Thinking of Future Camping for 2024 and Thinking Back to Past Camping Trips to When We Started in 2021

Camping in 2021

Carrie and I have been camping one time so far this year (see Big Bend Post) and it was great. We are wanting to go camping so bad many more times while it is nice this spring, summer, and fall. Right now, we have one spot reserved for the summer, but we are keeping our eyes open for other dates we can camp. The places we camp over the next few months will probably be located in Kansas. Our trip to Big Bend was our first camping trip outside the state of Kansas. Yes, we want to do more camping trips outside Kansas, but I am not sure those will happen this year.

One spot I am hoping we are able to fit in this year is Wilson State Park. I hear only good things from those that have been to this location about how beautiful it is with amazing views. Wilson State Park has been on our list to visit for a few years, but it has not worked out for us to get out there to this point. I am hoping this will be the year that we are able to make it out to this beautiful spot in Kansas.

Thinking back to when we started camping back in May 2021. Little did I know that it would become a passion for both Carrie and me. We love the whole experience of camping so much and cannot wait until our next camping trip. As I review past trips, I wondered where we were at with our count of locations and camping trips.

We have been multiple times to Eisenhower State Park which we love. There is a good chance we will be back to Eisenhower State Park at some point this summer. We have a favorite spot there and really enjoy the trails and location. Other locations in Kansas that we have been included (links are to blog posts) Crawford State Park, Lake Milford near Junction City, HipCamp on the Saline River by Hays, KS, Council Grove, and finally Big Bend National Park in Texas.

A rough guess on number of times we have been camping would be ten times. Hoping to increase our camping number throughout the next few months. In 2022 and 2023, we had busy spring, summer, and fall seasons, so camping was difficult to work in during those years, but hoping get some more dates scheduled for this year.

Camping Trip in June 2021

Finding sites to camp near lakes is the best as it is so beautiful and brings back memories of being a kid hanging out at Lone Star Lake or Clinton Lake. Plus, Carrie and I are getting into trails, so we want to keep that trend going from our Big Bend trip. We are planning to do some trails in Kansas City, or even around Topeka, that look interesting. Just to keep what we started in Texas going and might even play a role in where we pick to do our camping trips for this year. Still, I am sure we will end up at some of our usual spots but also hoping to visit some new locations this year.

Until next time, have a great week. I hope you are able to find your next camping spot or do what makes you happy.

Camping Discussion for September and October plus Future Camping and Taking Our Dog in Cooler Temperatures

Carrie and I have not been camping in a few months, so we are thinking about going here soon before it gets cold. We are debating on whether to go camping for our anniversary or wait until October. We are looking at options and trying to figure out when we could do a long weekend for another camping adventure.

We learned this week that the annual festival I attend each year, King Biscuit Blues Festival, has been canceled for the second time in a row. Sad to hear we will not be at the festival this year and not able to see our friends that travel from all over the country to attend. Although it makes sense with the rise of COVID cases across the country, it is sad to not be going again this year. So, instead of going to a blues festival, Carrie and I might take a long weekend and go camping instead. Although no dates are set and we do not have anything reserved at this time.

If possible, we would love to be able to do two or three more camping trips before it gets cold. I am not sure how that will work out though. As we see August come to an end, we move into September and if the first few weeks of September are anything like the last few weeks of August, it would be very warm to go camping. Granted, the weather should start cooling down where it will be nice to camp, but it would be cool during the evening and just the day to deal with the heat.

We did learn from our camping adventure back in June (see Camping in Hot Temperatures at lake Milford Near Junction City) that we can go camping in extreme temperatures, but it would be nice to be able to take our dog and not have him overheat in the weather. So, hopefully late September we can get a camping visit done and then two more in October.

I am not sure how much Oliver likes to camp as we have only taken him two times so far in our adventures, but he seems to like the experience. He sleeps throughout the day, enjoys going on walks as we do much more walking when we are camping than at home, and he likes watching the people at the other camp sites. The weather might be too warm to take him in September, but hopefully we can take him at least once in October if we can get a date set.

We did book a camp site for the future (2022) in Big Bend National Park and we cannot wait for that trip. The dates are tentatively set as Carrie could see the dates disappearing, but we do have that to look forward to in 2022.

What trips do you have planned for future camping sites? Do you have a favorite you would recommend that Carrie and I visit? We would love to hear from you in the comments. Until next week, have a great week!

Camping at Eisenhower State Park at Lake Melvern was a Success with Cold and Rain

Carrie, Oliver, and I went on our first camping adventure May 10 - 12, 2021. Our location was Eisenhower State Park located on Lake Melvern. Carrie had researched a number of camp sites and spots at various sites. We settled on 5 Star Camp Ground located in the Eisenhower State Park. We selected lot 514 and after arriving, we changed to 516. Going in the middle of the week, there was no one else in our camp area that was camping, so we were able to change without any issue. We were pleased with site 516. Great view of the lake, paths to hike, and most important, a good spot to pitch our tent. 

We both took off work for our camping adventure. I ended up taking the whole week off even though we were camping three days. We attended Erins’ graduation Friday following our camping trip, so it worked out to take the whole week. Plus, as it turns out, after camping three days, I could use the rest on Thursday. It also helped that I needed to mow, so that happened Thursday.

Carrie did a lot of research on camping. She has been watching video blogs (vlogs) and we have watched a few of them together. She got a lot of great ideas from the vblogs. Ideas from lights, washing dishes, to how to cook. We had also ordered a number of items to take on our trip which was from her research and included mats that self inflate and have foam, better sleeping bags, a rug for the tent, and then spots for our shoes inside and out of the tent. This means we had a lot of items to pack for the car. Not to mention items for Oliver that we were taking too. A three day, two night, camping experience meant we had the back completely packed with items with the seat next to Oliver also packed to the ceiling. I believe Carrie was holding items in her lap as there was no place else to put it in the car. Luckily, the drive to the camp site was only about 45 minutes.

Site 516 was close to the water with a little trail down to the water. We later found out it was a hot fishing spot to catch Crappie as we saw people in there fishing throughout the three days we were there and they were catching a lot of fish. One guy on our last day caught his limit, left, and came back to fish more. We watched them catch fish and decided at some point our future camping experience, we will fish and enjoy that experience too.

Really, site 516 was perfect with the location, the fire pit, and then we ended up putting our tent to the west of the large tree in the picture to the left. It was a nice flat spot for the tent. We used a tarp to set our tent on so that moisture from the ground would not come up through the tent. As it turned out, good we did as it rained on us pretty hard on the second morning we were there… More on this later on in the story.

It did not take long at all to set up our tent and get situated with our camp site. Staked out Oliver while we set up our tent, got the picnic table situated, and made preparations for a light lunch which included chicken salad sandwiches. It was a good way to start our camping experience. Check-in for our site was anytime after 2 pm, so we had a late lunch and a chance to enjoy the scenery. As we were beginning to set up our tent, we noticed a tick on the tent. It would be one of two we would see the whole time we were camping, but still have to be careful. We will be inspecting Oliver, and ourselves, over the next several days. We did take bug spray for ticks, chiggers, and mosquitos, so hopefully that helped for us. Then Oliver of course takes a pill to prevent ticket or flea bites that I had just given to him a week earlier. 

Monday afternoon following lunch, we spent reading, and looking at the beautiful surroundings. We went on a late afternoon walk down the road to see what was beyond our camp site. We found the bathroom facilities that included a swing set we would return to upon our return back to our camp site. Following our little walk, we returned to our camp site to prepare for dinner. We were grilling skirt steak with veggies in aluminum foil to make fajitas. We thought we had read on the Eisenhower State Park site that there were full grills on site, but we found only in-ground grill with the ability to do a fire pit from the same location. It worked out well, but took a little bit to get the hang of the fire using charcoal. It took a while to cook the veggies or at least longer than we thought it should take, so Carrie finished them off in a pot over a flame. Overall, the dinner turned out great and following dinner we had a fire pit where we sat around, drank wine, and played games. It was a little chilly that first night, so the fire helped. Oliver started having some reaction to the smoke where he was having problems breathing, so we decided to call it a night and head to bed.

The first night it was really cold in our tent. It was around 45 outside and could feel every bit of it in the tent. From being outside around the fire pit, Oliver was pretty cold or at least we thought he was cold. We kept him bundled up and checked on him throughout the night. I know Carrie and I both commented the next day how cold we were as my nose, shoulders, and arms were cold. Hanging my arm out of the sleeping bag and I could feel the cold take over my whole arm before withdrawing back into the sleeping bag for warmth. 

Carrie and I both commented at how poorly we slept the first night. My issue was that each time I was about to fall asleep, I would hear a train and the whistle from the train. I think they were going all night long about every 30 minutes. It sounded as though they were right outside of our tent. At one point, I thought they were done, but then they started up again about 3 am and went until about 6:30 or 7 with every 30 minutes I could hear the rumble of the freight cars before the train would blow the whistle. It was a bit frustrating, but learned something that first night that Carrie had prepared for as she knew I would likely be snoring without my CPAP machine, so she wore ear plugs, but even then she said she did not sleep well.

The following morning (Tuesday), I got up about 6 am as I could not sleep hearing the train whistles all night. I took Oliver on a short walk to let him out. It was rather nice at 6 am. Still chilly but that was about all. We knew prior to leaving for our camping adventure that there was a chance of rain all three days. We watched the percentages go up and down the weeks leading up to our camping dates. The first day was nice overall with it being cold in the evening. Tuesday the weather said chance of rain 40% and it would start about 9 am. Sure enough, after returning from walking Oliver, Carrie was up for a short time, and then about 9 am it started to rain. It rained constantly until about noon. We remained in the tent the whole time. Having not slept well during the night, we used the time to try and sleep. I slept off and on through the morning while taking pictures and even a video of the rain from within the tent. Not the way we had imagined our first morning camping to occur, but we have to roll with the weather and made the best of the start of our first full day of camping.

The afternoon was much better on Tuesday. We went for a long walk all over the camp site. We made the full loop that we had walked partially on Monday afternoon. We figured out where the beach, other camping sites, and the cabins were located. We returned back to our camp site where we spent the remainder of the afternoon with chairs in front of our tent facing the lake, reading, and drinking beer. This was our second interaction with a fisherman fishing at the “hot fishing spot”. This time I watched him catch fish after fish. It looked like fun and made me want to fish again.

Tuesday night we had planned to grill and fire pit again, but as the evening started, the chill set in again, and it started to sprinkle with forecast saying it would rain until about 11. So, we changed our dinner plans and instead of grilling, we did leftovers from the night before, potatoes, peppers, onions, and cheese in a pot over the gas stove we had taken with us. It turned out great with some tortillas that we warmed over the open flame. As we finished dinner, the rain was picking up a bit more, so we decided to turn into the tent and watch a movie. We set up our cooler so we could easily access for beverages, and then set up the iPad so we could watch a movie we had downloaded prior to leaving from Netflix. A nice cozy evening and we were sleeping by midnight.

Our second night of sleep was much better. Carrie loaned me some ear plugs so I would not have to listen to trains throughout the night. I am not sure I moved the entire night. I woke up about 6 am again, but felt much better after a full-nights sleep. We awoke to a much warmer morning and then sun was shining. It was beautiful out as we got about our day. I took Oliver on a walk and opened the screens on the tent so that light showed in from the front and back of the tent. As I returned from taking Oliver on walk, Carrie was up and preparing for the day. Carrie made us coffee and then eggs, bacon, and cheese along with toast. A perfect morning to finish our camping adventures.

Overall, we were very pleased with Eisenhower State Park at Lake Melvern. The camping site, services, and views were just what we needed to help us start our camping adventures. We both look forward to many more camping adventures to come in the near future. We are already looking at locations and talking about making plans for our next site.

Cleaning House and Thinking About Future Kansas Camping Locations

A quiet weekend for Carrie and I cleaning to spend Saturday. More cleaning planned for Sunday. Camping the past few weekends have left us to the point where we need to spend time getting the house back in order. Following our camping trips and knowing that we would be camping again soon, we would leave camping supplies by the kitchen door. 

We spent the day Saturday getting things organized and put away. Not very exciting, but we did spend a little while looking at a Kansas Wildlife and Parks that researched Kansas State Parks. We signed up for the Kansas magazine to get future information about Kansas Wildlife and Parks. I believe Carries’ Mom found the magazine and gave it to us. Carrie and I read through the entire magazine looking at the various State Parks and reviewing those we have already visited (my blog posts Lake Melvern, Lake Crawford, and most recently Milford Lake) and thinking about those we have yet to visit. 

As we reviewed the Kansas Wildlife and Parks, we thought that we had been to some of the largest camp sites in Kansas, but realized we have not even scratched the surface. The largest camp site in Kansas is El Dorado State Park. Totally makes sense as I have always been in amazement when driving to Wichita and going over the El Dorado Lake that I-35 goes over partially. I look forward to our visiting El Dorado State Park at some point in our future camping visits. Plus, we picked out many other sites to visit in our future camping.

For now, our camping adventures are on hold. We were lucky with our last camping adventure (Camping in Hot Temperatures) and hot temperatures, but feel it is best to hold camping until temperatures drop in the fall. That does not mean we are not looking at locations and planning for future camping adventures.

Where is your favorite location to camp in Kansas? Please comment to share your recommendation for where to camp in Kansas. 

For now, stay cool through the summer months and until next week, have fun!

Thinking of Warmer Weather and Camping… Lots and Lots of Camping

Is it bad that I am already thinking of camping. I cannot wait to go camping. Thinking about where we are going to camp, what we will do while we are there, or what trails we will walk. We are still a few months out from camping weather here in Kansas. It is hard to believe that just a year ago Carrie and I started camping. We set up our tent for the first time back in April (see Tent Set up with Happy Dog and Happy Tent Owners) and then we did our first camping trip on May 16 (see Camping at Eisenhower State Park) where we actually went twice last season to the same exact spot both times. We loved the camp site and the area.

When we had nice weather not too many days ago, I would go outside with Oliver and talk about how we could go camping. Well, until evening came and the temp dropped and there was not way we could be camping. Last year, Carrie and I went to three different camp sites last year. We are hoping to expand on the new sites this year. Another couple of months and we will begin plotting out our stops. We do plan on taking one trip to a camp site outside of Kansas although that is up in the air currently on whether that one will happen.

I am looking forward to relaxing by our camp site, reading or playing games, and enjoying the scenery of the lake we are near. Looking forward to spending time with Carrie and Oliver while we relax and not worry about what is happening elsewhere. We might even find a spot where cell service does not work and we are suddenly disconnected from the world. It is fun to look back at all of our adventures from last year (see Camping) to see our adventures. Carrie cooked some amazing meals while we were camping and we had great times with great memories while we were camping. I cannot wait to get out and start new memories this year.

What are your favorite camp sites? Where is a spot you have visited more than once? Do you have any recommendations for places to visit either in or out of Kansas?

Camping trip to Council Grove Lake June 14 - 17 adventure with pictures and descriptions. Come experience Council Grove camping with us.

Camp Site at Council Grove Lake

We were able to get our first camping trip of the season on June 14 - 17 at Council Grove Lake. The prior weekend we drove around looking at camp sites at various lakes, but decided on Council Grove camp site once we found this hidden gem right by the dam. No other camp sites nearby as it is at the end of the road and it was excellent!

We went camping with Erin and Greg for what I believe we discussed was our overall fourth time to camp altogether. We took Oliver with us on the camping trip and he had a great time. Greg and Erin took Charley for her first ever camping trip. I think she had a good time and also enjoyed some time in the water which I will share pictures of later in this post. Both dogs did well with only one instance where Oliver got aggressive as he thought Charley was going to take his bed. We kept the dogs up late each night we were camping around the campfire.

Sunset on Council Grove Lake

I took the picture to the left while walking Oliver on Thursday night. The reflection of the sun off of the water was impressive and the picture does display how brilliant the view was from the walk. I took Oliver on a number of walks although we let him wander around the camp site without being leashed. He enjoyed it and did a good job of sticking around the site as well as coming back when he would wander off to far.

Wednesday night we got to the camp site around 8 pm. I worked that Wednesday and then left for the camp site once I got home. We are about an hour from Council Grove Lake although we had our car packed and items on the roof, so we had to drive a little slower than normal with chairs and items on the roof. Greg and I had a golf draft to do at 8:30, so we quickly got our tent put up for Carrie and I. The ladies went to pick up Pizza Hut for us for dinner while Greg and I did our draft. It was some of the best Pizza Hut I have had in a long time. Cooked perfect, hot, and delicious. Worked out great as we had arrived at the camp site so late in the day and no time to cook anything ourselves. A perfect plan we had thought up leading up to our camping trip. We stayed up late around the fire Wednesday night and talking about our upcoming adventures. Fun first night!

Sleepy Oliver After Up Prior Night

Thursday morning Carrie and I slept a little late as Oliver did not sleep well Wednesday night. He was restless and running around the tent. Each time I was almost asleep, Oliver would get up and walk around the tent making noises. Finally, about 6 am Oliver finally found a spot to lay down and went to sleep. I am not sure what his issue was other than both Carrie and I usually do not sleep well the first night of camping so we are guessing that Oliver is the same and has problems sleeping the first night too.

Cornhole Tournament While Camping

After waking up, having a small breakfast, we relaxed around the camp site. I read a few chapters and dozed in my chair. Oliver of course slept from being up the night before. An enjoyable start to our first full day of camping. After a late lunch, we spent part of the afternoon playing Cornhole. We only played Cornhole the one day although we planned to play more we never got back to play. It was fun and took us to the early evening of playing before we started dinner.

Chicken Piccata on Firedisc

Thursday night for dinner, Carrie made chicken piccata for us on the Firedisc. It worked out great and it was delicious! First time making chicken piccata while camping. The chicken and green beans on the Firedisc were really good and then the pasta was one Carrie found that did not need to do boiling water, so we were able to warm those up on the Firedisc. Yum!

Finished Chicken Piccata for Dinner

We ended up eating around 8 Thursday night and then spent the evening around the fire listening to music, talking, and enjoying the outdoors.

Each time we go camping, we try to plan a theme for a music list so we can listen while we are camping. This time we decided to come up with ten songs from the year we graduated high school that were released the year of our graduation year plus the year both couples were married with each person selecting ten songs from the year married that were released during that year. Makes for a fun time and then we try to guess who selected what songs. If you are interested, here is the playlist Carrie put together with all the songs titled Camping at Council Grove: June 2023. 

Boating on Council Grove Lake

While we were hanging out Thursday afternoon, we wandered about renting a boat. Sure enough, Council Grove Lake rents out boats, so we got one reserved for Friday. We had a blast! We took the dogs which was the first time boating for both Oliver and Charley. We went over to the beach where the marina recommended would be a good spot so we could easily get in the water. The dogs loved it and we all had a good time floating, drinking adult beverages, and enjoying the dogs in the water. At one point, we went back to the marina where they were making frozen margaritas that we took back out on the water. They were delicious!

Oliver Floating on Life Jackets

Charley Relaxing on the Boat

Oliver Relaxing

Charley Swimming Like a Champ! (Video)

Floating on Life Jackets... Happy Dog!

Sun, Water, and Boating. Good Life!

Polska Kielbasa and Fried Tators

After a full afternoon of boating, we were starving. Carrie did fried potatoes and Polska Kielbasa on the Firedisc. We made a lot of potatoes and I think we put a huge dent in what was cooked. While we cooked, the dogs slept and watched us, but never got up to come over to see what we were doing. They were both exhausted from floating/swimming they had done during the afternoon.

Camp Site at Night

We all went around the campfire to relax for the evening. While Erin, Greg, and I were relaxing, Carrie snapped some pictures of our camp site capturing the lights. It is so perfect! The only issue we had our last night of camping were the gnats. They were everywhere and flying into our faces. We had not experienced this the other nights, so not sure if it was due to storms that were supposed to roll into the area the following day or not. We covered our drinks and enjoyed our time around the fire, drinking, and listening to music.

Nature Trail Hike Before Leaving

Carrie and I had planned to camp Saturday night too but weather was scheduled to move into the area, so we decided with Oliver, it would be best to leave Saturday when Greg and Erin were leaving. We packed up our tent and some items from the camp site before we drove to the nature trail. It was a 1.25 mile hike we did with the dogs and it was perfect. We all talked about how it would be great do to the hike early in the morning when the sun was rising although it was beautiful mid-day as we did the hike.

I am so happy we were able to get our first camping trip completed. We had a wonderful time and plan to go back to Council Grove Lake in the future. Our spot was perfect and we liked the beach area where we swam off of the boat too. We do not have a next camping date set, but I hope we get one set soon.

Various September Sunday Ramblings on a Holiday Weekend About Saturdays, Fun, Routines, Sports, and Anything Else that Comes to Mind

We made an effort to try and make this a camping weekend. We (i.e. Carrie) searched for camp sites and while we found them, the weather was the issue with not going. She checked camp sites all over the state, but everywhere had rain Friday and Saturday, so we decided not to go camping. We will try again later this month and we have already selected dates in October to go camping. Of course, today being Sunday, the weather is beautiful at 74 degrees with sunshine and cool breeze. Makes us want for being by a lake camping with our dog.

That’s how it goes sometimes and we are still early in our camping experience, so I am sure we will have many more like this in the years to come. We feel the pull of nice weather and wanting to camp but as the time approaches, we have to adjust schedule to another weekend or possibly camp in the rain. As you may recall, our first camping experience (see Camping Eisenhower State Park) where we did camp in the rain and cold, it was not bad but not something we want to plan on doing if we can help it. If it it happens when we are camping where weather comes up, that is fine, but if we can avoid camping in rain/cold, that will be our choice to pick a clear weekend… as you would expect. Still, the pull from wanting to camp when it is nice is heavy. I can relate it to when I was playing golf when the weather would be nice and I would want to go golfing so bad I could not focus on anything else; the feeling of good weather and wanting to camp is similar for me.

Instead of a camping weekend, we met Greg and Erin for breakfast, ran some errands, and then had a late lunch at Boomers’ Steakhouse, Grill and Catering on Saturday. We have been having fun the past few Saturdays as we have met up just about every Saturday to have fun. Our weekend get together Saturday have included Topeka Farmer’s Market, visiting a winery, various lunches or dinner locations, and enjoying some beers at local establishments.

Next weekend, we will be going to a concert which will be fun. Eddie bought the tickets and we are making an evening of it. More on this next week. It will be fun to go to a concert as I do not recall the last one I attended… I am thinking it would have been in 2019, but I am not positive. Regardless, it will be fun to be out with others, listen to live music, and have a good time. We will be safe and cautious while we are out and keeping an eye on the venue for requirements for masks. We have all been vaccinated, but still have to be careful just as I am at work where masks are required.

This next week kicks off the NFL season. It is hard to believe as it seems like we just watched the Super Bowl. Not a game we want to remember, so maybe that’s why it seems like it was just yesterday. The Chiefs start their season on Sunday, September 12. I have two fantasy football leagues I am playing this year and I finished my last draft this past Friday. Ready for another season and ready to cheer the Chiefs to another fun season. 

Speaking of football, Washburn Ichabod football team won their first game of the season Thursday night 76 - 12 over Lincoln University of Missouri. The Kansas Jayhawks football team won their first game of the season with a new coach 17 - 14 over South Dakota. A positive start for local college sports and then we look forward to watching professional sports start up this week.

That is all for now, so have a wonderful holiday weekend and watch for a holiday post on here tomorrow. Until next week, have a great week!

First Camping Trip of the 2022 Season We Went Back to Our Favorite Eisenhower State Park at Lake Melvern

Two Tents Ready to Camp

We are so excited to be out camping for the first time this year. Somewhat a last minute scheduling as we figured all the spots would already have been taken when we booked our site only a few weeks before the Memorial Day weekend. We booked three spots as Greg and Erin now have a tent and went with us. We had some other friends we were trying to convince to go with us, but it did not work out for them, so we kept the third camp site anyway. This will be our longest camping experience so far in our rather young camp life as we will camp for four nights. Prior to this weekend, we had only camped three nights in a row last year, so we are excited to be out for another day.

 

 Packed a Lot!

The events of our weekend are written each day, or the day after, to track accounts of what we did those specific days. This post will not be published until the weekend after our weekend get away to give you a sense of timeline and how I was writing the memories of each day.

 

Thursday, May 26, 2022

I worked a half day this day so we could get out to the camp site earlier and start the weekend. We ended up leaving later than we had planned and I had a conference call to join while we were driving out to the site. We did manage to get out to the camp site by 4 pm. We took Oliver, so he rode in Carrie’s lap as there was not room to put his car seat anywhere in the car. Oliver was so excited to go in the car although he had no idea where we were headed.

Once again, our car was completely full and could not fit another item into the car. Carrie was sitting with a box at her legs full of wood and we had other boxes stuck in various places for firewood… we do not want to run out… Our car was stacked to the ceiling with everything we needed for our camping weekend. Of course, after we arrived at the camp site, we realized/remembered everything we forgot. Oh well, nothing we need immediately and we can live without those items, but it sure would have been nice to have them for this long weekend.

 

Once we got camp set up, we chilled for a while and enjoyed some adult beverages. It was a bit chilly with a good wind gust, but later in the evening the wind completely stopped and it was a beautiful night with stars as far as we could see down to the horizon. It was beautiful!

 

Firedisc Dinner is Served

We did fajitas the first night. Man they were so good! We did them in the Firedisc that we bought last year for camping. Good way to start our camping weekend with good food. We made short work of dinner and headed to the fire pit. As I mentioned, the wind died down once the sun went down, so the fire was nice to have going to warm things up a little as it was in the 50s or 60s, but sure nice to not have the wind blowing any longer.

 

Sitting Around Camp Fire

Erin got our fire roaring and we had a fun night listening to a playlist Carrie had us working on for original music scores. It was fun to hear what everyone selected and then try and think what movie the music was from. We stayed up late the first night listening to music, telling stories, and looking at the beautiful sky with all of the stars. 

 

Carrie did mention she wants to get up early one morning during this camping weekend to watch the sunrise. About 1 am, I asked her if Friday morning was that time and she said maybe Saturday morning. I think this might be difficult to accomplish as we enjoy staying up late, around the camp fire, and telling stories, so we will see if this happens.

 

Lake Was Calm Like Glass

Friday, May 27, 2022

Our first full day at the camp site was a good day. We slept a late and then had egg and bacon sandwiches to start the day. We spent time just relaxing, reading, listening to music, and talking. Such a relaxing day doing nothing. By mid-afternoon we were playing cornhole. We played teams that we changed around throughout the game. It was a lot of fun, but a few of us got a little burnt. I once again have my outlines of shoes on my feet without shoes. One item Carrie and I forgot was sunscreen, but we did end up picking it up on Saturday to we could keep safe.

 

We stayed up late listening to playlists we all submitted to Carrie ranging from songs we like to sing to songs we like to dance to while we listen. Oliver was enjoying himself sniffing all the smells and seeing people go by from their camp sites. We did let Oliver go leash-free while around the camp site which is something new for us and for him. He did great off of the leash. A few times he would start to wonder off and we would call his name, so he would come right back to camp. Good boy!

 

Sunrise Coming up Over Lake

Saturday, May 28, 2022

Saturday morning we all got up early to watch the sunrise. It was an idea Carrie had that she wanted to see the sunrise from where we are camping. We all got up with no problem and took some pictures of the sun coming up over the lake. It was beautiful! We could have gotten up a little earlier as we missed some of the colors, but it was still breathtaking to see the sun climb in the sky.

 

Walking Trails

Following watching the sunrise, we all went back to bed for a bit before we started the day. We had an easy breakfast with snacks and then headed out for the day. We then headed out to get some sunscreen, firewood, and to do some trails. Nice way to start the day. When we got back to camp, we relaxed and listened to the Royals playing in the afternoon. 

 

A Few of Us Sleeping

Some of us might have taken naps following the Royals winning their game and of course Carrie snapped a picture of us all snoozing with some snoring happening too. Always fun to get a picture of sleepy heads after having a fun time camping.

 

For dinner Carrie and Erin went into Casey’s to pick up pizza. Tradition as this is the second time we have done this as our first time was last year when we stayed at this same camp site with Greg and Erin. Delicious and no one had to cook. Following dinner as the sun started to set, we played another round of cornhole mixing up the teams once again. Beautiful evening as we played our game and listened to music. Finally, we could not see any longer, so got ready for the evening which included taking showers before we settled around the camp fire to spend the evening.

 

Sunday, May 29, 2022

We awoke early this morning to our tent leaning in our heads as the wind picked up. Oliver was a little frightened and it was rather concerning to Carrie and I too. The south side of our tent was being blown in so much by the wind it was hitting my head and freaking Oliver out. Oliver was shivering so bad as he was scared, so Carrie put a blanket over him and held him which helped to calm him down. The sun was not up yet, but I am not sure what time the wind started although it did finally dwindle and we were able to sleep until about 8:30 or 9. 

 

Tent, Lake, Movie, and Fire

Greg and Erin left us on Sunday leaving just Carrie and I to be around camp. There were still a lot of campers down the way, but no one in our area. We spent the afternoon snoozing and I listened to the Royals game. By dinner time, we had leftovers we had made the other nights camping. Decided we would build a fire and settle in for watching a movie. We watched a movie from Netflix which was not very good, but entertained us enough that we did not stop watching. The movie we watched was “Senior Year”. Glad it was “free”.

 

We let the fire die out and decided to head to bed. We wanted to get an early start to Monday morning to get packed up and head back to Topeka. We both knew we would be tired once we got back home and likely needed to rest up Monday afternoon so we could prepare to be back to work on Tuesday.

 

View from Inside Tent to Lake

Monday, May 30, 2022

I woke up a few times overnight with some high winds once again. Not as bad as the other night, but it did wake me up a few times. I know Oliver woke up from the gusts too as I would wake up and look over and he would be looking at me. I am not sure Carrie heard a thing. As we began to break down our camp site, I thought the winds picked up again, so once we took the rain fly off of the tent, our tent almost completely collapsed in on itself. Disconnecting the lines and trying to fold up the tent was a challenge, but we managed to get it done and not lose the rain fly, tent, or our tarp.

 

Tent camping in high winds is not a lot of fun, but we survived. I am thankful we did have some good weather for one or two days. While the winds were high overnight, and some during the day, overall, it was a great camping trip.

 

Sleepy Oliver

We were packed up and ready to leave about 10:30 or so. We were back in Topeka and had the car unpacked by 11:30. Oliver was exhausted as he sat in his pillow seat on Carrie’s last on the way home. He could not keep his eyes open and his tongue was out. So tired after protecting our camp site for four nights. I think he had a great time!

 

We had checked for ticks a few times and not found any on ourselves, or Oliver, but Monday evening, Carrie found one crawling off of Oliver. Later that night, we found one on me and one on Carrie that had locked into our skin. We got them removed and have not found any more on Oliver or us. Thankful the ticks were not too bad when we went. I read a Reddit camping post from someone saying they went camping in another state in the woods and found 115 tickets in 24 hours. I think we would check out and leave at that point. No thanks!

 

Closing

We had so much fun camping. So happy we were able to take Oliver camping with us and he did great! Had so much fun with Greg and Erin. We ate some amazing meals thanks to everyone involved (team effort). I hope we are able to go again soon. It is fun to put together amazing moments in nature. This was our third time for Carrie and I to camp at this exact spot and I imagine we will go back again sometime in the future to camp again. We hope to try out some new sites and other camp grounds in the future. For now, I use these blog postings and pictures to recall our time at these favorites spots as we continue to enjoy our camping adventures.

 

Until next time, enjoy your camping adventures and please feel free to comment and share your experiences. Note, clicking on any of the pictures on this post will link out to our Flickr page for all of our pictures.

Camping Weekend October 28 - 30 on the Saline River with Pictures and Description of Camping Experience with C2T and HipCamp.com

 

Only our second camping adventure of 2022, but we had a great time in western Kansas. We stayed at the C2T Ranch on the Saline River. Beautiful time of year to go camping and the weather was perfect! Carrie found this spot last year, but we did not have a chance to get out there last year. So, we decided as our second and final camping trip for 2022 we would do it here in late October. We booked our spot and headed out Friday morning to western Kansas.

Car Loaded Down for Trip

We wanted to all ride in one car, so Carrie and I bought rails for the Pilot along with a luggage carrier for the top. Worked out great! We met at our house at 7 am to pack and get everything ready. It took us a little while to figure out the luggage carrier or to get it packed correctly. We finally got on the road about 9 am. Almost three hours to get to Hays, Kansas where we stopped to get some drinks before heading out to C2T Ranch on the Saline River. The C2T is north of Hays, KS by about 10 - 15 minutes, so we headed out to find our camping spot. Easy to find the C2T location where we met the owners and they led us out to our spot.

Tents Set and Ready for Camping

Nice spot for us to set up our tents for the next two nights. The C2T has an option to buy unlimited firewood for $25 which we gladly took part in doing. We had a fire going most of the time we were there and it ran all day Saturday as we were cooking and hanging out at camp. More on this later though in this update.

Burgers and Potatoes on the Grill

Friday night we also took advantage of an option to have burgers and brats provided by C2T which worked out great! Burgers on the open flame were fantastic. I was too full to have a brat, but they looked good and heard they tasted great. They also served cut up potatoes which is in the picture on the left although foil is on it, so you cannot see them cooking. Everything was delicious!

We finished up dinner and hung out around the fire until about midnight. Talking, telling stories, and having a great time. We were commenting how during the day we were wearing short sleeves and could have worn shorts, but I think everyone had on long pants. By evening once the son went behind the trees, immediate drop in temperature, so we huddled around the fire. 

Tents at Night with Lights

The tents at night our first night with the lights on within the tents looked so cool! I had to snap a picture of it as we have done all the other times we have gone camping too where the tent looks so cool at night.

Being out in the middle of nowhere with no city lights is always a high point for me. I cannot get over all of the stars or the feeling of vastness from being in the dark. It is a fun and spooky feeling not knowing what is out where I am looking. While we do have headlamps, they do not do a lot for what is happening away from our immediate area. Again, this is part of the fun of being in the middle of nowhere and not knowing what we are seeing as we look out into the darkness.

Tents in the Day Backdrop of Trees

I am not sure the pictures are doing justice to how amazing the trees looked while we were camping. We were all surprised to see the bluffs in and around where we were camping. We knew that's what C2T had mentioned, but seeing it was cool to see. We did not hike up into the bluffs as we had planned as it was difficult to get across the water at least the few places we checked to see if we could get across, we would have had to wade out into the water. Maybe our next trip to C2T we will hike up the bluffs.

Carrie and John in Front of Bluffs

We enjoyed touring the property to look at the bluffs that were throughout the area. I had driven through western Kansas many times and I have been out there for conferences at Fort Hays, but I had not ever been out to the country to see the views of bluffs or the incredible trees that were changing. I would be interested to go back in the spring, or early summer, to see what it is like in the area. Maybe take in the lazy river that goes around the property and to see how everything looks much different from when we visited in October.  I am hoping to go back to C2T in the future at a different time of year.

Carrie and Greg Hiking

I mentioned we did tour around a little bit and got out and walked around. Not long hikes as we could not get across the low river, but hoping to do so the next time we visit C2T. There are a lot of paths or areas where we can walk to check out the property. 

As we were leaving, we talked about checking out other HipCamp sites in other states. A interesting way to see the country and to see areas we might normally see if we were camping at a state camp ground. Carrie and I have talked about doing something similar in Arkansas, but have not yet made that jump yet. My hope is that in 2023, we do a lot more camping and hopefully in different locations and states. Colorado is still on the list to do at some point, but we heard that those spots have to be booked out way in advance.

Part of the Saturday afternoon cooking was Carrie making Beef Bourguignon. Below are pictures of the process from basically the start to the end. One item I left out of the pictures was the bacon cooking, but figured you get the idea.

Beef Bourguignon Starting

Beef Bourguignon Wine Added

Beef Bourguignon Veggies Added

Beef Bourguignon Finished

This was the first attempt at Beef Bourguignon and it turned out great! It was really good and fun to watch it take shape during the afternoon while we played Rook.

I would highly recommend C2T and we hope to return there at a future date. The overall experience with HipCamp was easy and enjoyable. Sad that the camping season has come to an official end, for us, but looking forward to 2023 when we triple or quadruple our camping events.

Thank you for reading and have a great week! If you have used HipCamp or been to C2T, please comment to let me know. I would be happy to connect and discuss your favorite spots or your experience at C2T.