For Easter this year, John and I decided that we needed to get out of town and enjoy the lovely springtime weather that had arrived in Arizona. Of course, with his grandparents, the Chakowskis, in town for the holiday, we were uncertain what we were going to be able to do until the very last minute. We knew that, no matter what we did, we would have to be home at a certain time in order to have Easter dinner with the rest of the family. That would make it difficult (though not impossible) to go backpacking that weekend.

During the week before Easter, we learned that John's parents were going to take their motor home to Lake Pleasant on Easter Sunday and host the family gathering there. John and I thought that it was a great idea, so we opted to plan our weekend around that plan. Our plan, then, would be to go car camping somewhere nearby; we would day-hike on Saturday, spend the night outdoors, then pack up camp on Sunday and drive to Lake Pleasant.

But where should we go? That was the big question. We just couldn't think of anyplace to go car camping within two hours of Lake Pleasant! Horsethief Basin would be too cold, as would the campsites along the Senator Highway. Lake Pleasant and the surrounding area would be too hot; we wouldn't be able to hike in that climate. For several nights, John consulted our hiking guides until finally, on Friday, he came up with a plan: Camp Verde. We could camp along the Verde River, near the Beasley Flat day-use area (which would be at about 4,000 feet) and do a nice hike in the same area. (John had found a couple of hikes for us to do, both of which would take us into the Cedar Bench Wilderness Area - a new wilderness area for us!)

So Friday evening, John packed up the van, and Saturday morning, we left the house at 6:20 to begin our Easter weekend adventure. After our usual stop at Einstein's Bagels for breakfast, as well as another stop to buy ice for the ice chest, we drove onto I-17 and headed north to Camp Verde.

We arrived in Camp Verde just after 8:00 a.m. After stopping for gas, we took Highway 260 east into town. John drove slowly, carefully watching for the road that we would have to take to Beasley Flat; he knew that it would be right before the bridge, but he didn't know the name of the road. Naturally, we went right past it, so John had to flip a U-turn and go back. Then, after he made the turn onto Salt Mine Road, he wasn't sure if we were on the right road until we saw a mileage sign for Beasley Flat, several miles down the road. At least we were on the right track!

After 8.5 miles, the road became dirt as it branched off. One branch went left to Beasley Flat, the other went straight to the Chasm Creek and the Gap Creek Trailheads - one of those two trails would be our hike of the day. We continued on towards Beasley Flat in hopes that we could find a nice campsite somewhere in the area. Unfortunately, there wasn't any camping allowed at Beasley Flat, and most of the land in the area was private property. However, there were a few campsites along the river, and only one other site was taken, which left us with some nice possibilities. We chose one site that was about fifty yards or so from the water; it was slightly shaded with a large tree and surrounded by tall weeds with yellow flowers on them. That was where we stopped and pitched our large 9X8 tent, which we had not used since our trip to the Huachucas for John's birthday. (Fortunately, we got the zipper fixed last week!) John also got all of our equipment ready for our day hike, as I wasn't allowed in the back of the van...

We rested for about a half an hour at our campsite before we left for the trailhead, which was about eight miles, on dirt road, from camp. We had to return to the fork in the road, where Salt Mine Road ended and FR 574 began; we turned left from Beasley Flat Road onto FR 574 and drove for eight miles until the road ended, or until it got too bad for travel, whichever came first.

At three miles, we found the Chasm Creek Trailhead, which was our first choice for our day hike. We had opted to stop there if the road wasn't passable, but since it was, we decided to skip that trail and go onto the next one: the Gap Creek Trail, which would begin at the end of the road. Of course, if the road became worse later on, we would always have the option of returning to the Chasm Creek Trailhead. Fortunately, though, we were able to make it all the way to the end of the road; after crossing over the trickle that was Gap Creek, we arrived at the trailhead and found a place to park near a small ranch that was next to the creek. (The owner of this ranch, though, indicated that we would have to move our van, because we would be blocking the road. We thanked her for the advice and moved our van to a better location.)

The trail actually did not begin at the end of FR 574. To get to the trailhead, we would have to go through a gate and walk up a private drive for about a tenth of a mile to the trail sign. The private drive belonged to another rancher, whose ranch was at the top of the hill...hence his driveway went straight uphill at a steep grade! What a way to start our hike - I was not expecting the climb!

After a tenth of a mile, we found the actual trailhead, which was marked with a brown forest service sign, indicating Trail #163. From there, the trail continued uphill along an old jeep road, skimming the fence line of the ranch. At one point, I saw an old park bench along the property line, and I told John, "I'll just wait here and take the bus!" But I continued on anyway, and soon we crested the hill and came to a corral and a series of gateways, one of which had a gate that we had to open in order to pass through it. Here, the old jeep road disappeared, leaving us scratching our heads, wondering where the trail went!

We eventually discovered that the trail continued - much narrower this time - on the other side of the closed gate. After we passed through it, we resumed our hike along the rocky, rugged and often difficult to follow trail, which continued uphill through the junipers and the pinions. As it followed the contour, we found some outstanding views of the Verde Valley and the surrounding mountain ranges and wilderness areas. We could see Squaw Peak - no, not the one in Phoenix - as well as Pine Mountain, which was the scene of one of our past misadventures. We could even see where Towel Creek was - it was on the other side of the Verde River from us. John made a comment about how similar the terrain was to the Towel Creek Trail, which we had done in January 2000. Both trails were very rocky and rough; the only difference was that the Gap Creek Trail wasn't covered with cow shit!

The terrain was, nonetheless, rugged and difficult to follow as it continued to climb uphill. At times, the trail was so faint that it seemed to disappear entirely, and we would have to search for it. Here, we were walking through the grassy forests of junipers and pinions. Although the grass did a nice job of hiding the trail from us, we did find that these areas were very nice, because there were lots of wildflowers to be seen. For instance, there was a lovely display of Indian paintbrushes and tiny purple flowers growing under a juniper tree - I had to stop and take a picture of them, because they were so vibrant.

In the areas where the trail was easily seen, it was so overgrown with scrub oak and other prickly plants that we were scratched up quite a bit. John had to proceed very carefully to keep Mary from getting smacked in the face by a sharp leaf - she was scraped by one branch, but it was very minor. After a while of going through that stuff, it got to the point where the hike was becoming too much like work - it just wasn't fun anymore!

We stopped to take a quick break under the shade of a large juniper tree around 11:30 - about an hour after we had started hiking. As we rested, we could hear people talking nearby us, but we never saw them. Perhaps they were hiking on another trail, or perhaps they were the voices in our heads? John pointed out that there were a lot of trails in the area, so it was possible that they were on one of those trails. Unfortunately, there weren't any signs along the way to show where these other trails were; except for the sign at the trailhead, there weren't any trail signs to be found!

As we continued on our hike, we came to an opening in the barbed wire fence, though which the trail passed...and disappeared! "Okay, now where do we go?" I asked. John scouted out the route ahead of us and found that the trail went downhill from there...in fact, it went all the way down to the creek bottom. That was a bit of a surprise, because John had told me that the trail was supposed to climb 2,000 feet over five miles - why would it drop several hundred feet into the creek? At any rate, I followed him down the trail, through the overgrown terrain, until we came to the creek.

This was definitely the highlight of the trip. The creek bed was dry and cool, with plenty of shade to be found. As we made our way through the rocks and boulders that lined the bed, John and I decided that we would stop there for lunch and make that our turn-around point, because the trail was indeed becoming too much like work. We also didn't know where the trail went - once again, the trail had completely disappeared!

We found a nice, shady spot next to a very large boulder, and that was where we spent the next hour relaxing and enjoying the solitude. All we could hear was the sound of the birds chirping in the trees above us, and the rustle of the leaves as they blew in the breeze. It was the perfect ambiance for our lunch break.

After we ate our sandwiches and fed Mary, John decided to take a little walk to see if he could find the trail, while I stayed behind to take pictures of the creek and to play with Mary. She was particularly fascinated by the butterflies and the birds that were fluttering about. Her light blue eyes were wide with wonder as she quietly stood on my lap and looked around her. Every now and then, she let out a squeal of enjoyment to let me know that she approved of our destination.

When John returned, about fifteen minutes later, he reported that he couldn't find the trail but that he thought it might follow the creek for a while. Since we weren't sure - and since we didn't have a map - we decided that it was time to go back to the van. We climbed back up the trail, away from the creek, and began our return hike.

About ten minutes later, I began to get the feeling that something wasn't right. The trail, for example, was still climbing, though we should have already started going downhill, and the terrain was a little more rugged than I remembered. However, we seemed to be on a trail. Frowning, I asked John to stop and pointed out to him that this just didn't look right. "I don't think we're on the trail," I said.

He agreed with me, so we started back for the creek. Everything seemed to be right, but when we tried to retrace our steps, we ended up on the wrong trail again. John then consulted the GPS and found that we were several hundred feet from the trail. Once again, we started back for the creek, but we just could not find the trail. We ended up wandering around aimlessly for a while until John realized that we had climbed too far: the trail was actually fifty feet below us, at the bottom of a steep hill.

Since we couldn't find the trail by going back the way we had come, we had to go down the steep hill to get there. Naturally, I wasn't in favor of that idea, but I followed John anyway, because going back just wasn't an option - doing so would have gotten us more lost than we already were! The best thing for us to do was follow the GPS until we found ourselves back on the trail.

Once we reached the bottom of the hill, we continued to head west until, lo and behold, we found the trail! We stepped back onto it and followed it for a while...until, once again, the trail disappeared! We were lost again! Now I was getting mad, and both John and I were running low on water. We tried retracing our steps again, but this only took us further away from the trail. It was fortunate for us that the GPS was able to tell us where to go. As we approached the trail, I suddenly found the group of Indian paintbrushes that I had photographed earlier! "Here it is!" I exclaimed.

From that point on, we managed to stay on the trail for the rest of the trip. Our frustration level dropped, and we were able to make it back to the van in one piece, though with very little water left.

Instead of returning to camp, John and I decided to go to Camp Verde to buy a box of wine and some crackers and cheese - a little something to calm our frazzled nerves after that frustrating hike. We also stopped to buy firewood for the campfire, since the area in which we were camped didn't have much dead, down wood to use in the fire ring. Upon arriving at the Bashas in Camp Verde, John and I stepped out of the van then opened the side door to get Mary out of her car seat...and as we did so, a little plastic pastel egg fell out of the van! "Oh, crap," John muttered, "something fell over."

We went inside and purchased our wine, cheese and crackers. Then, as we were leaving the store, we realized that we had forgotten to buy more ice for the ice chest. John sent me back inside to get it while he went back to the van to fix his plastic pastel egg "problem".

Once we had all of our supplies, we drove back to our campsite and proceeded to unload the rest of our camping supplies - actually, John unloaded the van, and I set everything up, because I wasn't allowed in the back of the van. (As I told John earlier in the day, "I've learned my lesson about arguing with the Easter Bunny before Easter!") Then, once everything was set up, we all three sat down and relaxed. I put Mary down on a folded comforter and spread a bunch of toys out in front of her so that she could play while John and I sat at the table and enjoyed a peaceful late afternoon.

A bit later, about a half an hour before dinner, I started watching Mary play with her toys. She had been playing very noisily - a sure sign that she was greatly amused. John started watching her, too, and at the same time, we both noticed that there was something on her arm...and on her face..."Oh, shit!" I exclaimed. "Her diaper leaked!"

And there was Mary, as happy as could be, sitting in it, playing with it!

We quickly changed her clothes and diaper and cleaned her up with an entire package of wet wipes. Then, we took her soiled clothes and washed them out the best that we could - we hung those to dry in the tree. Finally, we wiped down the comforter and flipped it over so that she would still have a soft surface on which to play. When we were finished cleaning her up, she resumed playing as though nothing had ever happened...happy as could be!

Although that could have easily killed our appetite, we were still hungry after that, so John started cooking dinner while I fed Mary a jar of puréed chicken and rice. Our dinner consisted of chicken, pasta, and green beans, and boxed wine to drink. After dinner, Mary continued to play while John got the campfire started, just before the sun went down.

Once the sun had set, it started to get a little bit chilly outside - just cold enough that I needed to put on my lightweight jacket. We put Mary in her sweatsuit to keep her warm, just before she fell asleep to take her last nap before bedtime. While she slept, John and I sat around the campfire and talked about the important things in life. Eventually, neither one of us could stay awake any longer - I'm sure it was the boxed wine - so we got ready for bed. We woke Mary up, fed her, and put her in a sleeper and a hat (to keep her head warm); then we put her to bed under a pile of blankets. I was out soon thereafter.

At one o'clock in the morning, we were awakened by Mary fussing because she was cold - we had forgotten to put her bunting on her, and her little hands were like blocks of ice. We picked her up and put her in her bunting, and after a few sips of her bottle, she was back to sleep...and so were we.

John and I woke up at 5:00 a.m. the next morning, during the coldest part of the morning, before first light...and it was COLD! Ice cold! The only thing we could do to keep warm was to cuddle. And on top of that, I felt like death warmed over - it must have been the boxed wine. It took me a half an our before I could get up and face the day.

Fortunately, there was a lot to look forward to that day: it was Easter, and the Easter Bunny had come for us during the night, leaving us presents. There were two baskets of candy and gifts - one on the camp stove, and the other in the tree. Mary's Easter basket contained two new toys: a massaging teether, and a set of teething beads. Mine had a wonderful gift: a picture of Mary, taken at her day care by one of her teachers, laminated on a colored paper Easter egg. What a wonderful gift! There were also two packages hidden for us: a VCR for me, and a briefcase for John (something for him to use on his upcoming business trip to Fargo, ND).

Before waking Mary, John got the campfire going to warm us up; then, at 6:00 a.m., we woke her up and fed her breakfast next to the campfire. Unfortunately, since it had been so cold overnight, she awoke with a nasty, dry cough that caused her to throw up a couple of times. She didn't throw up much, but it was just enough that we were concerned. Of course, it wasn't enough to bring little Mary down - after breakfast, she was ready to play with her new toys! She absolutely loved the beads, but she didn't know what to think of the vibrating teether; when she put it in her mouth, her eyes lit up with surprise, but she didn't try to take it out of her mouth!

Around 8:30 a.m. - or, specifically, after I felt better - we started to tear down camp so that we could get ready to go to Lake Pleasant for the family gathering. We didn't have to be there until 12:00 p.m., but we just figured that we would take our time getting there and hope that we weren't the first ones there! Naturally, everything was going our way that morning: Mary took her first nap just before we got started, so we put her in her car seat and let her sleep while we worked. We were done by 9:00 a.m. and ready to hit the road.

Since we had plenty of time to get there, John and I took a few scenic routes. Just after entering Camp Verde's city limits, on Salt Mine Road, we came to a side road that looked interesting: Oasis Road. We turned onto it to see where it went, and it took us to the General Crook Highway, going towards I-17 - a shortcut! John mentioned that, if we ever returned to that area, we could avoid the city of Camp Verde by taking that route instead.

Once we were back on I-17, we began heading south, with the intention of stopped at Cordes Junction to take a break and get cash for the entrance fee into Lake Pleasant. We also had to let the van cool down, because it was running a little hot. While we were there, I changed Mary out of her sweatsuit and put her into a pair of shorts and an Easter T-shirt, given to her by Anna Hopper, one of my co-workers - the T-shirt had two bunnies on it and the words "Hop Hop".

After we were done there, we continued on towards the New River exit, where we would take our second scenic route: Lake Pleasant Road. John and I had never taken this route before, and it looked interesting, as, according to the map, part of it was unpaved. That would definitely take some time!

But wouldn't you know it! The entire road had been paved recently! Fortunately, the desert beauty was still there for us to admire. We also found the trailhead for the new Black Canyon Trail, which, as John explained, is still under construction.

We arrived at the gates of the Lake Pleasant Recreational Area at 11:00 a.m. on the dot. After waiting in a long line to enter the park, we then proceeded to look for the motor home, which would be parked somewhere. It didn't take us long to find them, though. Of course, a 35-foot long Flair with a picture of a parachutist (and not just any parachutist - it's a picture of John parachuting!) is difficult to miss!

We spent the afternoon relaxing under the awning of the motor home with Bill and Erika and Grandpa John and Grandma Sofie (or as they are known to Mary, "Opa" and "Omi"). We had to wait for Janice and Danny and Joshua to join us so that we could start the Easter egg hunt. Bill and Erika had hidden twenty-one plastic eggs around the picnic area where the motor home was parked. Naturally, that peaked John's curiosity, and he proceeded to walk around the site at every chance he got to see where they were hidden.

The Guckenburgs didn't arrive until 2:00 p.m., because they had gone to church before coming to meet the rest of us. As soon as they arrived, Bill explained to them that they had ten minutes to walk around the site; they were not allowed to touch the little plastic Easter eggs that he had hidden, but they could get an idea of where they were. He then said that John had been walking around there for two hours, looking at the Easter eggs. "Two hours?" Janice exclaimed. "And we only get ten minutes?"

"Well, if you had been here when you were supposed to be here, you would have had two hours, too!" John shot back.

"Well, we're not a bunch of heathens like you two!"

"Well, then quit complaining!"

So Janice and Danny took their ten minutes to walk around the site...and one minute later, Danny came hobbling back with a cholla branch stuck to his leg! After rendering first aid, they went out again and resumed their walk. When they were done, Bill explained the rules of the hunt to us:

"You cannot touch any egg that is purple, green and yellow, or blue. The purple eggs belong to mother, the green and yellow eggs are mine, and the blue eggs belong to the babies. The rest of the eggs are for the rest of you." And with that, he let us go hunt for the eggs.

There were thirteen eggs to find, but we were only able to find twelve of them - six per team - before Bill called us back to the motor home. We then opened up our eggs to see what we had won. Janice and Danny won two hours free babysitting, two hours of house maintenance consultation, six hours of house cleaning and gardening, and three dollars. John and I, however, got eight hours of house repair and maintenance (that will finish up the laundry room!), four hours of house cleaning and gardening (that will weed my backyard garden!), not one but two nights of overnight babysitting, and two hours of free babysitting.

Once we were finished opening our eggs, Bill sent us back out to find the last egg, and it wasn't long before John found it in the hot water heater on the motor home. (Of course, Grandpa John was calling out hints the whole time, but everyone had thought that that compartment was locked!) That last egg contained ten dollars!

Next, Bill and Erika went to look for their eggs, which they had made and hidden for each other. Finally, we took the kids to find their eggs. Mary and Joshua each had one blue egg to find, and each egg contained one dollar.

After the hunt was over, it was time to eat dinner. We had ham sandwiches, potato salad, and pasta salad...and, gasp, more boxed wine. I had one glass before I was done. We also took the time to take pictures of the kids wearing bunny ears - they looked so cute!

Then, it was time to say our good-byes and head home. By that time, Mary was getting very fussy; I could tell that she needed to take a nap, but instead of falling asleep in the car seat as soon as we started driving, she began to cry. That is not typical of her, so I crawled into the back to see what was wrong. I gave her a bottle, but that wasn't the answer. Of course, the answer wasn't obvious until she finally threw up all over herself - she had an upset stomach!

Naturally, after that, she was much better. We pulled off onto the side of the road to clean up the mess, and Mary started laughing again. What a silly girl!

We managed to make it home, sun-fried and exhausted and very dirty - but, in the same breath, very happy to have had such a special Easter.

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