It was the first time our kiddos have ever been tent camping.
It was the first time Billy and I have ever been tent camping WITH kids;)
It was the first time any of us have been to New Hampshire, Maine, or Vermont
It was the first time Alexa has ever been stung by an insect (we think it was a hornet but we didn't see it - thankfully, no allergic reactions!)
It was Penny's first time to have off-leash freedom.
It was our first time visiting Billy's army buddy Craig and his family!
It was the kids first time on a ferry
It was our first time visiting the Adirondacks
We had an amazing time, despite a few unplanned 'adventures!' Packing the car became our first 'adventure' as we didn't realize how much MORE stuff you take on a camping trip when essentially 'car camping' instead of backpacking. Thankfully, the kids and dog were patient, and due to Billy's awesome puzzle solving skills, we made it work! :)
We arrived at our campsite in New Hampshire around 4pm on Sunday, and the rain arrived with us. It slacked off enough for us to set up camp, let the kids play on the playground, and enjoy a fire and S'mores, but just after we went to bed, a steady rain fall began...and continued for the next 36 hours.
The rain changed our original plan to hike in a local state park, but thankfully, we had already made reservations for Penny to 'play' at a local daycare facility, so after dropping her off, we took the kids to Clark's Trading Post to enjoy the trained bear shows, the train ride, the acrobat circus, and a few other INSIDE attractions. Since the rain wasn't giving up, we then saw the Smurfs and grabbed dinner at a local restaurant.
("Welcome to camping kids, we're going to the movies and eating out!")
Here we are waiting for the bear show to begin
Thankfully, these are the ONLY bears we saw on our camping trip!
Even in the rain, Clark's Trading Post was a cute place with lots of fun attractions
Brody and me on the train ride
One of the bears, hanging out on his 'treehouse'
The next morning, we packed up camp in the rain and headed to Maine. Thankfully, as we drove north, the weather improved, and we were greeted by the sun in Patten. Billy deployed with Craig in 2004 and has wanted to visit his family in Maine ever since. Patten is a small community north of Bangor, so it is an area not frequented by travelers other than moose or bear hunters.
The kids were excited to play with Craig and Jen's kids, and even more excited to find out Craig's restaurant offers soft serve ice cream! :) We all indulged on yummy food during our time in Maine.
We stayed at Camp Wapiti, a rustic retreat with multiple cabins surrounding a beautiful secluded lake. It was nice to sleep in an actual bed for a few nights. The camp hosts had a 2 year old, well-trained lab named Belle, and she and Penny became fast friends, romping through the grass and swimming in the lake together. Penny was allowed off leash at the camp and she enjoyed her new freedom immensely! Craig and his family joined us at the camp and the kids swam, kayaked around the lake with the dads, played checkers, and just enjoyed being kids.
However, I have come to believe that the true motivation for our trip to the Northeast happened that evening - after another delicious dinner at Craig's restaurant, we returned to their home for a game of RISK. This may sound 'innocent' enough, but apparently, these RISK games occurred every Sunday evening while the guys were deployed and this was the much anticipated rematch.
We had a great evening and weren't ready for our time in Maine to come to an end, but we had reservations at a campsite in Vermont, so the next morning, we packed up and headed to the Green Mountains. Thankfully, the weather remained pleasant throughout the rest of our trip, and after a laid back evening of PB and J and S'mores our first night at the campsite, we hit the trails the next morning. Now the map given to us at the front gate was rather rough and labeled a particular trail as a loop, so that was the trail we headed out on as it skirted the river and seemed to be an easy yet picturesque hike. Soon, that trail joined another...and then another. It became clear that the 'loop' apparently did not exist! We did eventually find another trail head that connected us with our original trail and back to our campsite - all in all, we were hiking for about 4 hours!
The kids did FANTASTIC!! We had thankfully brought along LOTS of snacks and water, but after that little adventure, we decided to forgo any additional hiking for the day and instead, drove into Stowe, VT for some yummy pizza, beautiful scenery, some playtime at a park, and Ben and Jerry's ice cream!
On our way back in to the campsite, we stopped to enjoy the beautiful views...just gorgeous!
The next day, we left our campsite and drove about an hour to the VT/NY border and hiked Mt. Philo, an 'easy' one mile hike that offers amazing views of Lake Champlain and the Adirondack Mountains from the top.
After our hike, we took the ferry across Lake Champlain...
...and drove to our campsite at Lake Placid. The rain caught up with us here, though it was only a drizzle instead of a downpour and didn't really affect our cooking plans. However, due to the rain, I didn't end up with any photos from our last night of camping.
Both kids have already asked when we can go camping again, so I think that is proof the trip was a success. As always, the kids observations made us smile, and while I'm sure a few were moments that 'you had to be there' to enjoy, I'm posting them here so we won't forget.
Brody had never seen my sleeping bag which is a 'mummy bag' - a sleeping bag that covers the back and top of your head and is more narrow at the bottom than the top. When we had the tent set up, he pointed to it and asked me what it was. "It's a mummy bag" I replied. Brody then says, "Oh, and Daddy has a 'daddy bag' and Alexa has a 'lexa bag' and I have a Brody bag!"
We had given each child a new activity book to keep them busy during our road trip. Alexa was looking at hers and, unbeknownst to us at the time, one of the activities was a scavenger hunt for specific road signs. So, in a moment of relative quiet (for a car filled with two kids and a dog) while driving through the beautiful, winding, mountain roads, our 8-year old states rather pensively, "I'm looking for a sign." She was looking for a moose crossing sign, to be exact, but even knowing the motivation behind her statement, we still found it pretty entertaining.
Lastly, we had purchased new raincoats for this trip, figuring we just might need them. Alexa had picked out a purple one, which she loved. When we reached New Hampshire in the midst of a downpour, we passed out the coats in the car, asking the kids to put them on before they got out, to which Alexa replied, "But I don't want to get my new raincoat wet!" Despite her initial reservations, the coat was well broken in by the end of this trip!
