On Friday afternoon, we set out on our big adventure to Hanging Rock State Park. We were supposed to go here last summer, but of course everything had to be cancelled because I was so sick. This trip was new in that it would be our first 3-night camping trip with the kids and our first time camping in the mountains (we'd gotten a house/cabin the two times we stayed near Brevard). The main challenge with camping with the kids is keeping them fed. I always over pack food anyway, since I have my own irrational fear of starving to death, but then I have to try and figure out what the kids might eat when they're having a breakdown from hunger. Anyway, I got most things ready the night before and finished packing Friday during the day, so that when Zac got home we were ready to head out.
I'd picked the campsite out and reserved it online months in advance. I put a lot of work into it--scrutinizing campground maps and clicking on the pictures of each site to try and find a good one. What I look for is one that is not too far from the bathroom, but that also has some privacy (not too close to another site). I did pretty well with this one. It also came with a bonus: a little trail down to a creek right behind our campsite.
When we arrived, I took the kids down there to play while Zac set up the tent. We explored a bit and also saw a deer and her calf walking through the woods. (Full disclosure, this picture of the campsite was taken the next morning.)
Alice is starting to play less and read more, which is a fun (but somewhat weird) transition.
Finally, it was time for Simon's favorite part: the campfire!
That night, Alice wanted to take a walk, and one site up from us we came across this rattle snake going across the campground road. I told Alice to run back and get Zac and Simon to come see it. I just thought it was cool to see a rattle snake. Luckily, Zac had the good sense to think to alert the campground staff. He ran out and told the camp host, who then reported the snake to a ranger. The whole drama played out over an hour or so.
When I went to the bathroom later that night, I got to see the final act. The ranger caught the snake and put it in a box. It would have a tracker inserted into it (size of a grain of rice) and then they were going to let it go back where they got it once that campground emptied out and they would track where it was headed. Not sure what would happen after that.
It all made for a very exciting first day!
