We went camping this past weekend at Lake Skinner. It is a part of Riverside County Parks and is located right outside Temecula. If you know anything about Temecula, you know we are NUTS to go camping there this time of year. Saying it is hot is an understatement. I think to be more acruate we could say the temperate is much closer to that place that my arch enemy, the Devil, lives.
Luckily we were able to use the water to keep cool. My Mom and Dad bought a slip~n~slide for the kids. We brought water balloons as well and had several balloon fights over the course of our five day stay.
There are other things to do at Lake Skinner. There's fishing. We didn't catch any. But we never seem to have any luck in that area. There's boating. My Dad brought his sail boat. Some of the kids got into sailing. My mom also rented a Patio Boat. These were bare bone boats. Ours didn't even have an anchor.
The campground itself is very nice. Bathrooms and showers are clean. There is some tree shade, green grass, and fire pits.
Speaking of fire pits. Isha had a run in with one on the first day we were there. He tripped and fell into it. Luckily there was no left over hot coals. But there was a strange sharp metal rod going across the bottom of it. He put his hands out to stop his fall (Thank God. It could have been worse) and cut his fingers up. One of the cuts was gaping and looked like it would require medical attention. So Roque, Isha and I were off to the nearest emergency room (which is not in Temecula) in Murrieta. Five hours and three stitches later we were on our way back to camp. I can say one good thing about the small emergency/hospital building; air conditioning. Isha did really well, much better than Mom and Dad who were a nervous wreck that their precious baby had to endure such an injury.
There was also a fair amount of ant bites, bee stings and mosquito bites. I know that I seem to be painting a grim picture of our camping experience. But in spite of all these things there is something invaluable about spending time with your family in an unstructured environment and rolling with the flow of the everyday experiences. Everyone truly had a good time. Even Isha, who had to sport a 2 pound bandage around his hand to keep his wound clean, was a happy camper.
I can't wait to go back next year. Um, Dad, Could you make the reservations for earlier in the summer?