Diamond Lake

For our second mini vacation this summer we went with friends of ours camping at Diamond Lake. The trip though only four days was a very eventful trip. We bought a used tent trailer before making this journey, because as most all of you know I have a little trouble camping. I am not a big fan of dirt, bugs or sleeping on the ground. But contrary to what you may think, I do enjoy some parts of camping. I enjoy being with family and friends, the outdoor activities and the smores. So we loaded up Thursday morning and set out to find Diamond Lake, our friends had left the day before, and not 10 miles from home almost hit a deer on the highway. Jed swerved and the trailer fishtailed, but he was able to get it under control. Thank goodness! That would have been one short trip! We had been designated to pick up the booze for the festivities and decided to get it along the way. We have a brand new GPS, so we decided to try it out....Instead of taking us to the liquor store it took us to the guy who owns its house. After a few laughs and asking for directions, we continued our journey. We arrived at Diamond Lake and set up camp. It is a gorgeous location, but right out of the car, two things were noticed. There was a lot of dirt, but most importantly a lot of bugs. I am not talking your run of the mill bugs either. These bugs were the biggest and most determined bugs ever. The bug spray did not phase them, clothes did not phase them....nothing did. Heidi, Nicky and I decided to go on a bike ride around the lake one day while the kids were napping(don't worry their daddies were with them). The views were so beautiful, with the snow capped mountain behind the glass blue lake. It turned out to be an 11 mile ride, so we were a little tired. The crazy thing was when the path took us close to the water's edge the bugs would swarm. They went up your nose, in your ears and down your throat...so gross!! We did get to do a lot of swimming, we rented paddle boats, and visited with friends. Another highlight of the trip was horseback riding. Gabby went on her first horse ride. She was so excited! We had a very stubborn horse though and it was all I could do to keep him on the trail. I felt so bad because when he would wander off the trail, the shoehorn would hit Gabs right in the gut. It didn't deter her too much though because she still thinks it was the best part of the trip. The kids got so dirty every night, orphan Annie didn't compare. Each night we would haul all six kids to the showers and hold them down(most fought it)to rid them of the day's filth. Then the would be forbidden to get dirty again until morning. The trip was a lot of fun!!! We are hoping to go camping together again next year, but perhaps at a new location with a few less bugs!