We went camping

We went camping over Mother's Day weekend, headed south on US 395, down past Carson City, Minden, Lake Topaz and Bridgeport. Past the turn off to Bodie and then just after the town of Lee Vinning and the turn off into Yosemite we headed east on 120 and back towards Nevada. After some awesome woop-it-doos along the road (you know those dips that make your tummy feel crazy?) we found ourselves near the base of Boundary Peak where there is a small ranching community and nearby Indian Reservation. There is also an inn and campsites where each room or site has it's own, private hot spring fed tub and lots of room to run around.



Benton, CA is a quirky small town with all sorts of characters (as most small towns are). From the 'inn keeper' who declared he needed a beer to solve his hay fever, to the waitress at the gas station/restaurant/mini mart who hardly gave us the time of day, even when the guys hefted an arm load of stuff onto the counter, wallets open. The entire town's fresh water supply is the warm water from the geothermal springs. The valley is full of green alfalfa and cotton wood tree lined ranches. The mountains jet up to the sky in a dramatic snow topped way that makes you wonder what early settlers must have thought as they stumbled into this wild west geography.



The views from our site were amazing, the water in the tub hot and the wind during the day cool enough to make you forget to slather yourself in sunscreen (um, I came home with a bit more color in my cheeks they when I left). We shared company with our friends D and L, along with their twin boys who are just 3 months younger than O. Cloe even had a buddy, she and Maggie had a great time pretending they were puppies again chasing after birds, tennis balls and guarding camp for us. By Saturday night both doggers where so tired out they put themselves to bed and forgot about their owners who chatted under the stars around the campfire.



Spending time with my boys and good friends was a wonderful way to celebrate mom's day. I even got a chocolate milk shake out of the deal, thanks Daddy-O.