Well, I have 15 minutes of free time. 15 minutes of time I haven't had in months and might not have again for a couple of months, so what better way to spend it than to update the old bloggeroo. ;)
Last time I had the camera out was the last weekend of May. Christine, Jamie and myself loaded up the camping gear and headed out to
New Germany State Park in western MD. The idea was to meet Natalie, Michael, and Ian, who were coming up to take an excursion on the
Western Maryland Scenic Railroad. They stayed in a nearby hotel while we roughed it.
We got to camp, set everything up and took off on the bikes to ride some of the cross-country ski trails. They were pretty flat, wide, and mellow, if not a little muddy, perfect for trailering Jamie.
After our ride, we headed back to the campsite and started cooking. We had invited everyone to the campsite to eat and I cooked up a lemon ginger trout and curried vegetable feast over the fire followed by marshmallows, of course. The boys had a great time. Their big game is to have a screaming contest. I'm not sure who won. but it was very exciting for all. Jamie also learned how to climb in and out of the camp chairs and onto the top of the picnic table, a feat he has oft repeated on the kitchen table now at home. Hmmmmm. Can't take your eye off that one for a minute!
The next morning, the park rangers stopped by the campsite bright and early to report that Pittsburgh had issued severe thunderstorm and tornado warnings for our area. Just about then, the wind started picking up and the sky went black. We quickly finished up our breakfast and secured everything that wasn't nailed down before it commenced to storming (which didn't take long). We thought we might drown if we stayed in the tent so we jumped in the truck and drove to Cumberland to meet Natalie and Michael and check out the trains.
Obligatory "son standing in front of a caboose while standing on a baggage cart" picture:
Here comes the engine!
Another view:
We hung out in Cumberland, found some lunch, and tried to wait out the rain as best we could then headed back to camp. We were trying to decide whether or not to just pack it up and leave or stick it out. We decided to put Jamie down for his nap (and use the opportunity to take a little nap ourselves) and make the call after he woke up.
By the time we all woke up it was bright and sunny. It was really just a clever ruse to get us to stay. We went for a hike and then put dinner on. By the time dinner was done, it started raining again so we had to eat in the tent. Jamie proceeded to throw his dinner all over the place. Thank god no bears came by to visit. Then it stopped raining again. So we got out of the tent and played in mud puddles.
Boy did we play in mud puddles!
I've heard of cookies and milk, but cookies and mud???? Yuck.
Then to get rid of the mud we went and played in the trout pond, which I think was about 33°F. I thought I saw penguins. It hurt my toes to wade in it. Of course that didn't stop Jamie from diving in head first.
Splash:
Then we went back to camp and made s'mores. Then it rained again so we went to bed. The next morning, it was bright and sunny again so we went for another hike. This time we hopped in the truck and drove to Big Savage Mountain. Turns out this trail was somewhat unmaintained. It wasn't particularly rugged or anything, just overgrown. The kind of trail that when you walk you can't see where you are putting your feet. Did I mention that it had rained for 2 days straight and that the sun was now out in full force. Perfect weather for reptiles, of which we saw plenty. We lost count of all the garter snakes we saw and we knew that if we were seeing that many garter snakes, how many rattlesnakes and copperheads were we not seeing? If you've never seen a rattlesnake or copperhead in the wild, there is a good reason why, they are perfectly camouflaged. You just don't see them unless they are moving. We were getting pretty stressed out over it as you can well imagine. Some where along the trail we flushed a bear who was sitting about 10 feet of the side of the trail in a blackberry bramble. Fortunately it took off and we never really got a good look at it. Finally we made it to a fire road that led to a firetower and overlook. Just as Christine was stepping out onto the road I looked down and saw a copperhead slithering off the trail right in front of me. She had just stepped right over it and never saw it. Yowzers!@%*&#$*(&@(~~~!!! We hiked the fire road to the tower, and enjoyed the view and then followed it back out to the main road, avoiding the trail for the return trip.
We made it back to camp, cooked up lunch, then yes, once again it rained while we broke down camp and got ready to head home.
That was our trip in a nutshell. Hope y'all enjoyed hearin' the telling of it.
