Last weekend we went camping (for the first time with our own gear), but I didn’t have a chance to mention it since discovering on Monday that my blog had been hacked.

Around noon on Saturday our co-worker Pamela and her 2 year old son picked up me, Stephanie, and Marcia, plus all of our stuff, and we started down the peninsula towards Portola Redwoods State Park. Had fun trying to find ice anywhere along the remote Skyline Drive, but eventually did and made it to our campsite around 4.

Set up our tent for the first time (the yellow one on the left, N.B. Stephanie really likes setting up tents). Assembled Pamela’s super sweet grill. Unloaded a lot of food. Started a fire. Entertained Pamela’s son. We were camping!

The food above included teriyaki salmon, mustard chicken, parmesan sausages, asparagus, mushrooms, and salad. Marcia probably said it best when she described camping as a big cookout—where you sleep outdoors at the end. Yep that pretty much sums it up. I still haven’t quite learned how to sleep on the ground in a sleeping bag comfortably, but something tells me it probably involves eating and drinking less.

The weather was terrific, I was in shorts and short-sleeves until midnight, sitting by the dying fire. We got an up close and personal visit from a raccoon who caught the scent of the remains of our awesome meal on the grill. We finished up the night with marshmallows, chocolate, and a bottle of Port.

After a breakfast of bacon and eggs the next morning, we packed things up and went out for a hike to the tiptoe falls. Pamela was doing double duty with a sometimes sleeping son on her back.

I think we were out for a good 3 miles, with a lot of ups and downs and of course tall trees.

More photos thanks to Marcia and Pamela.