The Yurt:
The yurt is set up with a full-size bed, a pair of bunk beds, and a nice large table and chairs. There is electricity, but no running water or cooking space. All the cooking takes place outside on the fire or the camp-stove. So it's like camping but with the comfort of a bed.
Christine enjoying our bed:
We managed to get there early enough in the day to take a nice little hike around the lake front and headed back to camp to whip up my famous chicken potpies in the dutch oven.
Old photo of my famous chicken potpie:
The next day we took hike around the perimeter of the park. It was kind of a mellow hike, one good climb and lots of fireroad. It's maybe 5 miles long. After naptime we loaded up the boy in the bike trailer and headed down to the beach. Originally we had planned on coming in July when it would be warm, but this didn't work out. We had to settle for September. When we arrived at the beach it was maybe 70° outside.
That did not deter the boy from playing in the water though...
Or the sand:
Or the water:
Later we went out for ice cream:
We grilled a steak for dinner and had hobo vegetables on the side with s'mores for desert.
That night around 5 am it started raining and didn't stop for 2 days. The first day we tried to go outside for a hike at the Cranesville Sub-artic Swamp. It cleared up so we made a go of it. Of course it started pouring as we reached the furthest point on the trail from the car. Needless to say we got kind of wet. Jamie was a good sport of it and didn't complain a bit.
Back at the yurt, things were different:
He complained quite a bit about being cooped up inside. The next day was a little better, even though it still rained off and on, it warmed up and being wet didn't seem so bad. We got up first thing and went and rented a kayak for Christine. She paddled from the rental place back to the park (2 or 3 miles) exploring all the little coves along the way.
Leaving from the rental place:
Bye Bye:
After she got back, I took off for a bike ride. Things were a little on the sloppy side but the trails were mostly gravel and rock so it wasn't as muddy as it could have been. I think I managed about 10 miles. When I got back, Christine went for another paddle. Then we went out for Pizza. Jamie now knows what pizza is so when we said we were going to get it he got really excited and then really mad because he doesn't understand that "going to get it" means that you have to wait a little while before you can have it. Toddlers only know the meaning of NOW!
Speaking of toddler stuff, there was a little short trail right behind the yurt and all that boy wanted to do was hike. He would go and find our hiking pole and announce "I'm hiking" then take off. It was cute but got to be a little tiring chasing after him every 5 minutes. He doesn't come back or answer when you call. It's kind of unnerving.
Hiking with Dad:
Admiring a daisy:
Well that's pretty much it. We packed up the next day and hung out at the beach until lunch, when we fired up the camp stove and reheated the leftover p-i-z-z-a (don't you dare say pizza with in earshot of the boy unless you have a slice to give him, I'm warning you!).
All-in-all, it was good to get away. Deep Creek Lake is a nice place, it's kind of touristy and has that touristy feel and all the touristy type stuff to do. However, if you stay in the park, you can get away from the people if you want or if you choose to get ice-cream, or if you forget all your groceries on the kitchen counter (which we did) you can run out and get it.
