Camping Trip - June 2017

North Bend State Park - a jewel in North Central West Virginia

Life has been busy and stressful since I last posted here.  I started a new job in November and then, to maintain my hours and paycheck, I started working in two locations for this company each week, and to top it all off, the continuing saga of being shoved out of my husband's life like a tick being extracted from a dog is ongoing.  I'm still looking for an afordable place to live.  God has this.

In an effort to mitigate the stress, dear daughter and I went camping the weekend after Memorial day.  It was a lovely overnight trip and we stayed at North Bend's River Run campground.  Our spot was right on the river and we hung our hammocks before meeting up with Ranger Ken and two other campers for a nature hike.

Pinecones abound

Two more campters enjoying the trail

Pretty!

If you ever get to the chance to go to this amazing State Park, do so.  it's well worth your time and they have so many awesome programs!  The staff is super friendly and always accomodating.  Park rangers like Ken, Kathy and Steve make the experience special.

North Bend State Park Ranger Ken talking about trees and invasive species

White pine, hemlock, oak and maple trees soared over our heads as Ken talked about forest growth progression and invasive species.

Japanese Barberry - an invasive species

Garlic mustard, Japanese stilt grass and autumn olive are crowding out native plants at an alarming rate.  People, just say no to non-native ornamentals in your gardens!  They might look pretty, but it's like Jurrasic Park.  These things have a way of getting away from you..

Pawpaws in season

I was pleased to discover what PawPaw looks like and found out that North Bend allows campers to harvest them during Pawpaw season for their own use.

HONK HONK!

Bebeh Gooses!

 We returned to our campsite after the hike to find it had been taken over by a wandering flock of geese.  The honkers were quite funny to watch as they pecked at bugs in the grass.  hotdogs.  They sell this awesome firestarter candle they make in the park.  Using a 3 oz. paper souffle cup, sawdust, wax and a candle wick, they sell them for a dollar in the campground office.  I like one match campfires!  Oh yeah - remind me to get another lighter for my car camping kit.  Thank God for well stocked campground offices!

When the geese had wandered off, dear daughter and I got a fire going in the fire pit and roasted hotdogs for supper.  The campground office and store sold these really great fire starters that worked wonderfully.  Using a 3 oz. paper souffle cup, a candle wick, sawdust and wax, we only needed ONE match to get a cheery blaze going.  The best part - these firestarters cost less than a dollar and the profits help support the park!  I love that it only took a single match to get things going, too.  Thanks North Bend!!

Add sawdust, a candle wick and wax - voila!

After supper dear daughter and talked for a while and made smores, then got ready for bed.  I had the dubious pleasure of grounding when one of my hammock straps failed - not once, but twice!  At least the weather was great and I didn't have to meddle around fixing my hang in the rain.  Dear daughter got to test out my new underquilt with a light weight, thin sleeping bag as an overquilt.  I used a 0 degree bag and we were comfortable into the low 50's over night.  We ended our trip the next morning, heading home with another fistfull of memories.  Now to plan the next trip  :)