Camping at Eleven-mile Reservoir

Our campsites, tents, vehicles, and hill the kids were climbing all day

Ashleigh sitting at the campfire

Sunset from our campsite the first night

We went camping for two nights at Eleven-mile reservoir this past weekend with four other families in our small group. We had three sites together at the end of a loop with just a huge hill behind the campsite with a short walk to the reservoir. Rob and I are definitely camper-type personalities and hope that Ashleigh will also enjoy it as she gets older. We both camped with our families and scouts growing up and we hope to pass that on to her.

We got there Friday afternoon, set up camp, and roasted hot dogs over the fire. The kids were getting worn out going up and down the hill back behind the campsites (not Ashleigh just yet as it was a steep hill and she's just not old enough). On Saturday, we had a huge breakfast together with pancakes, eggs, bacon, and sausage. Ashleigh had her first canoe ride that morning, but was very scared right after leaving shore and said 'All done boat!', so Stephanie and I had to turn the canoe around to drop her off on the shore. After lunch, Rob and I got to go for a hike together while Ashleigh napped back at camp and when we got back, Ashleigh got her first ride on a motorboat that someone in our group had rented to take the kids for rides.

Stephanie and I canoing with Ashleigh, Grace, and Joshua on Eleven-mile Reservoir

Rob on top of a rock on our hike along the shore

Crevasse between two rocks where we had some wild raspberries - yum!

Rob and I on our hike

Meanwhile back at camp...

On Sunday, after packing up camp, we took Ashleigh fishing for the first time. She got bored pretty quickly, but it was still fun to use the new fishing pole we bought for the trip. I hadn't been fishing since college, but it seemed more fun back in the drinking days. We didn't catch anything and it was really too windy to fish, but we did see some huge fish from the canoe the day before, so they're definitely out there.

Ashleigh helping Dad fish

Getting the pole ready for fishing

Beautiful sunsets both nights, no rain, and hot weather. Those sun shade canopies were a life saver, especially since there weren't any trees at our campsites. It was definitely hot (about 80), but not as hot as Denver was over the weekend. Too bad there's no swimming in that reservoir. But after canoeing over some gross water with lots of plants and algae and seeing a dead impaled fish with its tail sticking out of the water, our desires to swim in the water dropped ten-fold.

Ashleigh and Ashley listening to Paula's iPod in the shade