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brokenrecord) wrote2007-08-09 11:41 am
brokenrecord) wrote2007-08-09 11:41 am
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So I went camping with my friends Sunday and got back yesterday. We went to Malibu State Park and it was a lot of fun.
Sunday
We met at Emma's house between 10 and 12 (it was supposed to be 10, but it failed). We arrived at the campsite at around 4 PM (after about an hour of driving up and down Muholland Hwy (or however it's spelled) because our directions were wrong and the boys chose not to inform us when they asked for directions and found out how to really get there. The campsite we had was a lot... it looked a lot more dead than I expected (the trees were kind of far away and the grass was all dead and such and there weren't any other plants), and there were a lot more people than I expected around, but it was still nice. Once you left the campsite the area was really pretty. And the bathrooms were very close to the campsite and we had a spigot so all was well.
So once tents were set up and such, Richard, Justin, Andrew, and Ian went fishing in the dirty creek about 5 minutes from camp while Emma, Soan, Jackie, and I went in search for the lake. We kept almost turning back because we had no idea how far it was or if it really existed or the man that told us about it was just trying to trick us but eventually we followed a different man who had some children in swimsuits and we found the lake. Well, it was kind of more of a pond, but it was really beautiful there. There weren't too many people, and besides the massive amounts of bees around any sort of garbage/litter, it was very nice. It was about half an hour from our campsite, though, and I had chosen to wear my crappy sandals because I didn't know how far we were going, and I got several blisters on my feet (which only ended up multiplying through the rest of the trip. This ended up being a very painful few days for me). But anyways, we swam in the lake a bit and it was really nice. Then we met back up with the boys (all they had caught was a frog. Well, three, but the other two got away, I guess) and went back to the campsite. We didn't have food for dinner that night, so, in the true spirit of camping and roughing it, we drove to Carl's Jr. Then back to the campsite for being very loud and staying up late. I had such issues getting to sleep that night. I ended up getting like 3 hours of sleep. sigh.
Monday
Woke up at like 6 AM. We made pancakes and cereal for breakfast. Afterwards we took the boys to the lake we had found the previous day and we swam some more Emma and Richard went off to a more enclosed area behind the main part of the lake to fish, but were sadly unsuccessful. Ian, however, caught a crawfish (crawdad? Whatever it's called) and it was huge, and Andrew caught like 20 tadpoles.
We went back to camp then and had sandwiches for lunch. We sat around for a really long time basically doing nothing. In the early afternoon Richard and Ian went to buy more ice because we had run out, and Soan, Emma, Justin, and Andrew went hiking. I stayed behind with Jackie who didn't really want to go because I had gained more blisters and I had gotten very badly sunburned on my back and shoulders because I didn't put sunblock on there. This contributed to the painfulness of the rest of the trip. It was really, really bad. Hurt to move my arms in any way, sleep in any way. blah. It still hurts a ridiculous amount, and it looks even redder than before. I hope it gets better soon.
Around 7 everyone came back and we had hot dogs for dinner. The buns had lived next to the bananas on the way up so they tasted vaguely like banana but it turned out to be extra delicious that way. I don't think we did much else that night. I got much better sleep that night thankfully, except that the sunburn made it ridiculously painful every time I shifted at all. Also, it was super freezing that night, which was annoying.
Tuesday
Woke up around 8 AM. We cheated and had donuts for breakfast. We then decided to hike to the bigger lake, Century Lake, which was about 2 miles from our campsite. It took about 45 minutes I'd say to get there (which was definitely not good for my feet). The lake was really nice, though. It had a rope attached to a tree, and Richard and Emma swung from it and jumped into the lake. We went back to camp and made quesadillas for lunch. We listened to music through Richard's car while we were eating, and once Richard decided to turn on the car, it turned out that we had drained the battery. So, we all had to push his SUV up the road a little so we could use jumper cables to start it up. I wish we had a picture of us pushing the car because it was very impressive and awesome, in my opinion. Anyways, we managed to start it up, thankfully.
In the afternoon, after the trouble with the car, we drove to the Malibu State Park Lagoon. It was really nice, right next to this estuary. It was a lot of fun and very pretty. After the beach, we went back to camp and grilled hamburgers and made S'mores. For that night we decided to all sleep in the big tent (it was an 8 person tent) and we fit just as well as the four of us girls fit in the small tent.
Wednesday
Last day, sadly. Woke up around 6 or 7 and made breakfast burritos with our leftover tortialls, eggs, cheese, and hot dogs. As Richard was cooking the last hot dog, our stove exploded. I was in the tent changing, so I don't know exactly what happened, but I heard a huge bang and then this silence and a minute later Richard asking if everyone was ok. It was really freaky for a moment because I had no idea what happened. Apparently we were using a butane stove and the butane caught on fire. That acted as like a rocket engine and shot the stove a few feet off the table. Luckily no one was in front of its path, and luckily the huge heavy hot frying pan jumped up and immediately back down onto the picnic table and didn't hit anyone.
Anyways, after that great adventure, we left the campsite. We visited Richard's aunt since she lived close to the area. She was incredibly nice, and her children are so much like us it's almost scary. After an hour or so at her house, we went to L.A. and ate at Roscoes which is this fried chicken and waffles place that Justin had heard was delicious. Then it was home.
Anyways, in all, it was a greatly fun trip. I expected us to get bored and sick of each other quickly, and I thought I wouldn't really enjoy the camping part of it, but all of it was super fun. I took a lot of pictures, but when I saved them after touching them up in photoshop and uploaded them, they turned out a lot more desaturated and ugly, and I couldn't figure out if it was photoshop or photobucket doing it, so I got frustrated and gave up. I have them uploaded without any touching up on my facebook though.
Sunday
We met at Emma's house between 10 and 12 (it was supposed to be 10, but it failed). We arrived at the campsite at around 4 PM (after about an hour of driving up and down Muholland Hwy (or however it's spelled) because our directions were wrong and the boys chose not to inform us when they asked for directions and found out how to really get there. The campsite we had was a lot... it looked a lot more dead than I expected (the trees were kind of far away and the grass was all dead and such and there weren't any other plants), and there were a lot more people than I expected around, but it was still nice. Once you left the campsite the area was really pretty. And the bathrooms were very close to the campsite and we had a spigot so all was well.
So once tents were set up and such, Richard, Justin, Andrew, and Ian went fishing in the dirty creek about 5 minutes from camp while Emma, Soan, Jackie, and I went in search for the lake. We kept almost turning back because we had no idea how far it was or if it really existed or the man that told us about it was just trying to trick us but eventually we followed a different man who had some children in swimsuits and we found the lake. Well, it was kind of more of a pond, but it was really beautiful there. There weren't too many people, and besides the massive amounts of bees around any sort of garbage/litter, it was very nice. It was about half an hour from our campsite, though, and I had chosen to wear my crappy sandals because I didn't know how far we were going, and I got several blisters on my feet (which only ended up multiplying through the rest of the trip. This ended up being a very painful few days for me). But anyways, we swam in the lake a bit and it was really nice. Then we met back up with the boys (all they had caught was a frog. Well, three, but the other two got away, I guess) and went back to the campsite. We didn't have food for dinner that night, so, in the true spirit of camping and roughing it, we drove to Carl's Jr. Then back to the campsite for being very loud and staying up late. I had such issues getting to sleep that night. I ended up getting like 3 hours of sleep. sigh.
Monday
Woke up at like 6 AM. We made pancakes and cereal for breakfast. Afterwards we took the boys to the lake we had found the previous day and we swam some more Emma and Richard went off to a more enclosed area behind the main part of the lake to fish, but were sadly unsuccessful. Ian, however, caught a crawfish (crawdad? Whatever it's called) and it was huge, and Andrew caught like 20 tadpoles.
We went back to camp then and had sandwiches for lunch. We sat around for a really long time basically doing nothing. In the early afternoon Richard and Ian went to buy more ice because we had run out, and Soan, Emma, Justin, and Andrew went hiking. I stayed behind with Jackie who didn't really want to go because I had gained more blisters and I had gotten very badly sunburned on my back and shoulders because I didn't put sunblock on there. This contributed to the painfulness of the rest of the trip. It was really, really bad. Hurt to move my arms in any way, sleep in any way. blah. It still hurts a ridiculous amount, and it looks even redder than before. I hope it gets better soon.
Around 7 everyone came back and we had hot dogs for dinner. The buns had lived next to the bananas on the way up so they tasted vaguely like banana but it turned out to be extra delicious that way. I don't think we did much else that night. I got much better sleep that night thankfully, except that the sunburn made it ridiculously painful every time I shifted at all. Also, it was super freezing that night, which was annoying.
Tuesday
Woke up around 8 AM. We cheated and had donuts for breakfast. We then decided to hike to the bigger lake, Century Lake, which was about 2 miles from our campsite. It took about 45 minutes I'd say to get there (which was definitely not good for my feet). The lake was really nice, though. It had a rope attached to a tree, and Richard and Emma swung from it and jumped into the lake. We went back to camp and made quesadillas for lunch. We listened to music through Richard's car while we were eating, and once Richard decided to turn on the car, it turned out that we had drained the battery. So, we all had to push his SUV up the road a little so we could use jumper cables to start it up. I wish we had a picture of us pushing the car because it was very impressive and awesome, in my opinion. Anyways, we managed to start it up, thankfully.
In the afternoon, after the trouble with the car, we drove to the Malibu State Park Lagoon. It was really nice, right next to this estuary. It was a lot of fun and very pretty. After the beach, we went back to camp and grilled hamburgers and made S'mores. For that night we decided to all sleep in the big tent (it was an 8 person tent) and we fit just as well as the four of us girls fit in the small tent.
Wednesday
Last day, sadly. Woke up around 6 or 7 and made breakfast burritos with our leftover tortialls, eggs, cheese, and hot dogs. As Richard was cooking the last hot dog, our stove exploded. I was in the tent changing, so I don't know exactly what happened, but I heard a huge bang and then this silence and a minute later Richard asking if everyone was ok. It was really freaky for a moment because I had no idea what happened. Apparently we were using a butane stove and the butane caught on fire. That acted as like a rocket engine and shot the stove a few feet off the table. Luckily no one was in front of its path, and luckily the huge heavy hot frying pan jumped up and immediately back down onto the picnic table and didn't hit anyone.
Anyways, after that great adventure, we left the campsite. We visited Richard's aunt since she lived close to the area. She was incredibly nice, and her children are so much like us it's almost scary. After an hour or so at her house, we went to L.A. and ate at Roscoes which is this fried chicken and waffles place that Justin had heard was delicious. Then it was home.
Anyways, in all, it was a greatly fun trip. I expected us to get bored and sick of each other quickly, and I thought I wouldn't really enjoy the camping part of it, but all of it was super fun. I took a lot of pictures, but when I saved them after touching them up in photoshop and uploaded them, they turned out a lot more desaturated and ugly, and I couldn't figure out if it was photoshop or photobucket doing it, so I got frustrated and gave up. I have them uploaded without any touching up on my facebook though.