This was our first camping excursion of the year. I have been coming to this park since I was a kid, so it has a special place in my heart. I have never really done much camping here though. We would mainly go to picnic and play on the beach and in the lake, since the park isn’t that far from where I grew up. Since it’s still early in the season, I opted for a cottage instead of a tent and I am so glad I did. It was COLD. I always forget that it’s about 10-15 degrees cooler at the park than it is at home. So, even thought the forecast was calling for temps in the high 60s, it was much cooler than that….and it rained. Blah.
We arrived on Friday evening and we decided to eat dinner before heading to the park, since it was supposed to rain all night and cooking over a fire would have been difficult…and miserable. Thank goodness the cottage had heat and a table with benches. At least we could spend the evening playing games and munching on snacks…and Evelyn was super-excited that she got to sleep on the top bunk for the very first time.
Saturday was slightly better. It only rained for a little while in the morning, mainly while we were trying to boil water for coffee over a fire. That didn’t turn out very well. Two lukewarm and barely brewed cups of coffee later, I was kind of grumpy. We took at nice walk around the lake, but it was too wet for Evelyn to play in the sand.
We lounged around, made some lunch and then I couldn’t help myself…I suggested that we find the nearest coffee shop for a real cup of joe, a little bit of warmth, and for something to do. So, we drove about 15 miles, took care of my caffeine craving, and also stopped at Walmart to buy a camp stove. I’m not giving up on trying to cook over a fire, but it’s nice to know we have a back up now if we need it. 
So, it definitely wasn’t my favorite camping trip. It was cold and rather boring. Michael and I agreed that if we hadn’t paid for the cabin, we probably would have packed it in and headed home. We made the best of it. But, we have a few other trips planned for this summer and I am looking forward to them. I’m really hoping that our next trip to this park, over the 4th of July weekend, will be more fun. We will be tenting for the first time with Evelyn and we are also taking our dog, which we have never done, so it should be an adventure. We will have several other family members camping at the same time, so that will make things at least more interesting.
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