Camping Day Three

I slept in to 7 AM!! That never happens in real life.  Ever.  Dad had the fire going and when Mom and Baylor rolled out of bed at 7:50 (which is a sleep in for both of them) I made Hobo breakfast over the fire of leftover french fries, onions, bell pepper, salami, eggs and cheese.  Baylor was my assistant even though he would not eat any of it.

But he did have his first pee in the woods this morning.  

Grandma joined us by the fire in her morning caftan.  She is not an early riser and is slow to get moving on a normal day.  But this is vacation, so who cared.  

After breakfast Baylor 'washed' the plates in the fire.  

I wanted to stay at camp all day and Mom and Dad wanted to go on a road trip to Katie's, our favorite everything gift and tchatchke shop we love up there.  Baylor and I planned to go to a scavenger hunt being held in the park so in the meantime we played with bubbles and a large wand I had brought along.  Note the shirt change.    

At first he had fun with the wand but that wore off after a bit.  

He did some drawings and we did a few leaf rubbings of tree and fern leaves in the area.

After a quick costume change he was in shorts, chasing bubbles with his head. 

And punching them with Hulk hands.  

Grandma even popped a few with her willow stick before they left for their road trip.  

Around noon Baylor and I headed to the amphitheater for the scavenger hunt.  We had to drive there because it was in the camping area.  It was a quick off the road and it to the woods.  We were early so we did some exploring.

We walked to the drained lake and threw rocks into the rock sucking mud.  We saw a line of five fishing rods someone had collected I would guess while walking in the lake bed.  I don't know why they didn't haul them out and throw them away.  I hope someone does before they fill the lake again.  

We walked back when we saw the park ranger arrive.  There was another family there, two parents and their early teens kids.  They were from NJ.  Ranger Judy gave us a quick introduction to the rules of the hunt, stay in the local area and take a photo of things if needed, but most things did not need to be collected, just found and checked off. 

 

We found this tree and while it is nice to look at, I know it is bug ridden and dead.  

We found two kinds of ferns, which were on our list.  

One of two yellow flowers. 

Signs of animals: well, snails are not really animals but there were tons of shells in the mud.  

One of three fungi we saw.

One sign of animals: a wood pecker hole.  The other family found a salamander but we could not stir one up.  

Another fungi, which chipmunks like to nibble on.   

Baylor and I did a good job but we did not find the most.  But everyone received a park badge for participating.  

When Baylor and I went back to camp it was time to make another fire.  He used the log cabin method again.  It was his favorite.  

We had salami sandwiches for lunch again.  He was a pro with the toasting and sandwich creating.  He was every much the chef, deciding whether the mustard went on top or on the bottom of the salami.  

He played in the fire with his stick, making smoke to chase away the bugs.  

Of course we had smore's for lunch with waffle cookies.  

After lunch we took a trip to the beach.  Baylor rode his bike and I walked behind him.  

With the lake drained, I guess they were also rebuilding the beach as there was a huge mound of sand that attracted all the kids.  

Here is the same boat dock two years ago, when there was a lake, from 2013.  

We also ran into Mom and Dad at the beach.  They had gone there when they got back from shopping to see the drained lake.  They were talking to a man they had meet down there, he was a local, ex-military and had small dogs.  I am sure they started talking to him because of the dogs.  Anyway, when we were on our way back to the cabin, the rain was coming, they bought Baylor an ice cream.  

Dad sat on the porch watching the rain after we ate dinner.  

And later joined Baylor watching movies.  It was a good day!  

Camping Day Two

Saturday morning was a bit overcast and then not and then overcast again so we drove to a craft fair in Hawley.  It was two hours away!!  I had printed a schedule of local events and did not realize in this area two hours away is practically a neighbor.  

It was a small fair in a park but not a lot to temp me.  I did buy two wonderfully fragranced locally made soap in Lilac and Apricot.  Baylor was the lucky one, a vendor gave him a free paint your own piggy bank and when I was ordering empanadas for lunch, the vendor offered him a free peach cobbler.  My son was not tempted and said no thank you. When he was offered the red velvet cake, he could not turn him down.  I shared my Argentine chorizo and Louigi sausage empanadas with my mom and we all shared the cake. 

I took Baylor to the park while Mom and Dad walked the vendors again.  He is only six after all and still loves a good playground.  He started out on the small, older equipment. 

But he was super excited about this play monster.  And I had to play with him as well, lots of hide and seek.  

After the fun at the craft fair we drove to Ehrhardt's Restaurant for lunch.  Baylor protested too much, but he often does that when we go out.  But we had a nice lunch anyway, inside, away from the bugs and potential rain.  We did have a nice view of the lake.  Well, Mom and Dad did.  Baylor and I had a good view of Mom and Dad.  We took the highway back to the cabin which was more direct and less time than the long and winding roads we took to Hawley.  

Back at camp the sun was out and Baylor was keen on building a fire.  But first he had a root beer break.  

He prefers the log cabin method of fire building and it worked out well for him.  

I clicked the fire stick and let him guide it into where the firestarter and newspaper were hiding.  

Behold:  he made fire! 

I had fun chipping the wood into kindling. It was so light and dry, it chipped up so nicely.  

Ahhh, family by the fire.  Just what I was hoping for this week.

I had brought sliced ring bologna which we love.  When we are around fire, we toast it a bit and serve it on slider rolls with mustard.  The biggest decision was whether the mustard was on the top roll or the bottom roll.  

Grandma and Buddy roasted their Bavarian wieners and we all enjoyed our dinner by the fire.  

After dinner and dessert (marshmallows and Starburst again) I tried a fire coloring packet I had brought.  It turned the fire a lovely blue and green which was fun to watch for the rest of the evening.  Which was not too long really as Baylor wanted to go in around7:30 to watch a movie, Dad goes to bed around that time and Mom is not one to sit around the fire.  Sigh.  

Camping Day One

The morning was spent packing the car and getting everything ready for a week at Rickett's Glen 2015.   Baylor requested the same park for this year and we actually stayed in the same cabin, G.  It was a lot of work getting ready but I still had time to check the raspberries.  By the looks of them, they will be ready when we get back.  

The mini van was packed full!  We need a lot of stuff for a week at the cabin.  This year we even brought his bike and also a large fan because little cabins in the woods can get hot.  

We had to stop at the grocery store from some last minute supplies and then headed up 81.  It was a parking lot for a few miles so I called Mom to tell her we would be a bit late to the meeting point.  We were meeting them at a McDonald's at an exit because Gloria had the Garmin for when she was coming up later in the week.  Mom hopped in our car and we followed Dad the rest of the way to the cabin.  It was pretty hot and humid when we arrived and my hair was getting in my way.  I pulled out my red bandanna and got my camp hair on!  

While we were unpacking Baylor made use of his new gloves Buddy and Grandma got him for handling wood.  He was playing with some large partially burned sticks left from a previous tenant.  And he found the wood saw!  Thankfully he was being very careful and I was able to supervise and assist the rest of the cutting.  

Dad went out to get our first load of wood and Baylor helped him to unload it.  

And soon we had our first fire, the real reason I go camping.  

Baylor had a new chair this year, one we picked up at Aldi's with a side table and cup holder.  He was very excited to use it all week.  

Mom had made dinner at home and we just heated it up.  But dessert was made by the fire of course.  Marshmallows, s'mores and roasted Starburst, which are amazing!  Baylor worked on his roasting technique and did a great marshmallow.  

Grandma is not much of a fire cooker, but she will eat toasted marshmallows off the stick like a pro.  

And like last time, my pyro son loved playing in the fire with a big stick.  

Baylor was excited to sleep in his sleeping bag on the floor.  I had a camping mat (from Aldi's of course) and he lasted until around 2 when he crawled into my bed for the rest of the week.