Canoe Camping - 2009

I thnk I am ready to sell the house, quit my job and spend my days riding my bike, hiking and camping with the kids. Oh yeah - gotta pay for college. Oh well.

Michael, the kids and I spent the weekend camping on the Potomac with the Skoloda's (minus Maureen and Natalie - Natalie had a big swim meet and I hear she rocked it!). It was all boys and me.

The camping area is completely unsupported - no bath houses, toilets, garbage cans, etc. Other than a fire ring and a bare spot for the tent, you are on your own. And the only way to access the site is via boat - canoe in our case, thus keeping it simple is key. Only bring what is necessary - which includes at least two cases of Yeungling! We spent the entire day yesterday canoeing up the C&O Canal and down the Potomac through the rapids. I'll post pictures - the ones I took before I dunked my camera when I flipped my canoe! (I had just taken it out of the dry bag to snap pictures of the kids riding the rapids on their backs - oh well, it was a cheap camera and though the pictures are a litttle fuzzy, at least I still have them)

Joey and his boys along with Micheal and Seth are still camping. I wish I could have stayed (despite the rain last night), but I had to bring Brendan and Ethan home last so that they could get ready for a week at overnight adventure camp - for which they leave in an hour. I am already jealous of them.

hmmmm.... wondering if college is really necessary ; )

Pictures available at: http://www.new.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2033201&id=1213604982&l=34fa22367e

Almost Bike Camping

So it rained just a little. Brendan and I made it from the house on our bikes to the Billy Goat Trail. We hiked trail A with the intention of moving on from there to camp at Swains Lock. Half way through the hike, the skies opened and we got drenched! We giggled the whole time. There was no sense looking for shelter - we couldn't get any wetter. On the way - we saw toads and lizards everywhere. Very cool!

Before starting the hike we fortunately covered the gear with plastic, so everything stayed dry. But as we walked to the bikes we had to decide if we would still camp or call it a day. We decided that we had a great day together and risking it with a miserable wet night was probably not the smartest idea. So we biked down to the deli on MacArther Blvd., ordered a couple sandwiches and called Michael to hitch a ride home.

While we waited for Michael, Brendan asked when we could try again. He told me he was so lucky to have parents that do cool things like bike camping and he could wait to try again. I love that we had so much fun together! In all we biked nearly 25 miles and hiked the Billy Goat Trail. Not bad!

Oh - and with all the rain last night... glad we came home.

Off to canoe camping today.

Pictures available at: http://www.new.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2032993&id=1213604982&l=1faab60428