Thursday, September 13, 2007
Why We Camp
In response to a family member's question, “aren’t there any hotels in Syracuse?” I offer the following photo essay.
After loading up the car with our camping gear, our cooler and food box, various iPods, and golf clubs, we headed out for Syracuse to attend the NYS fair. We stopped en route for lunch, making tasty sandwiches from our cooler and food box. Arriving at Green Lakes State Park in the afternoon, we set up our camp, consisting of two tents, and a screen shelter. The screen shelter serves as our kitchen, with picnic table, stove, and cooking implements. Our set up took about an hour. Soon, Matthew had a fire going, kabobs were cooking in the cast iron skillet, and cocktail hour had started.
After a wonderful dinner of chicken and beef kabobs, boiled and buttered new potatoes, tossed salad dressed in a red wine vinaigrette, all accompanied by a tantalizing bottle of Malbec from Argentina (and, of course, milk), we washed up the dishes, and retired to the campfire to listen to the crackling of the fire, the scratch and call of crickets, and the pling, pling of eastern balsam wood seeds hitting our tent. After a nice, hot shower in the clean campground facilities, I went to bed. The wood seeds sounded like rain, and soon I was asleep in my sleeping bag on top of my self-inflating mattress pad.
In the morning, the fire was started again, coffee brewed on the Coleman stove, and various children were kicked out of sleep, (Matthew and Katie, sharing a huge tent with two rooms, were found, by morning, sleeping like a couple of puppies) and breakfast began. Last night’s potatoes became this morning’s hash browns. Rick enjoyed his morning paper by the fire. After a quick clean up and tidying of camp we were off for the day.
As I type this on my laptop, it is evening after a full day. I hear a lone train whistling in the background, while around me crickets chirp. The fire again crackles, with the pleasant smell of balsam. The kids are kicking around a mega ball ice cream maker, Rick is scouting through the woods for deadfall for the campfire. I am relaxed and at peace, sipping the last of the Malbec. I would not trade this for a hotel room, no way, no how. And that’s why we camp.
After loading up the car with our camping gear, our cooler and food box, various iPods, and golf clubs, we headed out for Syracuse to attend the NYS fair. We stopped en route for lunch, making tasty sandwiches from our cooler and food box. Arriving at Green Lakes State Park in the afternoon, we set up our camp, consisting of two tents, and a screen shelter. The screen shelter serves as our kitchen, with picnic table, stove, and cooking implements. Our set up took about an hour. Soon, Matthew had a fire going, kabobs were cooking in the cast iron skillet, and cocktail hour had started.
After a wonderful dinner of chicken and beef kabobs, boiled and buttered new potatoes, tossed salad dressed in a red wine vinaigrette, all accompanied by a tantalizing bottle of Malbec from Argentina (and, of course, milk), we washed up the dishes, and retired to the campfire to listen to the crackling of the fire, the scratch and call of crickets, and the pling, pling of eastern balsam wood seeds hitting our tent. After a nice, hot shower in the clean campground facilities, I went to bed. The wood seeds sounded like rain, and soon I was asleep in my sleeping bag on top of my self-inflating mattress pad.
In the morning, the fire was started again, coffee brewed on the Coleman stove, and various children were kicked out of sleep, (Matthew and Katie, sharing a huge tent with two rooms, were found, by morning, sleeping like a couple of puppies) and breakfast began. Last night’s potatoes became this morning’s hash browns. Rick enjoyed his morning paper by the fire. After a quick clean up and tidying of camp we were off for the day.
As I type this on my laptop, it is evening after a full day. I hear a lone train whistling in the background, while around me crickets chirp. The fire again crackles, with the pleasant smell of balsam. The kids are kicking around a mega ball ice cream maker, Rick is scouting through the woods for deadfall for the campfire. I am relaxed and at peace, sipping the last of the Malbec. I would not trade this for a hotel room, no way, no how. And that’s why we camp.
Comments:
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Hard to argue with that! Good answer to 'why we camp'. Nice memories
your kids will always have.
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your kids will always have.
# posted by 
: 9/17/2007 2:43 PM
: 9/17/2007 2:43 PM << Home
