to sleep comfortably in the house.
Surprisingly the kids did wonderfully and slept for three nights in the tent with me. The weather was mixed and it rained consistently for two of the nights but the tent was up to the task and kept us warm and dry inside.
On Friday night we also took advantage of the backyard's firepit and cooked hotdogs and roasted marshmallows to get the full camping experience. Mark and Jenn along with their girls were able to come up to help entertain us and the kids. Judging by the amount of melted marshmallows smeared onto faces and clothes by the end of the evening it seems that everyone had a great time.
On Saturday I was eager to get some off-road exploration in with the truck into the milkriver ridge area so we loaded up and then joined up with the Ehlert's in Mark's jeep to see what kind of trouble we could find. Our main attempt ended up being rebuffed by some private land that wasn't indicated on my copy of the backroads mapbook so we retreated and decided to have a picnic on the shore of the Milk River Ridge Reservoir.
I couldn't resist trying to get into a bit of trouble...
Later that evening Kirsty and I joined Mark and Jenn for some Indian food in Lethbridge while Jim and Sharon were
Sunday gave us another attempt at exploring some backroads SW of Warner that were clearly marked as public land. This time the previous nights rain foiled us the gravel road eventually degraded into an inch and a half of greasy mud. It was thick and slippery enough that the truck dogtracked and wanted to slide into the ditch on the level sections and eventually the grade became steep enough that the truck would just sit there and spin all four tires without moving forward. Being without food, water and camping gear we decided that discretion was the better part of valour and decided to turn around rather than try any more creative attempts at going further.
Muddy roads:
We were treated to an enjoyable meal that evening at the Ehlert's home in Raymond along with Jim, Sharon and Nana Mossey.
On Monday after packing up the tent in the rain we embarked on an
(See here for the map of all the driving we did on the weekend)
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