We’ve been lucky these last few years of fall camping. The weather, the location, the company, the food. This year wasn’t any different – even if you count the all night rain Saturday night – it started at the close of our group dinner (chicken curry, rice, naan, roasted vegetables, cucumber salad) and tapered off before the first riser the next morning.
Saturday was warm – more like early September than late September – and our campsite was just a few steps up from the water.
We had the place to ourselves. It was shallow, clean and clear, and the kids took turns in the kayak, floating around the area.
The little one enjoyed the pushes.
The rest of the time was spent creating micro habitats along the rocky shoreline for the dozens of tadpoles (and the occasional crayfish) that they caught.
Earlier in the morning the group went on a hike, stretching out along the path, kids and grownups in a line.
The leaves were just starting to turn, and some bright reds one were scattered along the path like sign posts. The little ones looked for sparkling fairy gold and came down with heavy pockets of precious rocks.
We found the most gorgeous campsite we’d ever seen – a quiet little spot right on the edge of this incredible overlook. No one was around so we clambered through to enjoy the view. Everyone loved this little pop up trailer with the sleeping window looking out over the bluffs.
We all agreed that it would a great spot to come back to… in several years time. We surely would have lost a kid or two in the campfire evening, over the edge. There was a definite “grown up” feeling to the site. Come in, set up camp, enjoy the view, respect the cliff. None of this crazy kid running around business of the sites below.
Sunday morning, M got up early and hiked around with the camera for awhile. It was cooler and wetter, after a long night’s washing.
And then we packed up soggy tents and the sun came out, so we headed to a second little beach as pretty as the first.
Later we packed up two sleepy, sleepy girls and headed back home, to laundry and homework and phone service. Last week was so hectic the four of us never set down to the table once together – a rarity for us. Perhaps hanging out in a tent together through a rain storm is a bit of the extreme in the other direction – but it was so nice to unplug and hang out together again. Pit toilets excluded.
Would love to know where this is. We’re considering a road trip down to the STL area late next spring and this is right up our alley! Looks like a great time had by all.
There is a link in the post at the beginning – however, it’s a .gov site so if you click on it right now you get a Federal Shutdown notice.
It’s the Red Bluff Campground – and it’s about two hours outside of the city, so not particularly close, but nice. So far, we’ve loved Silver Mines the best, but it’s about two hours south.
Let me know when you’re coming. You might check out Preparing for Peanut (blog link in the sidebar) – she’s got great posts on things do in the area.