A Camping Adventure

Our kids love to go camping. Abby started asking when we could go camping in February. This weekend was our first camping trip of the summer. We packed the car up on Wednesday night and headed out Thursday after work. Our destination - Deep Creek State Park in Maryland. This was our first time to Deep Creek - and the weather was less than idea, but all in all we had a great time.

It was an easy trip - much shorter than we anticipated. We found the park without problems and after being reassigned to a new camp spot because we took our puppy and the original spot was in the no dog zone, we got settled in. Our spot was less than private - directly across from the bath house for our loop and intended to be paired with the spot of our less than quiet neighbors. 150 foot of rope, a large tarp, trees and rocks...a privacy screen was errected and things were much better.

The campground itself was very nice. All the roads were paved and were also one way - which made bike riding easier for the kids. The road directly in front of our site was also flat which made practicing riding without training wheels easier for Abby and her Daddy. Each site was equipped with a "bear box" which made securing our food and supplies much easier than it would have been if we had to drag them in and out of the car. And much more secure. No worries about bears breaking into the car for a snack.

We knew that the weather would be cooler in Deep Creek than it would be at home, but we were not really prepared for just how cold it was. The sun finally appeared to stay on Saturday and we all went down to the beach. The kids actually braved the water for awhile, but it was really COLD and they didn't stay in long. They did have fun playing on the beach in the sand though.

We tried to go to the fireworks on Saturday night. The park staff told us all about them when we checked in. The part they forgot to tell us was that parking to view the fireworks was along the road on the shoulders around the scenic overlook and that you needed to get there hours before to get a parking place. When we arrived, all the spaces were gone. We ended up down the road behind some trees. We did see some of the fireworks display...those that were shot very hight in the air. The kids were satisfied...and Abby really liked that she could see them but did not have to hear the loud booms from the cannons.

All in all - a very good trip. We walked around the campground with the map and marked the spots we'd like to try next time we go. Hopefully we'll make time to go on several other camping trips this summer.