Manti Camping Trip

I have fond memories of camping: the dirt, the freezing cold, and the rain. I think the main reason that my dad has given up camping is that whenever he goes camping it rains. Fortunately, I was young for all the rainy camping trips so they weren't as bad for me as they were for him.  Which is good because we received a bunch of camping gear as wedding presents.

Wendy had a business trip planned to Manti so we decided to make it a camping trip also. Just to test out our items.  It will not surprise you to find out that as we drove down to Manti the sky grew progressively darker and darker. As we entered the town rain was pouring down. At which point I suddenly remembered that maybe camping out in the rain wasn't such a great idea after all. I wimped out and suggested that we spend the first night in a motel. Wendy's sigh of relief could probably have been heard 100 miles away. So the first night of our fun camping trip was spent...yep...hiding from the rain in a motel.

The next day cleared up so our tent was able to make it out of the car.

Notice the blue sky in the background

At one point during the day I kept hearing people talking in the area behind our campground. It was a little surprising to me because as far as I could tell there was just trees back there. Eventually my curiosity overcame my desire not to hike up a steep cliff. Upon clearing the top of the hill I was shocked to find...fisherpeople. A fair amount of them. It appears that camping near to water is so ingrained into me that I camp near a lake without even realizing I camped near a lake. Not one to pass up playing near water Wendy and I spent a fair amount of time sitting by the lake.

Reading by the lake

Reading by the lake

Eventually it got cold enough that we retreated back to our campsite to build a nice warm fire. There was just one small problem.  After about 10 minutes of trying Eagle Scout Benjamin completely failed at starting a fire. Yes, I'm a failure as both a scout and a man. Eventually Wendy took pity on me and showed me how it's done. A couple of minutes later a nice, merry, and thoroughly spiteful fire was blazing happily away.

Ben enjoying Wendy's fire

 Not completely content with showing up her man with her fire-building skills Wendy proceeded to take me on a survival hike through the jungle. Here she is hunting the mysterious jungle denizen known as the snape.

Hiking the jungle

Eventually we had to return to the campground and sleep. I woke up bright and early to show Wendy that I may be a wimp and not camp in the rain and I may not know how to start a fire but dang it I can cook breakfast...in a frying pan...with a gas stove.

Cooking Breakfast

After my rough camping trip Wendy was kind enough to let me go to a sports grill in order to watch what could be the final game in the BYU and Utah football rivalry. I convinced Wendy to go to the place at least 45 minutes before the game; just to make sure that we would have someplace to sit and watch. I forgot one thing. It was Manti. At kickoff there was a rip roaring party well attended by Wendy, myself, and the two employees. Worse; it wasn't even a good game and the team I cheered for got destroyed.

BYU football in a crowded sports grill

 At least we decided to end the trip on a good note. Wendy was able to go to her traditional museum and I was able to check off another temple in Utah that I've gone to.

Big Mastadon

Small Temple