Baylor and I left on August 10 for a week of cabining at Black Moshannon State Park in northern PA. I had the van all loaded up and ready for when my parents arrived to caravan together.
Baylor had his tablet and was happy with that.
The drive was easy and we arrived in time for the wood Dad ordered to be delivered. I am not sure how many fires Dad was planning on but we are prepared this year!! This is the same cabin we stayed in 2011 when Baylor was 2. Funny how we have stayed in two state parks twice each and both times stayed in the same cabin at each park.
We had to get working on a fire as soon as we unpacked the vehicles.
And of course we had peanuts and pistachios out for snacking. They are perfect camping snacks.
Baylor found a triple one that was as long as his middle finger.
We had onions, peppers, grilled sausages, and baked beans for for supper with s'mores for dessert.
I bought a small AC unit to bring along because my parents are so heat sensitive, or spoiled by the AC. It was in their bedroom and they really appreciated it on the hot nights. Which did not end up being too many!
We went for a ride after dinner to see the buffalo and go deer spotting. We found both! We are camping!!! We ran into Plainfield for bottled water and a few other things. We stayed up late playing Fact or Crap, a game I found at a thrift store that sounded right up our alley.
We had a nice evening fire and made more s'mores and burned things!
I took charge of starting the fires in the mornings. Dad made sure the coffee was ready for me when I got up. We are both morning people and get around much sooner than the other two sleepy heads. by 6:30 we had the fire going good! We had bacon, eggs and toast for breakfast, all cooked outside.
Baylor and I went into the main part of the park for an amphibian education program at the Environmental Center. On our way out of the cabin area and behind our cabin we saw deer in the woods.
We sat through the talk about salamanders and frogs . Then we went for a short walk to where we could try to find some in the marshy parts. There were about 15 kids and nearly double the adults.
All the kids were interested in carefully flipping over rocks and picking up logs.
When they found one they put them in a container for everyone else to look at before they were put back where they were found.
There is a toad in there.
And then we sat through a PA timber rattlesnake talk which was very interesting. They had two in a secure cage and the darker one was not happy at all. He struck the glass at least once.
After the talk we went back to camp and I got the fire going to get ready for lunch. We made ham and cheese mountain pies.
Baylor and I hung around the cabin while Mom and Dad went for a ride. I was tired and laid down but of course did not nap. I brought Baylor's and my bike for us to ride around during the week.
Baylor wanted to roast a giant marshmallow and he enjoyed it a lot. I told him this is the same place he had his first marshmallow over the fire back in 2011.
The sky would come and go with the clouds. Thankfully no rain today.
Before it was time to start making dinner I loaded up the wood, we had a lot to go through!
Together Baylor and I made the chili together over the fire. All meals today were made outside. That made me happy!
Ready to stir
Dinner is served. We also had corn for a side and chili toppings. We played Fact for Crap again until we were ready for bed.
By 6:30 the fire was roaring again.
Dad, Baylor, and I drove around looking for the early morning wildlife. I saw two deer and Baylor only saw one of them. The bison are easy to spot, they are usually near the barn.
The dam was very pretty in the morning mist.
Baylor may have gone on for the ride in his jammies and robe.
Breakfast was canned potatoes, corned beef, eggs, and waffles. We forgot syrup so I made peach and blueberry sauce for the adults who like that kind of stuff.
The weather forecast sounded like it would be a good day for a trip to the lake. We had brought a radio with us and it was on most of the time so we had some contact with the outside world. Mom and Dad stayed at the cabin and tended the pork in the dutch over that we were going to have later in the day. The beach area was large and nice but the water was cold and the temperature was in the low 70s which made it not very refreshing. But we stayed down there for about an hour playing in the water and the sand. Baylor is still afraid of fish in the water so I was teasing him and then he would not go out very far.
But the sky was gorgeous all day.
The only fish we saw were minnows in the shallow area around the lilies.
And stork prints in the sand.
When we were done in the water, we walked over the bridge to the boat rental shack. We decided on a canoe because it has seats and I am not sure how I would do in a kayak sitting on the bottom of the boat. He did give us kayak paddles which worked out really well for both of us. This was Baylor's first time in a boat and the two sided paddles were easy for him to work. He picked up really fast on how to paddle, to not rock the boat, how to turn it. But he was up front and the front does not steer as well as the back but I let him experiment. It was fun being out there with him for an hour just paddling and talking and enjoying the gorgeous day.
This is my favorite picture from the entire trip. I love all the blues in the sky, the water, on Baylor. Just love it.
I found one pink lily close enough to get a photo of. Most of them were white.
We stopped at the camp store where I Baylor got ice cream and I bought a heart shaped pie maker. The pork was doing well over the coals.
While we were sitting out at the table a deer came into the campground. She was not worried about us at all. She wandered around while the other deer stayed back in the woods. Both were moms with young.
I followed her around to the back of the cabin and she never flinched or ran off. She did not look very healthy, with a large black wart on one side and patches of gray fur all over.
Dinner was pulled pork and mashed potatoes, all cooked in the fire. Campfire cooking is not as easy as those chuckwagon guys make it look. The rest of the night was spent playing in the fire, a rousing game of Fact or Crap. Later Dad and I went out to see the bison again, no change with with, and back to the camp store. We got Mom some ice cream and I bought Baylor a sweatshirt.
The fire when I first got out there.
after I got it going again. I am pretty good at getting the fire going only using the coals from the night before. I brought a lot of kindling and fire starter paper from home. Dad and I only had to split some of the wood into smaller pieces and we were good to go.
I tried making potato pancakes with the leftover mashed potatoes, hash and corn but without any flour, they fell apart. Tasty but fried mash.
I barely had time to get the eggs done when the rain started. I had to finish breakfast inside. I made Baylor Oreo pancakes. Because of the rain we headed out for a road trip to Elk County.
We stopped at the Elk Center and took a photo of them just like we did in 2011.
Baylor had fun in the center, especially wearing the furs.
He picked out a new hat and wore it out of the store.
Sadly we did not see any elk the entire drive around the county but to be fair, the are usually not laying around in the middle of the day.
We stopped at the roadside spring for fill up our water bottles. Baylor remembered it for the road trip him and Buddy went on last summer.
Silly in the back seat.
My fire companion. We got it going but then it started to rain so we headed inside for the rest of the evening.
We made personal pizzas in the oven and played Sorry and Fact or Crap until we were ready for bed.
Still had coals in the fire pit before going to bed so we put on some wood and hoped for the best in the morning.
It was another rainy morning so breakfast was inside. We played games until we decided it was time to head out. We headed to Ridgway where I had found online a pottery place that would be nice to see. We never did get there and missed finding another craft place in the area but we did go to the Welcome Center and learned a lot about Ridgway from the lady who was there that day. Dad and I bought two locally made cutting boards that were made in one of the places we missed finding.
We walked down to Joey's Bakery for a nice lunch. Then we walked across the street to The Elk County Council of the Arts where I bought a wooden spoon, a pottery bowl and Baylor picked out a PA Streams scented soap to take home to Gloria. We also stopped at the Dollar General to get a fly swatter and I found a collapsible rake for the camp. We drove around town using a Mansions guide to see some of the older homes in town.
I saw the train station was for sale and emailed it to my brother because it would be a super cute breakfast and lunch place. But I am not sure the area is for him, especially since they want to live in VT.
We headed out of town and drove through Parker Dam State Park where Dad showed us spots where him and his Dad or brother camped at. Dad has a lot of memories from this part of the state with his parents and brother. Back at camp the fire was definitely out so we cleaned out the fire pit with the camp shovel and got to work on another fire.
We had a nice fire going but heated up most of dinner in the kitchen because the fire was going too hot to cook on. Being taco Tuesday it was only taco meat and refried beans.
But I heated up the tortillas outside.
We laid paper down on the wet benches and ate outside.
After we ate we sat around the fire for a while until it started to shower but then it did not last. We stayed inside doing Mad Libs which made all of us giggle.
After it was dark I asked Baylor if he wanted to do some sparklers and of course he did!
I was up early as usual and there was a nice bed of coals ready to get the morning fire started.
We had plans to go to a water park at Lake Raystown but not until later in the day so we drove down to the bog trail which is something we did in 2011 as well. It is a short trail and on a boardwalk through the bog with information boards along the way.
We got back to the cabin just in time to leave at 10:30 for the waterpark. It was an hour and half drive to the park and it opened at noon. Mom and Dad did not go of course, they stay there to watch the fire and go to lunch at the Chinese place in Philipsburg. The park is small and his summer camp goes there every other year. Baylor was really looking forward to going there. We rode his favorite the Cemetery Sluice most of the time. I flipped out once, hit my cheekbone on the bottom of the ride and it really hurt! I had to sit out a round or two. And when I got back on the ride, we did a double tube together.
We stayed for three hours and had a nice afternoon there.
We were back by 4:40 and the fire was still going good, thanks Dad. We made corn and steaks for dinner and Baylor was a bit bored and tired from the time we got back until later when we watched a movie inside.
Dad and I went deer spotting and we say nine and the last seven were within two miles of the cabin with three being on the cabin road.
Baylor came out to the fire when we got back. When it was dark enough we did some more sparklers and played in the fire.
And we had s'mores.
Caught sleeping in while I wake up at my usual 5:00. But when I get up here the coffee is ready because Dad gets up even earlier most mornings.
We had pancakes and sausage for breakfast: blueberry or chocolate chip in the pancakes.
After cleaning up breakfast Baylor and I went on a long for us bike ride. We had gone around the cabin loop a few times ( Dad had to take my bike into town to fill up the tires earlier in the week, the were FLAT) We went for about a mile ride, which is a long way for him and myself. We stopped at a local house and Baylor picked out a bird house, which we did when he was two as well. He picked out a barn the first time and a flight school this year.
When we rode back to the cabin we did some hot rocks and crayons which turned out nice. Mom and I sat by the fire and Baylor was pretty done with camping. He was grumpy and cranky the rest of the day.
I made Dad a toasted sandwich for lunch while Baylor and Mom made sausages. Baylor watched movies most of the afternoon because he was bored and inside he could not hear the thunder in the distance. Mom and Dad went for a drive to see cabin 20 which is a huge cabin on the other side of the park. It is huge. When they got back we made cherry mountain pies.
We kind of made a dent in the wood pile.
We played Fact or Crap until it was time to work on supper which was baked potatoes and pork tenderloin.
Right as dinner was over the thunder started to get closer so we headed inside. Dad piled up with fire with wood and the rain started coming down.
It did not last and the fire picked up afterwards but we never made it back out there.
We did Mom's nails with Color Street sheets and they turned out nice.
Friday was pack up and head home day. We had it all packed up, except all this wood ( I did take as many pieces home as I could fit in my van)
The fire had burned itself out. It was a good fire pit for the week.
All packed and headed home.
After we got home and unpacked the van we picked up the dogs from the kennel. They said Jake was done being there so it is good they were not staying longer.
Jake was happy to be back in his own back yard. And I was glad to be home as well.
Roxie had a sock as soon as she could find one, which with all the laundry I was unloading did not take too long.
It poured the rest of the day and the rain was running out of the gutters. I probably need to clean them!
Saturday was Mom's birthday and Baylor and I surprised her by meeting her, Dad and Lynda for lunch in Mt Holly Springs. It was a good way to end the week!
