Kicking off the 2016 camping year

For the first trip of the year, we decided to stay close to home in case anything went wrong. We headed 12 miles up the road to Steamboat Lake State Park, where they had just opened the first campsites. We stayed in site 134, which is along the outside of the loop on the ridge overlooking the lake.

We had only a few neighbors, and the pick of some primo sites! Here's the view from the back of our site - we had to walk a few feet to see this view, but didn't have to do any serious bushwacking.

 

 

It was quite windy and a little overcast, but warm enough to be out with a light fleece. During the night, we could hear the wind talking to us, rattling the various flaps on the outside of the trailer and even seeming to try to enter the trailer through the kitchen fan exhaust. The trailer felt like a haven from the elements, cozy and warm.

 

During the day, we took the dogs for a couple of walks/hikes, pushing Bailey beyond her normal limit of a mile. She slept very, very well at night. We found a new trail along the water and below the bluff that the Dutch Hill Campground sits on. It was quite muddy, and the husband slid down a hill. Other than some extra dirty laundry to do when we got home, there was no harm done. Since this was a test run, we used the outside shower to rinse off the mud, and we discovered a leak. That was the only problem we encountered, though we did come home with a long list of things not to forget the next time out!

 

We cooked the main course on the grill with the rest cooked inside, as we usually have. Saturday's dinner was sticky lamb kabobs, broccoli, and noodles. Yum! There just seems to be something better about dinner cooked outside while camping. After dinner, the wind died down for a hour or two, so we had a fire, something we don't usually do. Our closest neighbor on one side was playing his guitar, and the closest family on the other side was playing some sort of LED bocce in the dark, and it just all felt so peaceful.