A night in the wild

We took our first camping trip here in Virginia this weekend. It was a great trip, although I thought a lot about the Ingalls family (we're now reading On the Shores of Silver Lake) and I could just picture Pa Ingalls saying, "So let me get this straight. You have a house that doesn't leak with indoor heating and plumbing, and you choose to go out into the mountains and sleep and cook over a fire . . . for fun?" How times have changed.

 We have gotten so much rain up here lately that no dry firewood was to be found. So we roasted marshmallows over our stove. Ain't no shame in that, although it does seem slightly less survival-esque. Clara, oddly enough, does not like s'mores (!) and would prefer her marshmallows cold.

In the morning, Michael fixed us a fabulous sausage, egg, and pancake breakfast. A idea of mine was to use powdered milk in the mix I made beforehand so we didn't have to bring any milk. It worked!

This shot also confirms the long well-known fact that I look freaky without makeup.

Of course, while I was so focused on making the pancake mix convenient, I failed to pack anything to put on them, so Michael invented a new fabulous recipe: roasted marshmallow pancakes. They were a hit.

After packing up, we went on a hike up to "Lover's Leap." (That name kind of freaks me out--why would lovers want to leap here? I am hoping it means there'd be a proposal so that the lovers would "take the leap" into marriage or something.)

Clara did so well hiking--we were quite proud of her. Of course, pretending that we were in Candyland and that I was "Grandma Peanut," Michael was "King Candy," and she was "Princess Frostine" made her enjoy the experience much more. (Remember how she likes to pretend ALL the time? No change whatsoever.)

On our way, I almost stepped on this three-foot long snake and Clara heard me use the "c**p" word. Oops. I expected it to slither away through the leaves, but instead it wound itself up this tree. I thought that only happened in the Amazon. I am glad there weren't too many low overhanging branches the rest of the trail.

 We made it! We were holding on pretty tightly to our junior hiker here.

I finished the hike with a little meditation . . . as if I could find any inner peace sitting on a rock with a hundred-plus foot drop-off inches away.

The trip ended with a gorgeous day, and we made it home for lunch and a nap . . . and unpacking. I don't love that part about camping, but the memories make the laundry and the cleaning worth it.