First Camping Trip!

It was AWESOME!!! It was definitely a learning experience, and I know a few things I would do differently next time, but we had so much fun. I am already excited to go again... We even drove around the campground and made a list of our favorite campsites for reference. We just need to pick another weekend! Woohoo!

DAY ONE Anyway... We left just after lunch on Friday, and made the 30-minute drive up to Otter River State Forest, right on the New Hampshire border. We checked in at the ranger station, picked up some firewood (you have to buy it there; it's illegal to bring in outside wood), and found our way to campsite number 35. This was where things got a little ugly. Gus had actually woken up with some sort of stomach bug, and could barely move without feeling nauseous. Needless to say, it was very difficult for him to help me set up camp. He did his best, but the burden was mostly mine. And pitching a massive tent in 90-something degrees with blazing hot sun and high humidity? Not fun! We got it done, though. That was by far the worst part of the whole trip. But we had a home for the weekend, so that was kind of important! We quickly changed into swimsuits and headed over to one of the two swimming areas to cool off. It was much cooler by the water, and the weather was also starting to change. It was clouding over, and a nice breeze was picking up. We could hear thunder off in the distance, so we knew our time might be cut short, but we enjoyed it while it lasted. Gus actually took a nap on our beach blanket, while both kids played in the warm, shallow water and built sand castles. It did end up raining later on, but only a little bit. I think we were in the tent for maybe 15 minutes. It wasn't bad!

That evening, we roasted hot dogs over the fire for dinner, followed by marshmallows and s'mores (of course!). The kids took turns regaling us with their very own campfire stories, which they had been talking about all week long. Nikos was SO animated-- it was hilarious! All of his stories centered around dinosaurs or rescue vehicles, and weren't particularly spooky... but they were great! The coolest part, though, was later in the evening. As it really started to get dark, Gus noticed a flickering light in the bushes. At first, we thought it was a spark from the fire, but we quickly realized that the little sparks were all over the place. FIREFLIES!!!!! None of us had ever seen them before but, lo and behold, there they were! Lots of them, too! So, so cool!

Eventually, both kids asked to go to bed. They don't stay up very late to begin with, and it was way past their normal bedtime. Plus, I think they were excited to sleep in the tent. So we all got ready, and everyone went to bed but me (it was still early, but Gus wasn't feeling well). I read for a while, and eventually passed out. It was hard to sleep, though, because I hadn't put quite enough air in the matress AND we had some noisy neighbors. Plus, I hadn't been camping in about a million years, and I was sort of nervous. I am pleased to report that I slept much better the second night. And the kids both slept just like they would have at home, even though they were sharing a "room" in our tent. It was pretty awesome!

DAY TWO Day two of our camping experience started out at 7am, which is totally normal for us (yay!). I cooked breakfast for everyone, and then we went on a ranger-guided nature walk that we had seen advertised. It was pretty neat, though it was a long walk over lots of rocks and gnarly tree roots that slowed the kids down a bit. There were also TONS of people on the walk, since a local cub scout pack decided to join us. We saw several beaver dams, an old beaver lodge now occupied by otters, and all sorts of plant life. AND, as it turned out, our ranger was Caryn's-husband's-childhood best friend's mom. Got that? I've met her husband's best friend a few times, and he had mentioned that his mom was a ranger at the park, but I never asked what her name was or even figured I'd see her. As it was, we saw Ranger Betsy a lot! And I put the clues together and finally asked her if so-and-so was her son. Yup! Small world!

After the nature hike, we went back and spent some time at the campsite. It was close to lunch, so we played and ate an early lunch so we could get down to the lake before all the cub scouts invaded (we had overheard their plans). Back at the site, I walked down to the creek behind us and got this picture of Maya. The location and light were so beautiful! If only she had been willing to cooperate, haha! Maya also expressed her love for the small broom and dustpan I had brought to clean the tent. It ended up being completely futile with two small kids, but at least she enjoyed it! Both kids also enjoyed "washing Daddy's truck" with their little spray bottles (which I had bought to help us keep cool... oh well!). As soon as we were done eating, it was back to the pond! Nikos had been begging to go fishing, and Maya wanted to go back to the beach to go swimming. Luckily, people are allowed to fish everywhere BUT the small designated swimming areas, so Maya and I were able to sit on the beach and watch Gus and Nikos fish right next to us. Nikos even came over to play in the sand a few times while Gus untangled the fishing line. It was all very convenient! There were a lot of fish in the pond (bass, trout, minnows, and sunfish), and the older kids fishing nearby seemed to catch something every few minutes, but they were actually using bait! Our goal was to NOT catch fish this time (don't tell Nikos). I really don't like eating fish, and even the thought of touching it to do catch-and-release fishing makes me feel ill. So we fished for fishing's sake, and (luckily) didn't catch anything!

Meanwhile, though, one of the kids fishing nearby made it his personal mission to catch interesting things and show them to the kids. He caught a crayfish, a huge pollywog, dragonfly larvae, and a bunch of fish. When I asked him how he knew all this stuff, he very proudly announced that he was a Junior Ranger (and Ranger Betsy later told us that he is her "pride and joy"-- because she's in charge of the Junior Rangers.). It was actually really cool, and the kids were super interested in all the stuff he brought over. Gus and I were kind of entertained by this kid's dad, who was standing out in the middle of the pond, fishing while smoking a cigarette. I thought about taking a picture, but decided against it.

Eventually, Maya decided that fishing looked like fun, and wanted a turn. She sat next to me on a nearby bench and finished her sandwich (left over from lunch) while she waited. And she proved to be just as enthusiastic about fishing as her brother! Back at the campsite, the fishing fun continued in the creek right behind us. The kids couldn't stop-- they loved it! In fact, they loved it so much that they were begging to go back to the lake. After we'd rested and had a snack, that's exactly what we did. Except we weren't there for long. As soon as we set our chairs down, the sky darkened and it got really windy. And then the thunder rolled in. And as we were folding up our chairs, the big droplets started to fall! We high-tailed it back to our tent, where we lived for the next hour or so while it absolutely poured. Nikos kept himself entertained by playing "Angry Birds," while Maya played with the broom. Yup. That's my kid. haha! As soon as the storm stopped, I started a fire in the firepit and got dinner going. I wanted us to have food, just in case it started raining again. It never did, though! We had a lovely evening. We even went to the ranger-led campfire (with Ranger Betsy), came back, told stories around our own campfire, and then we put the kids to bed and stayed up late. The storms caused the temperatures to drop about twenty degrees, and sitting by the fire felt really good! It was also a much quieter, more mellow night in the campground as a whole.

DAY 3 This morning, we were woken up by two kids who wanted to snuggle with us at 7am, so we did that for a while (and loved it!). Then we got up, ate breakfast, and began breaking down our campsite. It went pretty quickly, especially with Gus feeling himself again! We went back to the lake to fish for a while, but eventually Nikos said he was ready to go home-- so we did! Baths/showers were had by all, and I did two huge loads of sweaty, smoky laundry. And wrote a gigantic blog post!

Camping was awesome, but it reminds me just how cozy my own bed is. I can't wait to sleep in it tonight!