Camping at Rapidan

I have never been camping before, and everyone who has been says its fun but a lot of work.   However, we live so close to Shenandoah National Park and we have two boys.  What more will motivate you to give it a try, at least once.  Mark was quickly on board and got a tent for his birthday. We call it the Biltmore of tents, but again we have two growing boys.  We need a big tent.

We booked the campsite way in advanced and then waited patiently for the big event.  Then the government shutdown happened - closing all national parks.  We scratched our plans of camping at the Shenandoah National Park and headed to Rapidan State Park - which was a primitive campground.  For those of you new to camping, that means no running water and not potties.  Might as well jump right in to this whole camping thing, right?  

Since we had never been camping before, we talked some experts into joining us.  After all we aren't that crazy.  The Karchners and the Christensens took us under their wings and showed us the way!
 

This was our view for the weekend . . . Not too bad, huh?

The menfolk headed out Friday afternoon to get the site all set up, and the girls and kiddos headed out Saturday morning to enjoy all of their hardwork!  Once we arrived and got settled, it was time to explore and throw at least a million rocks in the river. 

After all that exploring, we were ready for some lunch.  It was time to roast some hot dogs.  Is there anything better than a roasted hot dog for lunch - yummo!

A full tummy, the warm sun, and a cozy hammock equals some rest and relaxation time.  We must get a hammock before we head out camping again.  We were all fighting for our turn!

Then we decided to head out on a hike.  There weren't really any true trails, so we made our own. 

We met some new friends on the way . . .

and even did some fly fishing after watching the fishing experts David and Derek.  

The boys roasted hot dogs again for dinner, but the adults had a delicious feast - steak, potato, zucchini, and squash all roasted over the open fire.  Oh my goodness it was soooo good!

Of course, we had s'mores for dessert.  I think Jackson ate about three!

The boys ran around with their flashlights and glow sticks having a blast before it was time to hit the tent.

We didn't rough it too hard - the Biltmore floor was covered in air mattresses and comfy sleeping bags.  We were all snuggled in and slept pretty good. 

We survived our first camping trip and can't wait to go again in the spring.  The boys had a blast being able to run wild, explore, and get dirty!  And we had fun just watching them be boys!