Cooking over an open fire. (click for more pictures)
This year for halloween we took a trip to Hillsborough River State Park. Every year they put on a ‘haunted woods’ walk which becomes just a huge family event for the weekend. And this year we joined a group heading up from work. And it was filled with thrills right from the start …
As we were exiting the I-4 we blew the rear tire in the van we were borrowing – fixing a tire on the exit ramp during rush-hour is fun, fun, fun. (Turns out we were struck by a hallow nail) So, we were once again left to pitching out tent in the dark by carlight. And since we had the space, up went Mr. Big and out came the hot-dogs and marshmallows. By the time we were “thinking” about bed … out came the rain. The skies opened up and dropped buckets on us, so it was a quick cleanup of the site and into the tents.
Whats that … a leak … and another? Gah! The seems had not been fully watersealed, the fly was missing three ropes thus not doing its job, and the rain … well it was pouring. So … back-outside. We bungied the fly, grabbed our “second” tents’ fly and pitched it over a weak point, and then … pitched the tent inside out tent. Our three-man tent fit inside one room of the new tent and did not touch the roof or any side – crazy. Our camping guests (Krishen and a couple we just met) we lucky enough to have brought mattresses so were up of the damp floor – and we, well were in a our tent-in-a-tent. With all the leaks managed it was bed time. Breakfast in the morning was a breath of fresh air as the sun was again shining.
After eating, we took a short hike around the area. It is a gorgeous park, we are going to have to go back. We found a suspension bridge, what appears to be a very peaceful river for canoeing, and some great hiking trails. At the main park area there was a play-ground with live music – Joe enjoyed. We really took to the slide this time, sorry no pics … mom and dad were occupied keeping up with stair-climbing Joe 🙂
Night time was the hallo-adventure. We dressed up a little, goofed around, and then enjoyed more campfire marshmallows and hot-dogs. By morning it was time to pack up and header home – it was a great, relaxing experience that was needed to recharge some batteries.
Check out our pictures of the weekend.
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