White Tanks Camping

A few weeks ago, we had nothing much to do on a Wednesday, so we loaded up the car, threw in the kids, and headed off for a quick camping trip. There's an area west of Phoenix we've been meaning to try called White Tanks. The drive out was pretty uneventful, except for that part where we started having one of those "I thought you put in the car." "I thought YOU put it in the car." That's what we get for not camping for so long - we were a bit rusty about our usual process, that one where we never forget anything....seriously - never. :)

Anyway, we decided we could live without the items we forgot (Zizah's pack-n-play for her to sleep in and a pot to heat water for her bottles, and the stroller), so on we went. They actually have a library right at the entrance to this park, so we stopped there for a potty break and to check it out before going on to our campsite.

Serious hotel camping at this place. There were toilets that flushed. And showers. The guy in the camper at the next site was watching The O'Reilly Factor when we put the kids to bed. It wasn't really "camping" - it was just "sleeping out". But considering our last "camping" trip with the kids was in our backyard and we transferred them to beds as soon as they fell asleep, it worked. There was even a playground for the kids to play on while we got the tent set up and dinner started.


One of the best things about this campsite was the weather. It's almost the same elevation as the city so with the weather here being so beautiful, we got to enjoy that same good weather while camping. The kids enjoyed their hot dogs for dinner (I think Hazel ate 3 - new record for her), then we played with the fire for a bit and just talked. Once the kids decided they were tired enough for bed (they just got cold actually), they went to sleep in the tent and Jacob and I stayed up talking and reading our book together. Except for one little burst of wind for about 45 minutes, the weather was perfect and clear. I wish we would've brought the telescope but I could only blame myself for that one since I said it looked too cloudy.

We did decide this was the last trip for our well-loved and well-used yellow nylon tent. We bought this thing before Hazel was born and it's carried us through many, many camping trips but it's just done. Too many poles only being held together with duct tape, too many fiberglass splinters to be had, and too many rips in the seams and pole pockets to mend at this point. Let the tent shopping begin!

I was very happy that Zizah did so well with her first real camping trip, especially just sleeping on some blankets on the ground. I'm sure it helped that it was so warm, but we'll take it.

We all slept well and then had a yummy breakfast of bacon, spam, and eggs (yummm) and played at the playground some more before heading back. It was a good trip and there should be more to come this year.