Shaver Lake

July 2-5th we went camping at Shaver Lake. This was our first camping trip in California and we had every inch of our contour filled with supplies. We even left a few important items home due to our lack of room. As we drove off with Jack (our GPS) giving us the directions, we felt like we were in a boat and whoever was at the other end (our trunk) was making the boat drag!

Even though we were packed in the car, we managed to make room for some books and small toys to keep McKay occupied during our 3 1/2 hour drive. McKay kept asking Chantelle for more books so she kept giving them to him!

Our first night. See how clean we are? Actually, you just can't see McKay's clothes. His travel clothes were not really camp worthy we quickly discovered. I only had to wash and spot them twice though and they are clean!

Jordan is telling McKay the story of the 3 Little Pigs by the fire.

Here he is blowing me kisses.
After a not-very-restful night (at least for me - McKay sure moves around a lot!) we had a delicious breakfast of bacon and eggs and headed down to the lake. It was beautiful (and cold) and we really had to look to find a free spot of beach to claim. McKay loves the water and was so excited to get in. People we passed smiled when they heard McKay say 'yay' when he saw the lake.

Check out that hot lady! We were in the 'no wake' part of the lake which made it really nice and relaxing to float.
We got a really nice camp site and our tent was in the shade all the time. It was also really quiet and nice Thursday night. Friday we got some Mexican neighbors and it wasn't as quiet. McKay took a really good nap during which we took the opportunity to play Phase 10. Most games aren't that exciting unless you have more than 2 people so it was really great to have Chantelle to play with us and help us eat peanut M&M's.

After McKay woke up, we made some delicious sandwiches and hiked around the lake so we could see the 'great' fireworks show we had heard so much about. Even though the walk turned out to be longer than we had anticipated, it was beautiful and that always makes the walk worth the work! We were thankful for the nearly full moon as we walked back to our campsite in the dark with no accidents and only a couple of wrong turns.

Shaver Lake a really big lake with campsites on all sides. We stayed in the Dorabella campsite, just outside of the town Shaver Lake.

The fireworks show wasn't as great as we were expecting (after all, we are in a recession) but the reflection of the fireworks on the water was pretty neat. We met a man who showed us this great little spot where we set up our chairs and waited for it to get dark.

(click to enlarge)
McKay fell down so many times he got tons of slivers in his little hands. Some of them were so large we knew we had to get them out before we went home. Between the tweezers we bought in town and Jordan's leatherman, we got the biggest ones out. We thought he would move around too much but he intently watched as Jordan dug the slivers out.

"Helping"
One of McKay's favorite things to do was to wash his hands. The faucet was just his size and he could turn it on. He also enjoyed setting up and folding down his little camp chair Jordan got for him. He usually sat in it for about 15-30 seconds before folding it back up again. We really enjoyed watching all the chipmunks chasing each other as well as all the other squirrels and birds. Every morning when McKay woke up, he'd say 'Hi' and wave to us. I think that is how Chantelle woke up a few times... with McKay standing over her waving and saying 'hi'.

The second day our Mexican neighbors turned their music up in their car right next to us and played the same 3 songs over and over while we played Skip-bo. We were worried they would wake McKay up before he was ready so Jordan asked them to turn it down, which the mother did as soon as her son translated for her.

July 4th was a free fishing day so Jordan just had to throw his line in. After all, we did bring it! Chantelle didn't have a pole and wanted to take advantage of the free fishing day too so she did her best to catch one. Unfortunately, there were too many people and boats in the water and the fish just weren't interested. While McKay and I waited for them to catch a fish, we soaked our feet in the cool water. Jordan and Chantelle gave up on the fish and joined us.

Chantelle was sure we couldn't go camping without having S'mores so Jordan got the supplies in town and Chantelle got some sticks ready for us. I must say, they were awfully delicious!

One night we got McKay to eat by keeping him distracted taking pictures of him. This one even turned out cute.

Check out the size of those pine cones! We couldn't believe how big they were. Saturday morning we went for a hike to Musik Meadow and found these that were even larger than those we had around our site. Our hike was beautiful and we saw a deer and lots of elk tracks. The hiking backpack was one thing we couldn't fit in so it was hard to hike with McKay. Jordan usually had him on his shoulders. McKay enjoyed pulling off Jordan's hat to say 'HI!'

The pine cones were fun to watch burn.
We had a great time camping but we were all happy to get home, shower, and sleep in our own beds.