It has been 6 years since I last camped in a tent. I went with a big group. I didn’t have any camping gear back then. All I had was a $20 sleeping bag I got from Sports Mart right before the trip. Oh…and a fisherman’s hat, which I never wore again.

I shared a two person tent with another girl, Amy. Neither of us owned a tent.
Somebody had an extra. It was tiny. We had to arrange everything including ourselves just right so we could both fit in there with our bags.

I think when it comes to tent sizes, a person need to double the size to be comfortable in it. thats why we got a 4 person tent for the two of us when we shopped for a tent this time.

Regardless, that was one of the top 5 trips I had in my life. It won’t be an overstatement to say it was a life altering experience.

The camping trip liberated me. Being with nature and being in the wilderness made me look beyond my little castle. It was like someone flip over the rock that I was hiding in.

The trip last weekend was very different though. Since we camped near the city, the camp ground was completely full.
There were tents everywhere, kids screaming near and far. Quite a festival!

The real picture of our picnic table was a lot messier….

food is steaming….

and burning….

This kid loves to pose for cameras…he would drop everything and ran over every time someone was ready to take a picture, including climbing onto a truck..

Park rangers coming around to show us their collections of wild lives…

How many people does it take to do dishes?
Apparently 8, if you count the person behind the camera, too.
There are no pictures of the actual dinner because…everyone was busy…EATING!

6am…the next morning…getting ready

10am…READY!

Civilization!!.. the visitor center. We came here to look for snacks because the raccoon ate them all. But there weren’t any for sell. We returned back to the trail in hunger…

Random shot…but I love this picture! I got lucky because God loves me!

2.2 miles later, we got to the M*A*S*H site. This was an old van from the actual TV show.

“Why was my head cut off in this picture.”
“Because it would look artistic.”

Same Jeep from the TV show again…