adventures in camping

Last weekend, a big group of friends took a camping trip to Bear Mountain just outside of the city. Kurt, Jenn, Christian, and Kritin made the approximately 50 mile trek on their bikes while the rest of us concocted a train/rental car scheme and toted all the gear to the campground. I will admit I am not an outdoorsy person and was not thrilled about camping. I mean, who puts so much coordination into a weekend just so you can sleep outside with all those bugs? Little did I know that the camping part would be quite enjoyable (albeit short) while the rest of the trip was a bit of a nightmare.

Saturday was one of those hottest days we've had all summer. I think NYC may have broken some heat records that week. In order to beat the brutal midday temperatures, the cyclists took off early in the morning and us train riders left the city around 10am. Unfortunately, due to some poor MTA directions, we ended up missing our train connection by mere seconds. Normally this would be annoying but not tragic. However, the next train wasn't for another two hours and would force us to miss our rental car window because the store closed at noon. Awesome. 

Thankfully, the cyclists were making great time even with the hills and heat and were kind enough to bail us out. They made the harrowing journey to the rental car place, dealt with the morons who work there, and agreed to come pick us up at another train station farther away. The heat was getting to Kristin, so she even agreed to be our personal chauffeur for the rest of the day. That's us in the above picture enjoying ice pops in the sweltering heat waiting for our pickup.

With all the travel issues, we were losing time and energy and decided to nix the hike planned for Bear Mountain later in the afternoon. Instead, we treked around a shopping center getting camping supplies and food. Here Andrea, Erin, and Johanna take a break in front of a huge rock in the middle of the strip mall. We like to think it was a close second to conquering Bear Mountain :)

While the train riders were slowly and painfully making our way to the campsite, the remaining cyclists were finishing the ride to Bear Mountain.

They made it! Congratulations!

Meanwhile, the rest of us found the campground and immediately took part in a lovely little stream behind our campsite. I feel like it was the turning point in the crappy day we had so far.

Thrilling UNO games progressed into late night Catch Phrase. We know how to have a good time :)

Kurt and I took a walk to the nearby beach at Lake Welch. Sadly, there was not enough time to get in the water :(

We grilled some hot dogs and s'mores for dinner. Delicious.

We survived the night! The gang the next morning after donuts and coffee (this was hardly roughing it). From left to right: me, Christine, Jenn, Erin, Johanna, Kristin, Andrea, Kurt, Christian, Erik (who made a surprise appearance by riding up from Brooklyn on his motorcycle!), and Paul. All in all it was a fun few hours at the campsite. I will try to forget all the trials of the weekend but am surely taking an extended vacation from camping for a while.