With the Persius Meteor Shower upon us, Sean and I decided to go camping for maybe the last time pre-baby :) We asked Matt and Laura if they'd like to come and experience one of our favorite amenities of living the Colorado life.
Sean and I love camping in Poudre Canyon, just west of Fort Collins. We love camping at the Narrows, typically, but we're always up for going off the grid and finding new and fun places in this serene, LL Bean like location. We drove past our beloved Narrows spot, up to Pingree Road (above the canyon) and started scoping out spots at the canyon's edge.
We picked up Sean after school and headed straight for Ft. Collins, then up the Canyon to find the perfect spot. I had packed us foil dinners to start cooking over the campfire right away when we got there.
Foil Dinner:
Sliced Potatoes (Thin)
Diced Onions
1/4 lb. All-Natural or Grassfed Beef
Sliced Carrots
Lawry's Salt
Meat Magic
Olive Oil
Salt and Pepper
Foil Rectangles
For One Packet:
Lay your foil rectangle out on the counter. Layer about 6-8 sliced potatoes in the middle of the foil, drizzle with olive oil, sprinkle with salt and pepper. Disperse about 3T of diced onions on top of the potatoes. Add beef, sprinkle with Lawry's salt and Meat Magic. Add another 3T of onions and 1/4C. sliced carrots on top of the beef. Add salt and pepper and drizzle with more olive oil.
Fold up foil around layered potato and beef entree in a burrito or butcher wrap style. Make sure to crinkle and close all edges to keep olive oil sealed inside packet.
Cook over hot coals for 25-30 minutes depending on how lean the meat. Check the meat for doneness before eating and don't forget to pack a fork!
I transported the foil dinners in a cooler with ice :) After we located the perfect spot for our camping escapade, the guys set up the tents, Laura unpacked, I built a fire and got the food a cookin'. Laura brought corn and a delicious potato salad! I need to get that recipe, it was so tasty. She foiled up the corn on the cob and roasted it in the fire, too :)
After dinner and some clean up, we laid a big blanket between the tents and got ready for the big meteor shower. I brought my sleeping bag out because it was pretty chilly as the night continued on. Sean and I were curious as to how long we could stay awake, we decided to count the number of shooting stars we saw to help stay attentive.
Stars blanketed the sky, I think more than I've ever seen in my life! It was beyond magical and was a great reminder of how huge and vast the world is, oh, and why we love it here so much. After counting 42 shooting starts in about an hour, I drifted off to sleep, Sean soon after. We moved into the tent and had a restful night's sleep in the mountain air.
In the morning we had a beautiful sunrise, a quick stop in Ft. Collin's at the farmer's market, a bagel sandwich and we were on our way back to Denver.
Sean said it was his favorite camping trip yet.
Our coveted off the grid campsite we found
Sean and Matt setting up camp. Look how off the grid we are, our car is SO far away!
Off the GRID!
Our tents set up overlooking Poudre Canyon
Our campfire, nestled perfectly between a couple boulders.
Lizzy and Laura enjoying the campfire!
Sean. Being Sean.
Matt and Sean smoking their cigars, like good Italian brothers should.
All four of us with our yummy dinner!
Our view when we woke up in the morning.
I just finished my first big project out of this book, a sleep sack. for those of you who don't know what a sleep sack is, a sleep sack is a wearable blanket designed to reduce the risk of SIDS and keep the baby safe while he or she sleeps. Since SIDS unfortunately runs in my family, I thought this pattern was a practical project to work on, not to mention how cute it turned out! I already have fabric ideas picked out for future sleep sacks as gifts for friends and family.
