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The Queen Mother wanted to share her experiences of her recent camping trip to Pine Grove Campground near Flagstaff, Arizona.

This area is being threatened by a forest fire!

I had so much fun on our vacation. The weather was to say the least, very strange. We got to Pine Grove Campground and it was just plain HOT the first week. And very windy. And the fishing was lousy. We explored back forest roads and saw lots of wild game, deer, elk, antelope, turkey, ducks, squirrels and ONE skunk. The second week, we experienced rain, hail, wind and very cold nights.

Sad to say we feel blessed though, because we did not have to breathe forest fire smoke or worry that our trip would be cut short due to the Hardy Fire or the Schulz Fire. We had explored Schulz Pass and Lockett Meadow and found both to be beautiful areas. Now it seems that the whole Lockett Meadow area is threatened by the fires. The Outdoor Princess is a bit put out because we had JUST taken photos of the campgrounds in that area for EatStayPlay.com and now she’s afraid she can’t put them up; the fire might have destroyed the campgrounds.

TheOutdoorPrincess doesn't know if she'll be able to update EatStayPlay.com with photos of Lockett Meadow Campground. The campground might be damaged in the fires.

As we leisurely ate dinner or just sat around talking, we got to watch lots of campers setting up their camps. It was wonderful seeing families together and young parents with their children making memories.

One thing I’ve learned over the years is that for that first dinner meal at the campground I bring it prepared. Setting up camp after a long drive is hard work even when everybody pitches in to help. It’s really no fun if somebody still has to cook a meal too.

On this trip I took a hearty albóndigas soup. Heated that up, set out a roll of Ritz crackers and we were happy! [I’ll post the recipe this Friday; it’s yummy!]

I also took several baggies filled with frozen orange smoothie mix. I let those thaw a little bit, poured that into a cup and called it dessert.

We are so lucky to live in such a beautiful state. I just wish everybody had the opportunity to visit northern Arizona. Looking up through aspen leaves with that brilliant blue sky behind those quivering leaves is a gift beyond compare.

Arizona aspen trees.