Back from our big summer camping trip, this time in Acadia National Park. Fun, but there was a bit of a curse on this particular expedition. First the valve on our mattress broke and we slept on the hard and pointy rocks that make up the campsites at Blackwoods. (I ended up coveting the soft moss around each campsite as a result.) On childhood backpacking trips, I was used to sleeping on bedrolls, but I have to admit that I’ve gotten accustomed to inflatable mattresses in the years since. We picked up a cheap replacement and duct-taped its also-leaking valve shut.
This turned out to be a trip-saving move as a huge thunderstorm rolled over the camp that night, dropping what seemed like an inch or so of rain during the evening. Our tent is pretty watertight and I’d pitched it so that the water flow under it kept anything from pooling, but we still had quite a bit of water inside. I’d thought to put everything up on our chairs, so only a few towels and whatnot got soaked. Most of the camp cleared out that morning, as it seemed most people had everything get soaked.
Then I agreed to go whale-watching with my daughter. I’ve never been seasick before, but it’s been a while since I was on a boat. For some reason this particular voyage really got to me at both ends of my digestive system, and it was well over a day before I felt halfway human again.
And then it rained heavily again. But we did have some great hikes and several totally beautiful days. Plus this year I found some decent campwood, which made cooking over the fire a much more relaxing experience.
