Camping in October in Short Sleeves...I love North Carolina

When we saw that the second weekend of October was going to be relatively dry with high temperatures in the mid 80's and lows of about 70, camping seemed like the perfect activity. So yesterday after everyone got home we packed up the camping gear(which is always ready to be thrown in the car) and headed out to a nearby state park with a huge lake. We grabbed a little dinner on the way and got to our campsite in plenty of time to set up the tent and go exploring before it was dark. It was really a nice night. We built a nice roaring fire, roasted marshmallows, made s'mores, watched the moon rise over the lake and fell asleep to the sound of frogs, crickets, and a few waves on the lake. It was a nice clear night and the stars were beautiful. We remembered the binoculars this time so you could see the milky way and even more star clusters and the craters on the moon were clearer. Some of my favorite things were watching the moonlight on the lake, the geese flying, the sun rising over the trees, the smell of campfire in my hair, and happy kids. It wasn't a big family vacation camping trip or anything, just a fun way to get out of the house for a while. I've been reading some of John Muir's writings lately and he had such a nice way of writing about nature. Here are two of my favorites.

"Come to the woods, for here is rest. There is no repose like that of the green deep woods. Here grow the wallflower and the violet. The squirrel will come and sit upon your knee, the logcock will wake you in the morning. Sleep in forgetfulness of all ill."

"Walk away quietly in any direction and taste the freedom of the mountaineer. Camp out among the grasses and gentians of glacial meadows, in craggy garden nooks full of nature's darlings. Climb the mountains and get their good tidings, Nature's peace will flow into you as sunshine flows into trees. The winds will blow their own freshness into you and the storms their energy, while cares will drop off like autumn leaves. As age comes on, one source of enjoyment after another is closed, but nature's sources never fail."