Gone Camping

The Husband and I love to go camping, especially in early spring and late fall (minimal crowds, no sweating to death in a tent, the campfire actually feels good).  We weren't able to get out in early spring due to my marathon training.  I may love to camp, but I do not love the idea of a long run after sleeping outside the night before!  We had planned a trip in mid-November, but that got derailed after our bunny sitter (aka My Mom) let us know that she would be out of town that weekend on a much needed and much deserved vacation of her own.  Between work, weddings, birthday parties and about 800 other obligations it looked like our only chance to go camping in 2011 was a 1 night trip this weekend (i.e. get there late afternoon on Saturday, bail out by noon-ish on Sunday). Thanks to The Husband (and my mom for watching the bunnies for an extra night), it turned into a two night trip! 

I got home from work on Friday night (around 5:00) to find the house pretty much cleaned/bunny-sitter ready and was told to start packing because we were leaving in an hour!  It was on!  I tossed some clothes in a backpack and we started packing up the car (yes, we cheat and go car camping).  By 6pm we were on the road.

We pulled into the campground and discovered that our favorite campsite was available.  We registered ourselves and then set about the business of pitching a tent in the glow of the car's headlights.  After that was done, we got a fire going and spent the remainder of the night relaxing around the fire.  When we finally headed for bed IT WAS FREEZING!  We've camped in cool weather before, but Friday night's low was in the high 20's-low 30's!  Fortunately, several layers of clothes, sleeping bags and a hat made it manageable.

On Saturday morning we drove into town to pick up supplies (food, beer, firewood) since we'd gotten in so late on Friday night.  The rest of the day was spent hanging out on our multi-level campsite (tent was on one level and the fire pit/eating area was on the lower level)...

...wandering down to the lake:

...and making a short foray onto the trail around the lake before realizing that the woods were full of hunters and we weren't wearing blaze orange:

After we got back to our site, we spent the remainder of the afternoon basking in the (relatively) warm sun and reading.

Before long, the light began to fade and the temperature began to drop.  The Husband set to work building our fire for the night...

...while I set to work making dinner (cheesesteaks) since I don't love cooking by lantern/firelight.  After dinner we sat around our fire, which we made larger as the temperature dropped.

By midnight, it was bed time.

This morning we tore down our camp in about 30 minutes and headed home.  The weekend away did wonders for my stress level and I'm ready to tackle the week ahead!