In the Pines.

One Down. Camping trip that is. We spent a long weekend in Pinecrest Campground, sort of an annual tradition now except that we didn't go last year under threat of rain and snow. We finally were able to pick a campsite that we had chosen rather than just accepting any available one that we found online. And it was a marvelous site. Level, roomy [not smooshed up against the neighbors], close to the bathroom [but not too close], and with plenty of those giant trailer size boulders for the kids to climb. Under 40º overnight in a tent is too cold for me, but I toughed it out. I have to remember that one extra heavy blanket would have made the difference.



The first night the wind howled through the giant trees so loudly, I thought that maybe they had built a massive expressway over our campground as we slept, or that we had a rainless hurricane close by. Funny thing though, as we stayed late in our sleeping bags that first morning so as to avoid going out in the cold and for fear that all of our supplies and maybe our car too had blown away, our tent wasn't blowing so much. It was the trees! They block or absorb much of the wind, and they make lots of noise when the gusts blow through their lanky limbs. Honestly, it sounded like a freight train passing through the forest, in close proximity to our tent. All. Night. Long.



Notwithstanding the wind and cold, I think this was our most successful camping trip to date. Probably because the kids are a little older and more self sufficient. Or maybe it's that we have sort of found a grove with all the organizing, meal planning, and packing in and packing out. I know it was our best trip because it was the first one that I didn't make my usual "I am never doing that again!" proclamation to my family as we pulled out to head for home.

I love that this place has the outdoor amphitheater where they have mass on Sunday and where we could see a movie every night, if we wanted to. The lake was beautiful and there is still snow at the tops of the mountains. We hiked around the lake, just to the dam and back. Eva kept up like a champ, scrambling the rocks without a fuss. The only fussing that occurred was between Emily and Sarah about who was the leader of our expedition, pretty much the entire way, adding a slight amount of grief to an otherwise pleasant morning.





I have to say, the thing that the kids were most excited about was the fishing. They had a blast. No fish were caught, but a blast was had nevertheless.







We sat and snuggled by the fire, hunted rocks and pinecones, played games, played cards in our tent, danced with glowsticks, made smores, got plenty dirty, then came home tired and smelling smokey.