Worst Camping Trip Ever! (Almost)

We bought a tent a couple of weeks ago and wanted to try it out for a night of camping in beautiful Sequoia National Park. Our plan was to drive up on Friday as soon as school was out, find a first-come, first-serve spot in the foothills and camp for the night, then go hiking and exploring a little bit on Saturday before driving home around lunch time. A cool front came through on Friday and I was worried it might be too cold, so Brian called the visitor center at the foothills and asked about the forecast. The low Friday night was forecasted around 47 degrees, which we agreed would be perfect camping weather, so we decided to go for it. We made sure the girls packed long sleeves and long pants and grabbed their coats as we headed out the door.

It took about 3 hours to get to the first campground, which was full. So we drove on to the second and the last spots were being taken as we were driving in. So, we drove on to the next option, which was the Lodgepole Campground at 6720' elevation (NOT the foothills). The temp kept dropping as we drove up the mountain. It was about 40 when we pulled into the campground at 6PM, and it continued to drop throughout the night. The campground was in a great location though, right next to a little river that made a great backdrop for our campsite.

We pitched the tent and grilled some hotdogs, and then we put on ALL of our clothes and climbed in the tent to warm up. It didn't work. We FROZE! The temp dropped to below 30 degrees and even though we had 3 layers of clothing on, we still shivered through the night. That was the major problem. The minor problem, which also contributed to lack of sleep, was that there were no electrical outlets so we had no way to blow up our air mattresses. I used to be able to sleep on the hard ground about 30 years ago, but not anymore! We were so exhausted and sore by the time the sun came up.

At about 6AM, we all crawled into the car and turned up the heater. We sat there for about an hour and a half warming ourselves. Finally, we felt good enough to go back outside and start breakfast. Even though the weather was too cold for comfort, the scenery was beautiful. We did the short hike through the woods to the General Sherman tree, which was quite impressive (to everyone except Sarah who said, "It's not that big...I've seen bigger.") After that, it was time to pack up and get on the road so we could get home in time for Sarah to go to a birthday party.

It certainly was not what we expected, and we learned what not to do next time: Don't come unprepared for very cold weather. Don't count on electricity. Don't wait until school is out to leave the house.  And although it had the potential to be the worst camping trip ever, the scenery was so beautiful, it made up for the awful night. Besides, I don't know if any trip will beat the one Brian and I took in Tennessee when it rained on us all night and then in the morning our car wouldn't start. We had to get a tow truck to pull us out and had to call a friend to drive out to the campground to come get us! That was the worst camping trip ever!

Apricot Strawberry White Chocolate Muffins

I have been loving my basket of organic, locally-grown fruits and veggies that I get each week through Abundant Harvest Organics. Last Saturday, my share included about 15 apriums (a cross between a plum and apricot, similar to a pluot, but more apricot than plum). I also bought a large box of California strawberries from a fruit stand on the south side of town, which I planned to use to make my Ma's Strawberry Jam. But even after making the jam, I had about 6 cups of strawberries leftover and still didn't know what to do with those apriums.  I came across a recipe for Apricot Pecan Muffins and decided to embellish it a little. I ended up with a batch of de-li-cious muffins that the whole family loved. Here's the new and improved recipe:

Apricot Strawberry White Chocolate Chunk Muffins

Ingredients:

• 2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 cup packed brown sugar
• 3 tbsp oat bran
• 1 tbsp baking powder
• 1 tsp ground cinnamon
• 1/2 tsp grated lemon zest
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 2 large eggs
• 6 tbsp unsalted butter, melted and cooled
• 1 cup milk
• 4 apricots (or apriums) peeled, pitted, and coarsely chopped
• 1 cup strawberries, stems removed and coarsely chopped
• 1/3 cup chopped pecans
• 4 oz. white chocolate bar, coarsely chopped (I used Ghirardelli) 

Instructions:

1. Preheat the oven to 375F. Lightly coat a 12-cup muffin pan with cooking spray or line with paper baking cups.
2. In a large bowl, mix the flour, sugar, wheat bran, baking powder, cinnamon, lemon zest and salt. Make a well in the center of the dry ingredients and set aside.
3. In a large measuring cup, whisk the eggs until frothy and light yellow. Beat in the butter, then the milk, until well blended. Pour this mixture into the well in the center of the flour mixture. Stir just until the dry ingredients are moistened. The batter will be slightly lumpy. Do not overmix the batter or the muffins will be tough. With a rubber spatula, gently fold in the apricots, strawberries, white chocolate chunks, and pecans.
4. Spoon the batter into the prepared muffin pan, filling the cups 3/4 full. Bake the muffins until they are peaked and golden brown, about 20 minutes. The muffins are done when a wooden toothpick inserted in the centre comes out almost clean, with a few moist crumbs clinging to it. Let the muffins cool in the pan for 3 minutes before removing them. 
5. Makes 18 muffins