We went camping...sort of

Ok ok - so I know I haven’t written in awhile. But if you check out my podcast, you can see I am still alive.

My best friend (the hubs) and I went camping. We headed out to Greenbrier State Forrest in Caldwell, WV. I camped here once awhile ago - when I was pregnant with my daughter. Yea, I was about 7 months pregnant and went camping. It was actually the last time I had gone camping. I picked this place again for the main factor of cell phone service. I know, it seems shallow. But I still have to answer the phones for work while gone so I can’t be without it until I can afford to have someone answer the phones for me. This campground is pretty close to interstate and the little towns (Caldwell, White Sulphur Springs and Lewisburg).

This is the tunnel you have to drive through to get to the cabins, campground and park. It’s only wide enough for one car. It’s so cool once inside. Train tracks travel across the top. Driving through it’s like time travel. One side is gas stations, fast food restaurants, and the interstate. The other side - a little slice of heaven. Trees line the road on either side. There are a few residential homes prior to entering into the park but once there, it’s still and quiet with the occasional car passing by on the road. You pass by the cabins, which my parents have rented a few times. Standard two bedroom cabins with 1 bath. Most of the state parks in this time era have the same cabin lay-out pretty much.

We stayed at site number 7, which is the closest to the bathroom. All the sites have electrical which was a nice perk.

Overall it was just nice to get away and sniff a tree. I had been trying to sniff a tree for some time now so it was good to finally check that off my list. And for you weirdos out there, I didn’t actually go up to a tree and sniff it. Being in the woods in the fall has a different smell. I just love it.

See my family didn’t have much money when I was growing up. But every year, we would go camping. Not to this campsite but close. We would go to Blue Bend up the mountain on Route 92 near Alvon, WV. It’s about 30 mins or so from White Sulphur Springs. This place holds so many memories. My family has been camping there since before I was born. Heck, before they had an actually bath house and you had to shower in the creek….yes the cold creek. Every year we would go for a weeks vacation, typically around my mother’s birthday in August.

So of course when visiting up in this direction, I have to stop by. These two photos I took on this trip. The leaves were just starting to change and it was beautiful. It was still hot. I think that day it had gotten in the 80s and for October in the mountains, that’s hot. But the nights were cool. Cool enough to need a sweatshirt and pants. Heaven!

We didn’t actually camp. We didn’t stay in a tent. We converted the back of my car into our bed by bringing our oversized mattress pad, pillows and blankets. It wasn’t all bad. Being so close to the bathhouse did play a factor as to the light being on all night. And the being so close to the main road could be a problem especially if I were in a tent. Being in the car drowned out most of the exterior sounds. I actually had to run my sound machine on my phone. Where we were staying had a chance of rain both nights. If it weren’t for that, I would have rolled down the windows in the car. The last night we were there, I strung up a few bungee cords with blankets and towels to block out the light from the bathhouse. It really worked well.

First off, yes- we brought our own grill. Sometimes when we have rented cabins, there is no grill grate over the firepit. We wanted to be prepared. Secondly, coffee peculators aren’t easy. This was THE ONE THING I wanted besides sniffing trees when we went up there.