Heather's birthday and the camping trip that wasn't

A couple days ago we decided that a camping trip would be a good way to spend Heather's birthday. Even though it was last minute, my boss gave me the time off work. The weather forecast was good. It looked like we were set.

We got to the first campground by mid day and I had thought we would still be early enough to beat the rush. I was wrong. Apparently the correct strategy to get a camping site on a long weekend is to show up on Thursday and set up camp so it's waiting for you when the weekend starts. I think everyone except us knew that, because neither of the campgrounds we checked had any room. The kids were disappointed and I felt like I had let them down.




Because we were already in the area, and loaded with supplies, we decided to spend the day. We visited our favorite hiking trail and had a picnic lunch. We went to some falls nearby where the kids spent hours playing in the water. It was a special treat to watch a pair of kayakers making trips over the side.







We had a hot dog roast and some birthday cake that I managed to smuggle along. By the time we headed home, the kids were all tuckered out. As our perfect day was drawing to a close, my cell phone started ringing. It was my Sergeant calling to tell me that the Drug Unit was about to execute search warrants on a couple of houses and that they were expecting kids to be inside. At 11:00PM I headed in to work and picked up a partner. We ended up apprehending a total of four children and by the time I was finished my reports it was 5:30AM. I had taken the motorcycle to work and as I drove back home I was surprised at how cold it had gotten. It made me glad that my family wasn't sleeping in a tent.

Things definitely didn't turn out as planned - we didn't go camping, Heather's parents weren't able to come up for a surprise party, and I ended up having to work on my day off. Despite that, I noticed three really positive things:

We had made some great memories sharing Heather's special day with her.

At 30 years old, she is even prettier than when we first met.

And... all of our clothes didn't end up smelling like smoke.



- C