The 4Runner was loaded down until the back bumper almost touched the ground.  The kids were getting into the backseat arguing about the placement of the pillows, blankets, DVD players and DVD’s as usual.  Tyler’s voice was always louder, “Move your stuff!” “That’s my side!”  But Sarah’s barbs always cut deeper.  The last minute was the most stressful.  No one was moving as fast as they should, or at least as fast as I thought they should.  I tried without success to move the process along, “Let’s get going!” but just ended up getting more and more frustrated.  I finally caught one white poodle and threw it into the crate in the back of the car.  I yelled one more time for my wife to hurry it along and grabbed hold of the brown poodle that was running around under my feet. “All of the good spot’s will be taken!”  Just as I smelt something that had to have died and began to decompose I felt the brown slime covering the right side of my wife’s yapping, psychotic poodle.  My wife’s brown poodle’s right side was covered in some kind of putrid smelling poo.  “Honey, come get your dog!”

  After my wife had cleaned the poodle, we were off. It was a family tradition to stop for Blake’s and that was our first destination. Though we could easily reach in the back and pick from a wide assortment of any junk food you could name, my always hungry kids looked forward to this part of our trip the most, and even though our final destination was not far off we had to make a stop within 20 minutes. “I want a chocolate shake,” said Sarah.  “I want spicy fries with my chicken sandwich,” added Tyler.  Soon we were back on the road, with our bellies full and our excitement barely contained.  When we finally arrived and picked out the perfect camping spot (according to my kids) I began to unpack and unload. After our camp was set up we settled down for a tasty dinner of a Hough family favorite, grilled cheese and tomato soup followed by milk and cookies!  Though it was nearly midnight the night was not over. It was time for poker! We got out the cards and chips, (Lay’s and Doritos) and got our poker faces on! We were no match for my daughter, especially my son who was quickly out after going all in and trying without success to use crumbs for chips! At last it was time to hit the hay! We all slept silently and soundly snug in our sleeping bags!

   My son was up like a flash, eager to be the first to build a fire. “It’s my turn to light the fire!”  Followed by my daughter whose favorite breakfast includes marshmallows and hot chocolate. As my lively and energetic kids forced my wife and me out of our toasty sleeping bag, we began to plan out our day. “Let’s go for a hike in nature!” Finally, much to my daughters content, we decided on a hike up the mountains. We ate our breakfast of eggs and bacon, and marshmallows and chocolate, and embarked on our journey.  We walked up the road for a ways listening to exclamations of wonder. “How much further?” “When are we going to climb the mountain?”  Once we finally started our hike, my daughter’s high hopes of adventure diminished, “There’s ants everywhere!  The plants are itchy!” Our hike was cut short when my daughter exclaimed  “Nature Sucks!!!!”…Time to had back to the campsite.

  After our unsuccessful hike we decided our next plan of action would be fishing. Though we did not have actual fishing poles that would not stop my determined kids. They put together their poles, with sticks, fishing lines and hooks, and began to fish. Lucky we camped at Sig Creek. Our campsite was next to a stream about 6 feet across and 2 feet deep. While my very impatient son would not stand still, my daughter was as still as a statue and soon caught a fish (much to my sons displeasure). That was my spot! He kept saying. While my wife and daughter and I went back into the camper to eat a healthy dinner of macaroni and cheese with chips and cookies, my son would not come back inside until catching a fish. He eventually came inside shaking and mumbling. “That was my spot.”  Angry from not catching a fish, the next morning Tyler woke up at dawn and started fishing. He can be sneaky and quiet when he wants to. Who knows when it happened, but we were rudely awoken with Tyler yelling. “Come out here, hurry, hurry. I caught a fish.”  Sure enough he had caught one. It was freezing out and he was shaking and his hands were ice cold so his mom stopped the boys’ fun. “Come in the camper it’s time to eat.” He did without a fuss. He must have been cold, hungry and satisfied. He matched his sisters fishing abilities.