Camping!
Sunday, July 29
Okaa-san woke us all up at quarter to eight, but we didn't actually get on the road until ten to nine. Though we probably got going much faster than we would have if everyone had eaten breakfast beforehand. But we didn't because our first stop was Hampton Beach, NH, to have breakfast at Nurse's fiancee's restaurant, French Toast Factory. Neither Nurse nor her husband-to-be were there, but that didn't stop us from having pancakes, eggs, home fries, and yogurt parfaits.
Our second stop was after a good two hours of driving, at a rest stop just outside Yarmouth, ME. There we decided that we really didn't want to drive another three hours all the way up to Arcadia, because Camden is a nice town, has a state park, and we've been there before. Also, on route one, it's only about another hour and a half, give-or-take. Camden also has a Shaw's, where we bought more stuff (the car was already packed to bursting when we left) before proceeding to the campgrounds.
We were assigned campsite no. 13; a good-sized patch of sand with picnic table and firepit already included. The bathhouse was right nearby, and the sit itself wasn't on too much of a slant. ;P We put up the tent with very few problems, and then Okaa-san, Attitude, and I went across the street to another part of the park. There we found a path leading to the shoreline. You couldn't really call it a beach: there was no sand, just rocks, and a ton of starfish. Under every single rock -- and the beach was all rocks, mind -- there were at least a dozen. Okaa-san went back up to the campsite to try and chivy Gracious and Pidge down to join us, but then she ran over to Home Depot to grab a second tarp.
When Attitude and I came back to the campsite, we rigged the tarp to hang above the tent (in case of rain, like) by tying various corners to trees, the car luggage rack, and the left mirror. By the time we finished, it was time to roast hotdogs over the fire for dinner. Also, Okaa-san made macaroni and cheese on the little propane-powered camp stove. After dinner, I helped Okaa-san wash the dishes at the outdoor sink at the bathhouse. Then we had s'mores, and I took a shower. The showers in the bathhouse are much better than the ones in the harbor*! This tent is very crowded with five people in it.
Monday, July 30
Camden National Park is only a mile from the center of town. So guess what we did on Monday morning! Yup, that's right. We walked in. Spent a little time with one foot in '07 and the other in '02, and then we got lunch at a nice little deli. Ate it on a patch of sunny grass where the stream running through town meets the harbor, and then Okaa-san went to buy ice and we-all sat on the grass and read for a while. then Okaa-san came back -- though only to depart for the campsite again -- and we relocated to the library.
Well, that is, everybody but me. I got distracted by the big, colorful signs of the store across the street: SALE ON PAPER! Half an hour and ten dollars later, I was in possession of a nice graph paper notebook, four very nice pens, and imported origami paper with colors so bright they glow. ^_^ Then I went over to the library. We stayed there until Okaa-san picked us up in the car to go swimming at Lake Megunticook. To swim was nice, but the bottom was all gunky. XP
Afterwards, Gracious and Attitude and I climbed to the summit of Mt. Battie. At 800 feet above sea level, the ships in the harbor and cars in the town looked smaller than toys, and the fog rolling in over the horizon reminds one of the view from an airplane window, high above the clouds. Back at camp, dinner was ready. We roasted a few marshmallows later, then Gracious and I went off to shower just as it started to rain. When we were heading back, it had strengthened to a downpour. We huddled in the tent, hoping that it wouldn't leak enough to drive us into the car until daylight.
Tuesday, July 31
Thankfully, we all woke up in our sleeping bags on the hard ground. : / Once breakfast was over, Okaa-san hiked Mt. Megunticook and we headed down to the beach again. Stayed just long enough to get a nice sunburn on my belly, and then we packed up the car and headed home. I got to drive once we hit Massachusetts! Yay highways. Didn't do much of anything afterwards, though.
*About five years ago, we sailed the Ceilidh up to Maine, and one of our stops was Camden harbor. It was nice until we were headed back home. Then we hit a storm for the ages: eight foot seas and really strong wind going in the opposite direction we were, which meant that we were doing two-mile tacks back and forth as we belly-flopped over the crests all night long. >_<