Camping Trip #3 - Page Springs, Oregon

My parents have talked about Page Springs....this magical little slice of heaven on earth.... for years. It's been my dad's wish to take their new camper on it's maiden voyage there but they didn't want to go alone without someone to follow them incase something happened.

Of course Matt and I wouldn't turn down a camping trip invitation. Especially to a new place and Memorial Weekend seemed to be the best time to make this happen.

{FRIDAY}
Matt took half a day off while we got all of our stuff together, then headed to Nampa to wait for my parents to get off work so we could make the 3-4 hour trip towards Burns, Oregon.

We went through Jordan Valley, which to my surprise, was actually a cute, clean little town.

The trip was long. Zeplin was a good boy and watched a few movies while we followed my parents to this special little place. He told us often that he needed to go poopoo and potty but we only made a few stops for him to do so because it was pouring ran almost the whole drive. A little more than halfway through, Zeplin started to get restless and let us know. This trip would have been a lot easier had we left earlier when it was his nap time. Besides his few meltdowns, he was adorable as he would talk to us about the rain outside or tell us he was hungry.

By the time was got to Page Springs, we were in the eye of a pretty wicked storm. I was feeling overwhelmed and frustrated as we pulled into the campground and there were zero camp sites available. It was apparent that my Dad didn't understand why there were no open sites ... Matt and I were fully aware that if you wanted to camp on Memorial Weekend, you either reserved a spot or you got there early to pick on out - - We did neither.
I started to get a little emotional as we drove around the area looking for more open campgrounds. It was still pouring outside and nearing 10pm when I called a little RV campground over the ridge from Page Springs. They had a few open sites and were more than happy to let us camp there for a modest fee of $25/night. The plus side, they had a full amenities.... showers, bathrooms (super nice ones), power hookups (so we slept nice and toasty all night.) But at that price, it made it hard to want to stay there for 3 whole nights.

Zeplin stayed in my parents camper while Matt and I attempted to pop up our camper. It's amazing how fast you can set up camp when you're getting rained on.  Matt cooked us some hot dogs over the flame of our stove while ZJ and I read books and made the beds. We finally made it to bed around midnight. We all fell asleep fast & slept pretty hard as the rain fell on our camper.


{SATURDAY}
I woke up super early. Although we were nice & toasty warm, the sound of the heater kicking on & off overpowered the sound of the birds chirping outside, and I couldn't fall back asleep. The rain had finally stopped & I got dressed so I could take a walk outside to the restrooms.

Because it was so dark and rainy the night before, we didn't really get a chance to see where we were but it was great to see this beautiful little area that morning.

We finished getting our camps set up and let Zeplin play in the little play ground until we loaded up in our vehicles and my dad took us on a drive through “Birder's Country.”

Zeplin was a little frustrating to drive with. We tried to be patient with him since we had just been driving the night before for 4 hours and then to be driving again.... it wasn't ideal for a 2 year old. 

My dad was teetering between being in heaven and hell. He's a crazy bird brain and this area is a Birder's Paradise. He reads his birding books almost as much as he reads the Bible. BUT his camera wasn't working so he whimpered and whined as he saw all these beautiful birds and he couldn't take any pictures of them.
I tried my best to take some pictures of birds for him but they weren't as good as he wanted.

After a few miles of driving through the marshland, my dad took us to a great little museum and information center so we could eat lunch and walk around.

Zeplin had a great time. A lot of why was because we were finally out of the car but also because he's a boy and he loves to run around and do ‘boy’ things!

We finished our lunch and headed to another destination. Matt and I were pretty happy when we started seeing animals. There were deer (LOTS AND LOTS of DEER) and a jackrabbit. We saw a snake or two and a bunch of little rodents. My dad tried to teach us about all the different birds as we drove along.

Eventually we stopped at an overlook. It was finally beautiful outside with the sun shining and most of the puddles dried up.... except for one. And it was the one that Zeplin had the most fun in. He danced, shimmied, sat and almost had a face plant in. My dad danced with him while Zeplin laughed and laughed. It was insanely adorable!

BTW, We were still trying to conquer our potty training obstacle. Zeplin did great with only a few accidents. It's hard when you're driving long distances but we did the best we could. 

Once we got back to camp, my mom started getting dinner ready. My dad took a nap, and my little family of 3 went for a short bike ride, getting back just in time for dinner. Once dinner was done, we relaxed around the campfire until it started to get a little chilly and we turned inside. 

We convinced my parents to come into our camper to play Phase 10. I was losing horribly and my dad was winning but by 11pm, we were ready for bed. 

{SUNDAY}

We decided it was time to go home. Since my dad didn't have a functioning camera, he was a little frustrated and didn't really find a reason why he should go birding anymore. The sun was out and it was much warmer than it was Saturday so we knew the rattlesnakes would probably be out trying to get warm ... so..... biking and hiking with a 2 year old was completely out of the question. Unfortunately, this location wasn't the best place to do the things our little family loves to do.

While we finished cleaning up camp, my mom played with Zeplin. The swung on the swings, climbed a tree, went for walk and just had fun together. Zeplin and Grandma Cindy are besties. Zj tells me all the time that she's his friend!

 The drive home was interesting. We experienced herding cows with our car and when we stopped to have lunch, Matt found a horrid black widow in a crack in the ground. Zeplin slept for a couple hours. When he woke up, I fell asleep for an hour to help get rid of a migraine.

Zeplin was a little bit of a pill because he desperately wanted out of the car. 4 hours really is a long time. Once I woke up from my nap, I was able to talk with Zeplin & we sang songs and helped him not think about being cooped up in a car.

Overall, it was a great trip. It would have been a little more enjoyable had it been a little closer to home and our son was a little older. The drive was beautiful for us, but that's because we love to drive around this beautiful country. We were just happy to be with our family, with my parents, and in the mountains.