Camper's Inaugural Camping Trip

When I married Alan, he came with a very small 1982 pop-up camper. We have some very funny memories of camping in it in our newlywed days (stay PG with me, people). There was one camping trip to the Outer Banks where we arrived to pouring rain and bug-infested bathrooms. Alas, on another camping trip with some of our good friends (Hi Andrea!), the camper literally self-destructed, never to camp again (with us, that is...we did end up selling it "as is" to another couple). So, the past few years we have been "tenting" it, but with two extra little wiggly bodies, a tent tends to feel cramped and uncomfortable quickly. So, this year, we bit the bullet and bought another camper - a 2003 model with - get this - heated mattresses and it's own potty and shower. Because we believe in roughing it and the whole "back to nature" idea.
So, we decided that this weekend, the end of my Spring Break and the beginning of the boy's Spring Break, was a good time to take her off on her maiden road trip. I have taken M&M to Dan Nicholas Park in Salisbury, NC a couple of times during the past few summers (click map to enlarge for detailed view), but we have never camped there. Camper (who needs a name, by the way) did great getting there, despite the fact that Al had no visibility out of the back of the packed jeep. We ended up getting the last RV site...it was at the end of the campsite loop, so it was actually more private than most. For all that Casey Craziness.

D.N. Park has the most incredible park/playground I have found to date. It was almost 80 degrees Friday evening, and we tried out the ginormous playground after getting the camper set-up. Hopefully you can get an idea from the picture of how massive it really is. This picture actually shows one small portion of one part of a three-part playground. Alan and I firmly believe in wearing your little monkeys out before popping them in their sleeping bags for the night.

We took a hike around the lake (with thoughts of saving the really fun stuff like the carousel, the train, the mini-zoo, the gem mining for the next day). Mike found this old stump and had to check it out for bugs. Any bugs. No bugs found. We went back to the campsite to fix dinner - which we promptly gobbled like pigs - after the hike. Camping thought: how is it that you (we?) are always so much hungrier when we are camping? We eat well - full breakfasts, snacks, fruits and veggies, more snacks, full lunches and dinners...half the pleasure of camping for us is in the eating.

The next morning was cold and rainy. And cold and rainy. Did I mention it was cold and rainy? It so did not matter because we were in CAMPER! Al took a snooze, I flipped through mags, and the boys watched "Tom and Jerry" and "Pink Panther" on the laptop. Yes, we did read, too. I finished reading "The Mouse and the Motorcycle" (Beverly Cleary) to them and also (appropriately) "Christmas in Camelot" (a Magic Treehouse book).

All of the really fun D.N. park stuff was closed due to the weather. Matthew was so, so sad...he LOVES that park. And as much as we love Camper, we just couldn't stay inside of her all day without two little boys wrestling all over the place. Come to find out, the Lazy Five Ranch (which - FYI - only takes cash - we found out the hard way) wasn't too far away, so we took a field trip. Here's what their website says: "The Lazy 5 Ranch is a privately owned exotic animal drive thru park that offers a 3.5 mile safari through the gently sloping pasturelands of Piedmont, North Carolina."

As you can see, you just drive around, stick out your hand/bucket with animal feed, and the animals come right up to you. The emus come to the car first and Michael just FREAKED OUT. This zebra (which was off-limits for feeding - too aggressive) was RIGHT OUTSIDE MICHAEL'S window. If Mike shows signs of permanent emotional scarring later, you'll know why. Definitely blame the parents. We never could get Michael to put his window down again, but Matthew was totally into it.

Lazy 5 also has this ark/pirate boat (?) play area. You know, the kids sat in Camper all morning and then rode in the car for about 2 hours, so we let them out to let off steam before heading back.

O.K. So, this picture should sum our weekend up for you: we came, we camped, we ate, we played, we freaked out, we ate some more, and we came home exhausted. A great time was had by all.