Jack set up the tent, I set up the bedding, Claire fed and watered Raven, Kate pet the dog and conquered climbing the picnic table and Evie put out the firewood in preparation for dinner. In all, it took us less than half an hour to sit down to our campfire dinner.
We were one of the first camping groups to arrive and snagged a pretty good spot. After dinner, we decided to go for a little hike before sundown.
Though the hike wasn’t strenuous, it was tiring. Raven wasn’t sure she liked hiking, Evelyn was sure she was going to fall over the edge and Claire kept getting too close to the edge for comfort. Luckily, it was just shy of a mile and since it wasn’t crowded with hikers, we took our sweet time.
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| Jack toting Kate and helping the girls skip over a small stream in the trail. |
We had our usual roasted marshmallows before heading off to bed. Everyone else slept pretty well despite the cold humidity in our tent. I think I got about three hours between worrying that everyone else was warm and comfortable, someone’s dog that barked incessantly during the night, the other campers that made midnight runs to the restroom (it’s really eerie hearing footsteps crunching along a gravel road in the pitch black) and a raccoon that shrieked for a while in the early morning hours. And the birds that start tweeting before the sun even rises. Oh, well. It was still fun.
We were out on the trails again shortly after breakfast and enjoyed watching a few tom turkeys in vain try to impress a few of the girls. Then we drove after a herd of deer and Raven, though usually mute, gave a few grumbling barks while we drove alongside them.
We visited Big and Little Clifty Falls along the path. There was a trail that practically went up to the tip of the waterfall but for some reason, it was difficult to find–it wasn’t on a map and apparently was a break off of another trail. We did enjoy the views from a distance though.
By midmorning, Raven was getting to be a pro at hiking. Luckily, she mastered steps at our house in the first few days of her life with us (which was fortunate–there are a lot of stairs at Clifty Falls) and practically pulled me along the trail.
We headed home when everyone was ready for a nap and arrived in time to work on the garden and get some laundry done. It was the first of (I hope!) many camping trips this year!
