Camping with Friends

During the winter we planned two camping trips with friends. The first camping trip (to the Adirondacks) ended up being just us because the family (understandably) was worried the youngest one wouldn't sleep. The second trip to Cape Cod was spontaneous. But this last trip was planned with Allison, Shawn and Juni. We had originally planned to go to North-South Lake, but a friend told me they have a bear problem and this information was confirmed when I called the campground. I decided it was in our best interest to go somewhere else that did not have active bears. We found Rogers Rock campground in Hague, which is on the northern end of Lake George, a popular destination for families and drunks in the tri-state area.

Following my two night rule, we decided only to go Friday and Saturday night. Good thing, because it rained Sunday night and all day Monday.

We had a great time, but not without a few glitches. The site we reserved was total crap. It was on a hill, there was hardly any room for a car - let alone two CRVs- and it was extremely unsafe for toddlers. So we drove around the campground and found another site. Site #199. It seemed like a good site at the time we chose it. It was on a loop shaped like a boot that was within close walking distance to the bathroom and the lake. Our first clue should have been the large amount of pot emanating from a site not too far from ours. We were so astounded by the amount of pot - namely because the odor still lingered in our cars for several minutes after. But no bother, we quickly forgot about it and began setting up.

After a trip to the beach, Keith and Allison made a nice pasta dinner, and then it was time for bed. Let the fun begin. Imagine trying to put one toddler to bed and then add another toddler into the equation. Tandem and back and forth crying. Pretty funny if you have a good sense of humor (which I do, sometimes). Anyway, we had purchased a large tent that could sleep 8 people. It was really cheap, but the catch was that it was just one big room. This was fine, but only proved difficult when putting the two babes to bed. Because Allison and Shawn co-sleep with Juni, sleeping in a tent together was not too different from home. So Juni did not require movement to go to sleep. But our routine requires Cole being rocked to sleep. That meant that we had to take him out in the stroller again. Guess who forgot the netting? Not me! I remembered it, and we used it both nights. Keith and I decided that a stroll around the loop would probably get Cole to sleep. That's when we realized we had inadvertently set up camp on the Party Loop. There were numerous parties going on from people of all ethnicities, musical interests, and drug interests. It was a very diverse loop of party goers. Mergengue, country music, dance music. We even saw fluerescent necklaces. It was more than bizarre. It was crazy. It turned out that most people rented several adjoining sites and then partied on one site. The sad part? Many of these people had children - with the exception of the group two sites down who had Chiwawas locked in a tent. The people who had children? Those kids were up, seemingly partying right along with the adults.

After 2 walks around the loop, we finally got Cole to sleep. After bringing him back in the tent, everyone fell asleep but  - guess who? Why? Because everyone outside of our tent was still awake. And since I'm a light sleeper, their constant noise kept me up. Not to mention the family with the camper who set up at 8:30 p.m. RIGHT NEXT TO OUR FREAKING TENT!!!

The next day more than made up for it. I made a yummy breakfast of bacon and eggs. Then, afterwards, when it became apparent we needed more caffeine to continue the day and the children needed a nap- we went into the little village of Bolton Landing, had lunch, bought some toys at the local toy store (what is it with us and toy stores??) and then went back to the campground to go to the beach.  That night Shawn made some yummy steak and chicken. That combined with our pre-made salads (a garden salad and a quinoa salad) made it a delicious dinner. (Yay for making food ahead of time!)

Saturday night was much more quiet, and I slept so much better. Cole even slept in (until 7)! We left early on Sunday and got home with more than enough time to unpack and play.

The highlights of the trip: Cole had a great time playing and watching Juni. He learned a few tricks from her (how to climb into and out of his stroller), and she learned a few tricks from him (how to spit out your food if you don't like it). We got to chill out with Allison and Shawn for a weekend. I introduced Shawn to Tina Fey's new book and Allison introduced me to This American Life. I look forward to listening to it!

Here are the pics....

Setting up is fun!

Dada and baybay

Dadas

The Lake House

Love me some babywearing!

The lake beach

Playing with his new net that Dada bought from the coffee bus

Pointing out the different variations of trucks

Allison enjoys a beer

Cole tries out Juni's seat

Mama steals a kiss

Playing with sand

Beach pals

This is what it looks like to live out of your car for 2.5 days

About to take a ride (We've decided this will be an annual picture)