We decided to get away from everything by going camping at Golden Gate Canyon State Park. We love this campsite! It is close to home, beautiful, and has flush toilets and dishwashing stations. And this year, it was a great place to get in nature while still practicing social-distancing!
On our way out, we missed our turn into the campground. But it turned out to be a happy accident as we spotted a moose with her two calves right along the road.
The first afternoon was a bit breezy and chilly. But we setup the tent, had dinner, and s’mores.
After we put out the fire, we headed to bed. By this point, the sun had set and it was getting colder. Greg got the shivers and just could not stop. Even after we all were snuggled up in our sleeping bags, he was violently shivering and miserable. So we made the decision to go home for the night where we could get a good WARM night of rest in our own beds and come back in the morning. Especially since the forecast said the remaining days would be a bit warmer!
In the morning on our way back to our campsite, we stopped by Walmart and bought another bag of ice and two new, warmer sleeping bags. We’d left everything setup at our campsite or in our van, so that made getting back out there a bit easier the second time around.
Thankfully, the forecast held true, and it was warmer when we returned on Wednesday. And our tent and everything else was still there, waiting for us.
The girls found a little meadow with a mountain view a bit behind our campsite, and we had fun bird-watching there. Lots of hummingbirds buzzing around, too. We had a nice leisurely day and the night was much warmer!
On Thursday, we decided to hike the Raccoon Trail, which has a trailhead right at the campground. It is a beautiful hike. One highlight was when Bree spotted a male hummingbird dancing for a female hummingbird that was sitting in a tree.
The rest of the day was spent relaxing at our campsite. My favorite part of camping! Getting to read a good book while outside in nature, smelling the pine trees and feeling the gentle, warm breeze. When we returned to our campsite, we remembered to grab our hummingbird feeder from home. The girls spent a lot of time watching the hummers visit the feeder.
