Big Meadows
Nothing makes your bed feel better than spending a night sleeping on the ground. Throw in daylight savings and suddenly my concept of time has decided to stand up and throw itself out the window. Clock says it's 9:26, but who can really know?
Simply put, camping last weekend was a lot of fun. It started early Saturday morning, when we got up, finished the food prep, picked up a few supplies from my sister's place, and headed over to Justin and Dre's. Driving in, we took Skyline Drive from its northern most point, which turned out to be a bit of a mistake due to slow drivers and my fear of passing people on those windy roads. But we got there in time to stack out a pretty decent walk-in camp site, close-ish to the road but also pretty secluded from other camp sites.
Once we were settled in and picked up our firewood (we first got two bundles, went back for two more, and STILL didn't quite have enough... mental note: go with at least six next time, or bring our own), we went for a 4 mile hike down to Lewis Mountain Falls. The path was pretty rocky (and thanks to the fall leaves, sometimes elusive), the first half mostly down hill, the second mostly up, but it was still incredibly scenic. One thing that's really interesting is how different US mountain country can be to Japan. The falls were pretty dinky and anti-climactic after the vistas of the Appalachian Mountains, although that didn't stop us from taking pictures like the rabid tourists of nature that we were.
Dinner was beans and sausage, prepared over the campfire. Simple yet delicious. Justin and I hobo'ed it up, eating it standing up and out of tin cans. I think that made our stew superior to Cyndi and Dre's. Drinking and talking and good conversation got us late into the night (well, at least for Justin and I, the girls went to bed earlier... again, probably had to do with the lack of tin can eating in their recent history).
Sleep was extremely cold and not so comfortable -- the only real hitch of the trip. Next time, Cyndi and I are going to spring for some kind of sleeping mat. Also, either warmer weather or more thermal sleeping bags, because even cramming ourselves into one sleeping bag wasn't enough. You live and learn.
We were up by 8:30 and had the camp taken down by 9:30. With daylight savings factored in, we were in Arlington by 11, watching the Transformers movie on an HD television. I think we're lucky to live in an area where these kinds of things are possible, and once again, I ask myself, "Why don't we go camping more often?"
For more pictures, check them out on flickr.
Comments
Great pics!