This was my second (and last) week of Fall Break. M took off the week off as well. Since we never could firm up any exotic travel plans, we fell back on some easy choices nearby.
One of our quicky trips was a car camping trip in Shenandoah. This was my second car camping trip during break. Since it was mid-week, and pre-hunting season, we were the only campers around. It was in a national forest, so it was relatively primitive camping. (i.e. in the middle of the woods and without any amenities except for a fire ring.)
Here's a shot of where we slept.
One of the reasons that I bought this truck was so that I could use it as a tent. That saves me the hassle of dealing with setting up the tent, dealing with wind and rain in a tent, and taking down and drying out a moist tent at the end of the trip.
No, we're not "getting our drink on" in this photo. Some slob left this box sitting in the fire ring before we came on the scene. M used it as a surface for getting a flame going.
He finds satisfaction in building a fire without a match. Here he is trying to ignite pine needles with dryer lint, magnesium, and a flint.
Ta da!
We slept fitfully that night. The temperature was in the low 40's. The sky was shockingly starry. With the back of the truck open, I often woke in the middle of the night to just gawk at the stars for a few minutes before sticking my head back inside my sleeping bag. Living in the well lit suburbs of D.C., we rarely see but a few stars at night, so seeing thousands of them is quite exciting.
There were the occassional animal noises; most of which we could identify. Scurrying chipmunks; barred owls; whippoorwills. There was one shreiking animal that I suspected was a fox. M woke up multiple times to the sound of a bear, which he came to realize was me....snoring. Nice.
The morning was still chilly until the sun had a while to rise up high in the sky. We didn't want to stir up a fire again, so warmth came from my down coat, fleece pants and my fleece hat.
We headed out of the woods before the gnats got warm enough to wake up and drive me nuts. I guess we left around 8 am or so. I'm guessing that this will be my last camping trip of the year.
3 comments:
Between the stars and the fire, what a heavenly camping trip...but...I think that the cold air would have been the death of me! Ooooh...brrrr...aye...
Sounds like it was a great camping trip. I have camped when it was pretty cold too, even snowing and had a great time. I am looking forward to the spring to start another good year of camping. Good luck to you and have a good winter.
I vote back of the truck camping over tent camping for sure!! All three of my boys have their own fire starters, so I think it is cool that M. is of that mind set too!
Don't you love the brilliant stars not diluted by city lights? I had to giggle at the snoring bear. :)
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