Summer Camping

John and I went camping and fishing at Burke Lake Park last Saturday/Sunday. He packed his backpack and sleeping bag and was well-prepared for the adventure.



We went to the sporting goods store and got him and I fishing poles and him a headlamp. He was pretty excited to have a headlamp just like mine (except his is brighter:).



Burke Lake is nice because it has a nice little train ride and a carousel right in the middle of the woods. I think both of us really enjoyed the train which went nearly roller-coaster fast. Next time, he'll ride the carousel solo though.


After making camp and riding the train and such, it was time for dinner. I brought the portable grill to make things easier and kept it simple with dogs and chips. John approved.


And of course, no evening camping would be complete without some s'mores.



I don't think John's quite ready for ghost stories by the campfire so we opted instead for silly faces into the camera while we're both wearing our headlamps.



I've got to say that I was reluctant to spend the extra money on the Weber Baby-Q but am now glad I did. It's proven itself with dogs, burgers, etc., but baking cinnamon rolls to perfection definitely makes it worth it.

They were *really* good too...


Unfortunately, the fishing part of the trip didn't go quite so smoothly. I went into the sporting goods store intending to get a cheap Zebco 404 because that's really all I've known. I think the guy in the fishing department must have thought it'd be funny to make me look like a complete idiot in front of my kid or something since he recommended an open real combo deal. Anyway, John and I get out there and he's happily fishing away with his new Superman fishing pole...


... while I'm in the background desperately trying to figure out how my reel works. It turns out the guy who put the line on got some wound up in the gear on the inside so I had to take it apart and clear the gear out, rewind a bunch of line, then spend another 10 minutes figuring out how to cast the silly thing. Meanwhile, John is looking back saying, "Daddy, why don't you just do it like me?".

Unfortunately, no fish were caught that day or the next morning but I caught part of someone else's fishing pole.



We both had a blast and are looking forward to taking the girls out and teaching them how to go camping like the big boys do.