Every year, Dimitar and I try to go camping. We first started camping several years ago and since then, we can both now say we can start a fire; our first time trying left us with no firewood - so funny! This year however, because of the move and settling in, we just haven't been able to consider going. Since the weather is getting colder, and we really missed the experience of being outdoors, we made our reservations at our favorite park and began to prepare for our trip.
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| Our camping gear - we still forgot some items |
Our reservation were for two nights. Originally we were going to stay one night because of the piggies and the cold, but after some arrangements we made, we decided on two nights. We pulled out all of our camping gear from the storage and organized everything; I even made a list, but deep down, I knew we'd forget something; we always do. Since camping is often gritty and testing of ones simplicity, I baked a pizza for us to enjoy for dinner. Since I wanted to have soup while there, I chopped up some vegetables and prepared a seasoning so that I could make the soup once we arrived. I was so excited!
Before leaving for the park, we had to go grocery shopping to stock the cooler with goodies; I wasn't going to do a keto diet while camping since the weekend was normally my time to splurge which I was very much looking forward to. After our shopping, which took awhile, we finally went to the park and checked ourselves in. Also, both my phone and my camera batteries were both charged before leaving and all of the batteries ended up dyeing; so weird since this happened the majority of the trip!
We arrived at Pohick Bay Park and checked in at about 4 o'clock; pretty late since the sun goes down around that time! We also picked up our firewood before making our way to our campsite and figured out that for winter time, it's best to get at least four to six bundles of firewood for two nights. Dimitar and I have written down the best camp sites throughout the park and every year we always try to go to different ones; this year we picked #56.
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Since the sun was close to setting, we tried to be diligent. We managed to put up the tent quickly but it was setting up the fire that took the longest and was the hardest to maintain since our memory on how to arrange the firewood was a bit faint. By the time we had the fire going, the sun was completely down, and it looked like we were in a Blair Witch Project movie! So creepy.
We stayed up late that night pigging out on smores, pizza, and listening to christmas music; after that we then listened to ghost stories which didn't help after me talking about the Blair Witch Project movie. It was also pretty cold and neither Dimitar and I wanted to leave the fire so we stayed up for as long as the fire stayed burning; about 11pm.
When the fire burnt out, we both hit the tent. We had a new camping bag that we were excited to try out, SleepInGo, and many people reviewed that it had a decent insulation rating for colder seasons. Well, even though it was very spacious, I had to wear multiple layers to stay warm the entire trip, including 3 socks, 2 layers of clothing, a hat, and a fleece blanket on top of us; it wasn't fun but it kept us warm. Of course, this was all probably due to the fact that our tent wasn't winter friendly and had mesh walls, so we've made a reminder to get a new tent!
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| Our tent with top off - not winter friendly! |
That night I woke up with a kink in my neck and had weird dreams that left me waking up crying; so weird! Dimitar had to stop by the apartment to check on the piggies and to also get some of the items that we forgot; the canopy, can opener, our camping pillows, and a pot to cook my soup in. The whole process took about 40 mins. While Dimitar was gone, I entertained myself by doing my makeup, vlogging around the campgrounds, and reading. It was so peaceful to hear the crows around me chatting away as I read my new favorite novel, "Circe," by Madeline Miller.
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| Comfort Station |
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Left: Stalls | Right: Showers |
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| Waiting for my soup! |
After I ate - finally - we geared up for a trail walk and drove to the trail entrance which was only a few yards away from our campsite. At this point my phone and camera both died on me so I was left to use Dimitar's phone; it made me wonder if there was a ghost around because my batteries just wouldn't stay charged!
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| Beautiful trails |
We got back at the camp site just in time to cut more firewood and start the fire before the sun went down. As a treat, we made ourselves more smores because... why not? The fire we made this time around was so much better too and lasted the entire night without going out; all we needed was a fresher upper. We first had our charcoal bits on the bottom, then small wood shavings laid out on top, small sticks afterwards, and then the large logs to top it off. It was a great "formula," that kept us pretty warm! Whenever the flames died down, we simply added more sticks or logs to it to keep it going which did the trick.
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| Our best camp fire |
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| Warm and cozy |
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| Camping in November |
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