Link of Honor
Rob Bernhard, Cetan Inc.
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Camping in the Kankakee Valley
Rob and I went camping with friends in August. It was FUN! We were accompanied by Hilary, Chris, and Serena. We all arived LATE on Friday night, which was actually quite irritating. We didn't get to the Kankakee River State Park until about 9:00pm. THEN we still had to cook dinner (in the dark) and set up our tents (also in the dark.) We made ultimate nachos for dinner, and once everyone had eaten, we were all in better moods. We played cards and talked until midnightish, then we all turned in for the night. On Saturday, Serena cooked us a wonderful breakfast of pancakes! She brought dry cereal too, so we ate that also. We all went for a hike in the woods after breakfast. The map said it was a 1.5 mile hike, but it felt a LOT longer than that. I (unthinkingly) only brought one pair of shoes for the weekend, and they were my land's end sport sandals. These shoes are NOT made for walking. I ended up with a blister on my pinkie toe. Aw well...that's the price I pay for not thinking ahead. The hike was still fun (until I got too hot and sweaty and my foot hurt a lot). We were able to walk out onto a cracked stone limestone shelf, almost at water level, above a creek that ran into the river. We hung out there and looked in the water for quite a while. After our long hike, we headed back to the campsite for lunch. It was about 3:00 by this time. We had sandwhiches that Hilary provided. She brought buns, both plain and onion, and we cut them apart and ate lunchmeat and cheese on them. It really hit the spot after all that hiking around! After lunch, people took naps, or read books, or just generally hung around relaxing. It was a nice way to spend the afternoon. I took the camera out and tried to get some shots of cool spider webs. I'll post them if they turn out well. We had Chris's foil-pack dinners for dinner. MMmmmm!!!! He offered a selection of chicken or ground beef, with plenty of veggies and spices to customize your packet. I chose ground beef, with garlic salt, onion salt, and oregano, along with red peppers, red onions, potatoes, and carrots. Oh, it tasted so good! I think everything tastes better when you eat it outside. These dinners were no exception. After dinner, we ate marshmallows and made smores. We sat around by the fire, poking it with sticks and just messing around. Throughout the weekend, we helped Hilary with her crossword puzzle and played cards, read books, and slapped bugs...it was a good outdoorsy kind of fun. We finished off the weekend with Serena's scrambled eggs and bacon for breakfast, then packing up the tents and more relaxing. Rob and I got home around 5, and Serena stayed for dinner before heading home herself. That's the weekend. :)
To see my pictures from the camping weekend, click here.For Rob's black & white pictures from the same weekend, click here. |
