Camping
So Pax and I went on our first camping trip together this weekend. We scored a $20 3 person tent at a yardsale last week, candy apple red! and in good condition. Our friends Rick, Morgan and 3 year old Portia joined us, it was Portia's first camping trip too.
We met up Prince William Forest Park, which is a very convenient 35 minutes away from us on 95S http://www.nps.gov/prwi/planyourvisit/directions.htm . It cost $5 per car to enter and $15 for up to 6 ppl per campsite, dogs are welcome. On our way to our campsite we saw a deer, nice start.
The campsites themselves were nice. Basic and clean. The bathrooms were nice and clean too, a big perk, though I heard there was no hot water for the shower. Then again you ARE camping right? Each campsite had a fire pit with flip over grill. Pax wants me to note that there is almost no firewood around so you must bring your own coals (Im not sure what the park policy is on bringing firewood). I'd also like to say that you shouldn't count on your man to bring everything youll need because you will end up missing some vital things. At this point we noticed we didnt have chairs...
It took no time to set up the tents and since it was lunchtime we had the veggie sandich and ramen pasta salad I made for lunch. Yum! After this we decded to take Portia on her very first hike. We saw a skink with a bright blue tail and a few salamanders, but other than birds that was all we encountered. Foolish us misread the trail signs and instead of going on the shorter Farms trail which was under a mile, we ended up on the extended loop trail, which took us over 3 miles of terrain. Portia actually did really well, walking herself over half of the way. The adults were a bit concerned once we realized we went the wrong way, but overall it wast too bad. Next time though we will be smarter and bring water (and TP, I had to pee!)
We got back to the campsite to relax the lack of firewood was discovered so the men went to buy some coals. Once we were fueled we started a fire and roasted some weinies! Portia was more excited about the access to chips. We had a variety of snack sized bags and I think she ate 2 on her own! Apparently 3 yr olds LOOOOVE chips! Next on the noms list was Banana Burritos! Take a flour tortilla, place in half a banana sliced lengthwise, 3 marshmellows, 3 tabs of chocolate (hooray for pretabbed Herseys)and roll up the tortilla in tin foil and throw on the grill for 5-10 minutes. These are so insanely good!
Next up were S'mores, but my stomach couldn't handle em. So I roasted 2 marshmellows instead, Mmm burnt marshmellows and beer! Actually not the best combo but I stuck to it. Portia had her very first S'more and was a fan, though still overly enthralled by the plethora of chips. When asked her favourite food Portia usually answers chocolate.
By 9pm we were all exhausted from our epic hike, stuffing ourselved with food, and sitting in the smoke so we tucked into bed. At this point it would be good to note that another important thing Pax and I didn't have were sleeping bags, so we intenede to bring a blanket. Too bad we only brought a sheet, but the night was warm and we figured 2 people and a dog would surely generate enough heat, especially since we had an air mattress and were off the ground. Well that worked initially, too bad I awoke at 3am to find our air mattress slightly deflated and the tent a wee bit chillier than my hoodie would suffice for. To make it worse Pax got up to pee, thus leeting in some more cold air. Ahh in hindsight I should have peed then...
I don't know if I just laid awake or if I snoozed a bit, but around 4am the sounds of thunder started and grew closer and closer. Both Pax and I laid there trying to pretend nothing was happening, but suddenly the skies opened up and torrential rain began! We joked around a bit, trying to cover our nervousness as the rain got heavier and the thunder and lightning loomed closer and closer. At one point I let the dog join us on the air mattress (which we blew back up, thank gawd!) and she shivered like a big baby! We were thinking things would just blow by, how could they get worse?
Of course st that moment the storm was directly above us and we screamed (though we said we didn't) as two lightning bolts struck somehwere in the immediate area and we made an instant decision to abandon ship, er tent. Pax went to the car first to open it, while I gathered my purse, cell phones, wallets and the ever important library book under the MIL's name! I threw on my sneakers (HA!) and tried to evacuate with our dog. Oh our dog, our dumb dumb rain hating lightning fearing dog, who refused to leave the tent. I tried to throw her out while closing said tent, but she bounded right back in. Flung out again she took the blankies with her and I gave up. It looked like our tent had vomited blankets.
Running to the car was like runnig through water. The rain was coming down so fast it was puddling on the ground in inches. The dog thankfully followed and got thrown in the back seat, terrified out of her tiny mind (at least she didnt pee) and I got in the passanger side. Freezing and soaked we sat there in a sort of stupor, debating as to whether or not that had been a wise choice. Rick texted us, noting that he watched us run to the car, I detected some mockery but who could blame him?
We sat in the car for almost an hour before we decided FUCK IT lets go home. Initially we were just going to leave, the rain was still ridiculously heavy, but we figured we couldnt be anymore wet and miserable so what the hey! We left the scaredy dog in the car while we made a series of emergency tent evacuations. It was at this point that we noticed our poor tent was floating in a little pond. How nice? Maybe we would have floated away on the air mattress.
Operation Chicken Shit was a success and we bid a soggy farewell to our friends. Mind you Portia slept through the entire thing, she must be deaf. The ride home felt like forever, but once we got in the door our apartment never seemed so nice, nor my bed ever so comfy and warm. Best Sleep Eva!
So, we will camp again, and soon...but Oh the lessons we have learned...
PS, look out for ticks
We met up Prince William Forest Park, which is a very convenient 35 minutes away from us on 95S http://www.nps.gov/prwi/planyourvisit/directions.htm . It cost $5 per car to enter and $15 for up to 6 ppl per campsite, dogs are welcome. On our way to our campsite we saw a deer, nice start.
The campsites themselves were nice. Basic and clean. The bathrooms were nice and clean too, a big perk, though I heard there was no hot water for the shower. Then again you ARE camping right? Each campsite had a fire pit with flip over grill. Pax wants me to note that there is almost no firewood around so you must bring your own coals (Im not sure what the park policy is on bringing firewood). I'd also like to say that you shouldn't count on your man to bring everything youll need because you will end up missing some vital things. At this point we noticed we didnt have chairs...
It took no time to set up the tents and since it was lunchtime we had the veggie sandich and ramen pasta salad I made for lunch. Yum! After this we decded to take Portia on her very first hike. We saw a skink with a bright blue tail and a few salamanders, but other than birds that was all we encountered. Foolish us misread the trail signs and instead of going on the shorter Farms trail which was under a mile, we ended up on the extended loop trail, which took us over 3 miles of terrain. Portia actually did really well, walking herself over half of the way. The adults were a bit concerned once we realized we went the wrong way, but overall it wast too bad. Next time though we will be smarter and bring water (and TP, I had to pee!)
We got back to the campsite to relax the lack of firewood was discovered so the men went to buy some coals. Once we were fueled we started a fire and roasted some weinies! Portia was more excited about the access to chips. We had a variety of snack sized bags and I think she ate 2 on her own! Apparently 3 yr olds LOOOOVE chips! Next on the noms list was Banana Burritos! Take a flour tortilla, place in half a banana sliced lengthwise, 3 marshmellows, 3 tabs of chocolate (hooray for pretabbed Herseys)and roll up the tortilla in tin foil and throw on the grill for 5-10 minutes. These are so insanely good!
Next up were S'mores, but my stomach couldn't handle em. So I roasted 2 marshmellows instead, Mmm burnt marshmellows and beer! Actually not the best combo but I stuck to it. Portia had her very first S'more and was a fan, though still overly enthralled by the plethora of chips. When asked her favourite food Portia usually answers chocolate.
By 9pm we were all exhausted from our epic hike, stuffing ourselved with food, and sitting in the smoke so we tucked into bed. At this point it would be good to note that another important thing Pax and I didn't have were sleeping bags, so we intenede to bring a blanket. Too bad we only brought a sheet, but the night was warm and we figured 2 people and a dog would surely generate enough heat, especially since we had an air mattress and were off the ground. Well that worked initially, too bad I awoke at 3am to find our air mattress slightly deflated and the tent a wee bit chillier than my hoodie would suffice for. To make it worse Pax got up to pee, thus leeting in some more cold air. Ahh in hindsight I should have peed then...
I don't know if I just laid awake or if I snoozed a bit, but around 4am the sounds of thunder started and grew closer and closer. Both Pax and I laid there trying to pretend nothing was happening, but suddenly the skies opened up and torrential rain began! We joked around a bit, trying to cover our nervousness as the rain got heavier and the thunder and lightning loomed closer and closer. At one point I let the dog join us on the air mattress (which we blew back up, thank gawd!) and she shivered like a big baby! We were thinking things would just blow by, how could they get worse?
Of course st that moment the storm was directly above us and we screamed (though we said we didn't) as two lightning bolts struck somehwere in the immediate area and we made an instant decision to abandon ship, er tent. Pax went to the car first to open it, while I gathered my purse, cell phones, wallets and the ever important library book under the MIL's name! I threw on my sneakers (HA!) and tried to evacuate with our dog. Oh our dog, our dumb dumb rain hating lightning fearing dog, who refused to leave the tent. I tried to throw her out while closing said tent, but she bounded right back in. Flung out again she took the blankies with her and I gave up. It looked like our tent had vomited blankets.
Running to the car was like runnig through water. The rain was coming down so fast it was puddling on the ground in inches. The dog thankfully followed and got thrown in the back seat, terrified out of her tiny mind (at least she didnt pee) and I got in the passanger side. Freezing and soaked we sat there in a sort of stupor, debating as to whether or not that had been a wise choice. Rick texted us, noting that he watched us run to the car, I detected some mockery but who could blame him?
We sat in the car for almost an hour before we decided FUCK IT lets go home. Initially we were just going to leave, the rain was still ridiculously heavy, but we figured we couldnt be anymore wet and miserable so what the hey! We left the scaredy dog in the car while we made a series of emergency tent evacuations. It was at this point that we noticed our poor tent was floating in a little pond. How nice? Maybe we would have floated away on the air mattress.
Operation Chicken Shit was a success and we bid a soggy farewell to our friends. Mind you Portia slept through the entire thing, she must be deaf. The ride home felt like forever, but once we got in the door our apartment never seemed so nice, nor my bed ever so comfy and warm. Best Sleep Eva!
So, we will camp again, and soon...but Oh the lessons we have learned...
PS, look out for ticks