After years of deliberation, we finally took the plunge and braved the California wilderness as a family; yep, Sarah and Jane went too. The destination: Wench Creek Camp, a beautiful lakeside campground along the Union Valley Reservoir, about half way between Placerville and South Lake Tahoe. Sarah's brother Jason and his wife Mea joined the excursion as well.
After selecting our campsite and pitching our tents, we "hiked" by van to the eponymous creek to swim in the frigid waters and climb around on the enormous rocks. We even combined activities and jumped off some of the rocks into the water.
After we finished with the creek and rock exploration, we returned to our campsite where some took in an afternoon snooze but the more adventurous of the party swam in the reservoir and built sand castles.
Eventually we all worked up an appetite, so we cooked hot dogs over the fire and ate 'till we got full (except for Mea, sorry!). Of course, we managed to save enough room for a s'more or two.
I mentioned pitching tents earlier, and Jason made the executive decision that all four Shermans would sleep in the 2-man tent instead of the family-sized 7-man tent that a friend had loaned us. Apparently Jason did not want to jeopardize the weekend's good will and fun by trying erect a tent that could easily end in frustrating defeat. While not necessarily comfortable, we did all manage to fit into the smaller tent, and I think a couple of us actually got some sleep.
Sunday morning we awoke to pancakes and hot chocolate, compliments of Jay and Mea. After poking at the fire a little more, we broke camp and headed for home. But before we even left, we were already talking about where we were going to camp next time (albeit with a new tent)!
More highlights: Dean tried his hand for the first time with a pocket knife, and Jane had her very first s'more.
