Camping vacation

I've been quiet this week because we took a several day holiday to Cook Forest state park, about an hour and a half drive from our house.  We took the Metzendorf, camped with some dear friends and it was awesome.  Got some great family photos too.

 

Thank you, Aldi, for my $4 door mat.

I didn't think an awning was going to happen for awhile but found a good deal on Ebay through this link at Vintage Trailer Talk.  For $60, shipping included, I only had to hem the edges and sew one seam. The poles I got through a site to store deal at Wal-Mart for about $5 each.  It was PERFECT.  Especially when it rained the last night of the trip.  There were other vintage campers there too, 5 Scottys.  Here's a picture of what a Scotty looks like.  They were part of a group that go camping together and one of the guys came over around coffee time to talk about the Metzendorf and ask if he could look inside it.  Of course!  It was a good lesson of why you should pick up and organize the inside of a rare model vintage camper immediately upon waking.

We did some hiking, me with a 2 year old strapped to my chest on the steep downhill hike and strapped to my back on the way back up.   This place is so beautiful.  There's a small buck in velvet in the center of the photo.

The view from our campsite.

Lots of naps.

And lots of laying in the hammock.

Went wading in the Clarion River.

The water is crystal clear the whole way across.

Ate some great camp food.  Hello, best beef stew ever, cooked in a cast iron dutch oven.  The night it rained we all ate in the Metzendorf at the table.  Not bad for a 12 ft. camper.

We came back to a house totally devoid of groceries, but that's the good thing about poultry and a garden: our home said "Don't worry about the store, we've got it covered! Go cook a pot of rice and do a stir fry."

Snow peas, zucchini, patty pan squash, TOMATO!, eggs and a small handful of alpine strawberries.

Two of the new quail started laying the day before we got home.

I think the geese actually missed me. I know that sounds nuts but they went crazy when they saw me and then honked wildly when I talked to them.  Like, I couldn't get a word in edgewise.  Pretty funny.

What a great time.  Can't wait to go again.