Special Outing

Journal Jar--Tell about a special outing you had with your mother of your father.

I have been thinking about this for a while not knowing what outing to write about.  As I look back now so many years later I have a hard time seeing outings as individual events.  Mom and Dad did a great job of making life special.
If we participate in the activities.  The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter day Saints has a way of supporting families, in creating an atmosphere of love and support, well roundedness.  If a father is shy or has a hard time relating to a little girl there is "daddy daughter dates". 
I remember a couple of daddy daughter dates.  A magical time when my daddy was just mine for a short time. It is sad that I don't remember much else about them except that we were able to show off by doing a talent for them, and have a dance or two.  I have a picture of my daughter's date with her dad.

 Her face says it all.
I remember one daddy date because we were waiting for one girl.  She had a part in the opening exercises and she didn't come.  (Clora Vee Kiniston) She and her dad were on the way and hit a cow.  The cow came through the windshield and her dad was killed.  What an awful thing, yet because we were with our dad's we learned what the priesthood feels like, and that life would be OK, even when tragedy strikes. We were open to the teaching and understanding that even for Clora Vee life goes on in an orderly and planned way.  That there is a heaven and there is a plan of salvation.  That earthlife does have death, however death is a doorway to the next part of life and not the end of the world like it feels.
(I think for my daughters they painted finger nails at least once.  Gerald found out he could do more girly things than he thought he could do.)

Every camping trip we took as a family was a "special" outing.  Dad and Mom would work so hard in preparation.  Dad doing farm chores (watering, cultivating) to try and get ahead enough to take a few days off and Mom putting together everything that would be needed to sleep and eat in the mountains.  Mom would cook and work the whole time we were there too.  They both worked so hard on the return, putting everything away again, and catching up with the watering, cultivating etc. I wonder if it was worth it for them.  I know they enjoyed getting away and so I know they enjoyed it a little bit, even though it was more work than normal.  The trips were magical for me as a child.  I still love the mountains, campfires, and time spent out in nature together or alone.  I can enjoy now alone because of the memories of times past together.
I am grateful that by visiting home each summer my kids were given a small part of that legacy.  Gerald would stay working while the kids and I would go to Utah and Idaho.  Dad and Mom would plan a camping trip while we were there just so my kids could have that experience too.

Back to the original experience of camping being so much work in preparation. We had a camping box that dad made out of wood, hinges, and creativity.  Mom figured out what all was needed and then Dad designed the red box that would hold all the matches, salt and pepper, spatula etc.  It takes just as much stuff (matches, soap, cloths, spices) for one night as seven nights.  Mom didn't like forgetting something like dishsoap, but to gather up everything needed each seperate time was hard to do.  I think their solution was great.  Mom would use household dishes and utensils that were too old for home but perfect for camping.  It was the pre-trailer solution and much more compact leaving room for kids to come along too.
The red box had compartments so that everything had a place.  The hinges were on the bottom front so when open there was a working space, on the cover and everything at your finger tips in the shelves.  It worked great on a table or more importantly on the tailgate of the pickup truck. A kitchen tackle box would be a good name for the box only the tackle was up right not jumbled down in the bottom.