Our Camper's Maiden Voyage

We bought a camper last year and it sat in our back yard, sad and lonely.  I'd been wanting to go camping for a months, so this fall when things slowed down a bit, we reserved a site at a local state park.  It was going to be November, but it couldn't be that cold, right?

Kylee made some fire starters for us to use on our trip.  They're just toilet paper rolls stuffed with dyer lint.

Friday afternoon we packed up and headed out.  We got there just in time to set up before it got dark. Luckily the park sold firewood, so we only had to find a bit of kindling before we were able to start a fire.  The fire starters were so-so, but I think plain old twisted up newspaper works best.

We had a simple dinner of roasted hot dogs and s'mores for dessert.

Christmas lights were dual purpose...for decoration and to add more light outside!

Our camper is a hybrid, so it's part travel trailer and part pop-up (the beds fold out like a pop up).

Our first night was very cold.  We had heat, but didn't turn it up high enough. I forgot how little insulation campers have!  Between the cold and the dogs barking at every sound, we didn't get much sleep.

The next morning, David and Devin went hunting.  Devin recently passed the hunter safety test, so he and David were ready to try their hand at squirrel hunting.

I cant believe how big Devin is getting.

Unfortunately for them, they didn't see a single squirrel in the woods that morning. Kylee and I spent most of our day napping, trying to catch up on missed sleep!  Then we had a great fire ready by the time the guys got back.

We had pizza mountain pies (hot sandwiches made with a sandwich iron). They were delicious!

I made a make-shift tie out for the dogs so I wouldn't have to hold their leashes all of the time.

Then we played games until bedtime, and cranked the heat way up before bed. We all slept better that night, but we were glad to get home!  Next time we'll save camping for the summer and early fall, before it drops below freezing at night!