Campsite #3

Instead of traveling for Memorial Day, I decided to go camping the weekend before to avoid the crowds.   Life and a solar eclipse had a different plan about the crowds.  This is the story of my camping adventure and how it all worked out in the end.

The original plan....
Go to Goblin Valley State Park.  The universe laughed at this plan.  I had trouble reserving a campsite on the web, so I called the call center and found out that all of the campsites had been reserved since March.  Yes, March.  oops.

Scramble...
Go to the Utah State Parks website and search for a campsite that is not already booked and/or covered in snow.

Find....
Kodachrome Basin State Park, near Cannonville

Reserve...
well, it got a little interesting, because I was planning on taking the Basset Hounds for their first camping trip and the only campsite left did not have the dogs allowed sign on it.  A call to the call center resolves that one, they had not updated all of the campsites to dog friendly.  YEAH, I have a campsite in a State Park I have never been to.

Plan, Pack, and Stuff...
Did you know that prepping for a camping trip, if you have not done it in a while, takes a bit of time, and you need A LOT of stuff?  A sedan is not the best vehicle for this.  I had stuff crammed in every available space and then added some more.

Drive...
Sunday morning, I loaded up my dogs, Humphrey and Bacall, and my mom and myself and headed out.  Basset hounds are not the best travelers, but they did great!!!  5 hours later, we arrived.

Campsite #3....
I got campsite #3 because it was the only one available, and it was perfect.  It was quite hot when we arrived, as in the sand was too hot for the dogs to walk on.  They did a bizarre hot foot dance to the shade, which was fortunately all over our campsite all day long.  Monday and Tuesday were not as hot, YA!!!, but there is no way I would camp there in July or August, it would just be too hot.

As soon as the tent was up, it became a pup tent.  (Haha)  Bacall ignored the dog bed and laid down on my sleeping bag and took a nap.

The dogs, who had never been on so much as a picnic, did AMAZING!!!  No barking and listened to all commands I gave them.  Why can't they behave like that at home?  oh well, the joys of owning Basset Hounds.

                   Humphrey says that camping and hiking are hard work....


The Park...
Kodachrome has a lot of great hiking trails that range from 1 mile to 6 miles round trip.  There is something for everyone.  I described it to a friend like this....If Zion and Bryce National Parks had a baby, it would be Kodachrome Basin State Park.  It is just beautiful and calming.

My Advice....
Get out there and go camping!!!

Melissa