Let's go on an adventure: Anthony Lakes 2009

Every year we have the Tolman reunion at Anthony Lakes and this year was no different, so after Jaime got off work on Wednesday we headed to the mountains. After we got all set up we just kind of hung out around the campfire and visited with everyone else and then it was off to bed.

Thursday we had one little activity planned and then we were going to just hang out the rest of the day. So our activity was a hike. I wanted to go to Van Patten Lake I had never been there and wanted to see it, plus there was a geocache that had just been placed there, so I wanted to get it to. I knew we would have to hike a little bit, but I didn't know how far, I knew there was a road that went so far, but as we looked at the road we decided it would be better if we just hiked instead of trying to drive, so our hike was about 1.5 miles to get to the lake. It was a nice hike and the kids did really good, they didn't do a lot of complaining.

As we got to the lake it started sprinkling a little bit, but I was still determined to get my cache. So we started walking around the lake and as we walked the rain started picking up so we found a little rock that had a bunch of trees around it and decided we would sit the storm out at that spot. Well the rain really started picking up and I luckily had 1 poncho in the backpack, so we all huddled under it. After about an hour of sitting in the rain Jaime and I decided we would take Brooke and run and get the cache, as it was only 130 feet away and then we would get the kids and head back to camp.

We got back to camp and got on some dry clothes and sat in the trailer waiting for the rain to stop. But it didn't stop it just kept raining. Jaime's dad had a gazebo thing that we had all the stoves under for cooking and they enclosed it with some tarps and made a nice little room for cooking and keeping warm and that is where we cooked and kept warm for the night.

The saddest part of the whole day was seeing all the other family members come up and set up camp only to take it down a couple hours later and go home, talk about fair weathered campers.

Friday we woke up to rain!!! Imagine that. So instead of just sitting at camp for the day we decided to go to Baker and hang out for awhile. Which ended up being a good thing, Jaime was able to go get some dry shoes and we were able to really dry out.

At about 5:30 the rained stopped and then the fun began. We decided to go fishing for the evening and the kids had a great time. They all caught some fish, but Vanessa out fished them all and caught 5. The neatest part of the little fishing trip was standing at the lake and watching the fog roll in. It didn't take long and you couldn't see the other side of the lake, but it was really pretty.

Saturday was beautiful, the sun was shining and the weather was warm, after breakfast we all had stuff to do, we decided to get the canoe out and take the kids out. As I was going to get the kids to take for a ride I got to camp and they all had their fishing poles and bait in hand, so they were ready to fish from the "boat." They all got to catch at least 1 fish from the boat, but I know Brooke caught 2 fish, but she had help from daddy.

After that I went float tubing with Jaime's mom which was really nice and relaxing. It was away from the kids and really quiet. We don't fish while we are float tubing, but if we would have had a net we probably could have caught a couple as they were jumping all around us.

After a busy day of going non-stop we had a huge dinner and then just sat around and visited for the evening.

Sunday was the worst day of the whole trip, we had to pack up and come home. Although we are glad to be home we miss the mountains. It is so beautiful and quiet there and here in town it is very noisy. But we are glad to be home, but we can't wait to go again next year.

Van Patten Lake, before the rain storm.