July 4th Planning

Winter is when I think about camping, and plan camping.

Today, I booked our camping trip for July 4th weekend.  This makes our 2nd booked trip for 2015, since I booked Memorial Weekend back in November.  For big holiday weekends, I like to make plans ahead of time, make sure we get a site.  Since we tend to aim for state parks, the booking window starts at 6 months in advance.  Which means today if planning a 3 day weekend.

The friends we're going with have potential obligations of picking up their son from Boy Scout Camp.  Apparently, the Boy Scouts don't work around my 6 month planning window.  Seems pretty selfish to not worry themselves about someone who lives in a different state, without a child enrolled in Boy Scouts, without a child that's a boy.  I mean, really.  C'mon here.

This Boy Scout issue meant we're camping in Ohio.  Much like Michigan DNR revamping their reservation website a year ago, Ohio DNR revamped their website in the month since we booked Memorial Weekend.  Much like the Michigan revamp, the Ohio revamp required recreating your account.  Unlike Michigan, Ohio wasn't completely accurate in rolling over your previous information, like current reservations and reward points.  D'oh.  A phone call fixed the problem, but it was still frustrating to have problems.  And I'm sure the ODNR employees are frustrated with having to fix this problem.  Also, the new website take some getting used to (read: many clicks to figure out the same info you were used to getting in 1 click).  I'm sure, with time, I'll get used to it.  I'm just not there yet.

With planning ahead, we were able to get into a very popular campground on a holiday weekend.  It's a campground we've never been to, though I've been to the area about 20 years ago.

We are looking forward to the trip.  Where do you plan on camping for 4th of July?

It's November

It's November.  I've been pretty quiet on the blog lately.  This thing called work kept me pretty busy.  Funny how that is.

The camping season is done.  Halloween has passed.  We're hitting the dreary days of brown November.  The colorful leaves are past their peak, what is on the ground are brown leaves.  What are in the trees are brown leaves.  Brown.

Halloween in our area brought snow.  Too early in my opinion.  Of course, I don't get a say.  My kids had winter coats on over their costumes.  I had my winter coat, gloves and my hood on.  I was thankful that my church had an indoor Trunk-or-Treat for the latter part of our evening.  And judging from the record breaking attendance, so were others.

I enjoy fall, I love the colorful leaves.  Halloween is fun for me, even as an adult.  I love apple cider and carving pumpkins.  I don't enjoy the dreaded winter to come, and fall means that to me.

The camper is winterized.  A depressing day, to say the least.  My lists are made for the day I get back into the camper in the spring to restock for Camping Season 2015.  They are sitting on the counter in the camper, waiting for their shining moment, unable to be lost in the months before then (let's face it, they'd get lost in the house).

While the weather is still mostly ok, I've been trying to get my running groove back, extending my distance back to where it was.  At least on my days off.  And maybe clean my house.  Maybe.

I'll share a picture a took from the park down the street that I took last week.  The brilliant yellow of the leaves on the trail made the forest look as if it was glowing.  Running in the glow, how can you not feel rejuvenated in life?

Just me, being silly

For my Halloween costume, do I go with silly pumpkins?

Or a not-so-scary witch?

Or a blue sparkly cowgirl?

Maybe a devil?

Probably not Uncle Sam (Aunt Sam?)

I think the winner is Pink Princess

Do you dress up for Halloween, what are you going to be?

Camping after a cold snap

A storm blew through yesterday. Temps are noticeably cooler today, we barely got to 60 degrees. Of course, we're camping this weekend. And this means a change in how we pack for the weekend. Sigh.

Gone are the swimming in the lake days. Gone are the tank top days. Shorts are only packed in hopes that the weather people are wrong.

Fall is here.

There have been enough camping trips where I regret not packing enough layers for the cold mornings and cool nights by the camp fire. The winter coats are packed.

The morning dew can make for some wet toesies. The rain boots are packed.

The makings for hot apple cider and hot chocolate are packed. Might as well make sure that our insides are warm, too.

My camping list sure changes this time of year.  The bright side is that we ARE still camping, and I'll take all the camping I can get.

Fall is in the air

The nights are getting cooler.  It was about 55 degrees when I went for my run this morning.  I see the very beginnings of trees starting to change.  There is a nip in the air when I take the kids to school.

I quite enjoy fall.  I enjoy the nip in the mornings with the warm afternoons.  I love watching the leaves change color, it's really showing us the world is God's canvas for beauty.  I enjoy hot apple cider on cool evenings with friends around a campfire.

The biggest downfall, to me, about fall is that it means winter is coming.  Winter is my least favorite season.  Like I said, I enjoy fall, but I hate that it means winter will be here soon.

And if winter is coming, that means camping season will soon be ending.

For now, I will look forward to the two trips we have planned left for the season.

Labor Day & School Starting

Well, I've had to take a bit of time off from blogging from a very nasty cold.  Thankfully, we don't typically go camping for Labor Day weekend because I'm not sure how I would have done that.

Now, of course, you're wondering why we don't go camping Labor Day weekend.  The kids start school tomorrow.  Since they always come home from a camping trip exhausted, I'm not a fan of mixing that with the excitement of the first day of school.  With school always starting the day after Labor Day, we don't go camping Labor Day weekend.

Maybe when the kids are older, I'll reconsider my ban on no camping Labor Day weekend.  I enjoyed seeing friends pictures of camping this weekend on Facebook.  Our family did enjoy our time together at home.  Husband got some yard work done, I got my first batch of salsa made for the season.  We played games and went to the movies.  And, I continued to recover from this terrible, horrible, no good, very bad cold.

Right now, the kids are getting themselves sparkly clean.  Their outfits are picked out.  Backpacks ready to go (with their Junior Ranger keychains, no less!).  Lunch boxes are ready for food.  I just set my alarm for the first time since June.  This family is ready to go.