On 11-11-11, my family and I were camping with our friends at Hillsborough River State Park.
The Gallery: 11.11.11
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Tag Archives: camping
Camping with Pigs in a Blanket
For this week’s Friday Food Fight, I’m flinging my breakfast from Hillsborough River State Park campgrounds.
Since we’re tent camping, it’s not 5-star accommodations or dining, but the food is served hot and thanks to our portable heater, the tent is cozy warm.
One of our usual camping breakfast meals are pancakes from the box. *gasp* Shocking, I know, since Iron Chef Allan enjoys his from-scratch pancakes best, but it’s all about convenience and ease when you’re camping and box pancakes fit that bill.
This is the first time we tried Quaker Oats Oatmeal Pancakes and I was pleasantly surprised. The whole grain batter offered a lovely mealy texture and you certainly need a hearty meal when you’re hiking trails, canoeing or in my case, chasing a rambunctious toddler around the campground.
My camping pancakes are always served with a side of Al Fresco Breakfast Chicken Sausage. I’ll wrap a hot off the griddle pancake around the sausage, pig in a blanket style. No forks necessary, just a dish to dip your pig in some syrupy mud.
Pigs in a blanket are the perfect breakfast on a cool camping morning!
Now link up and see what Karen of If I Could Escape and Kirsten of Gone Banans are servinng.
Places I Love
Every week, I visit I Heart Faces and promise to participate in the challenge, but I then I get distracted and forget to submit my photos. But not this week! Although this week’s challenge seemed relatively easy, it was difficult to narrow down my favorite places.
England
About 5 years ago, we traveled to Chester, England for my friend, Suzie’s, wedding. During our holiday, we drove to Edinburgh, Scotland (where Allan was born), York (the city where I completed my final teaching internship) and visited Whitby (Allan’s hometown). Although I had seen many pictures of Whitby, it wasn’t until I physically stepped foot in the town that I understood why Allan gets homesick. Since my college days, I have always loved England, but I fell in love with little quaint little sleepy seaside town. Honestly, pictures do not do it justice and simply cannot reflect the beauty of Whitby. Someday we’ll own a small little cottage summer home there visit again.
New Orleans
Can you believe I spent a weekend in New Orleans and this is the best picture with “faces” I can find? These cute little Jamie Hayes voodoo dolls were more willing models than my DH.
This southern city is truly full of soul in more ways than one. New Orleans has the best food, best music and the best people. I’m planning a trip back to the Big Easy for my 40th birthday in 2011.
BTW…Good luck to the Saints in the Super Bowl! Who dat?!
New York City
Last year, we were fortunate to spend two kid-free weekends in New York City. Our May trip was Allan’s first time in the Big Apple. He usually doesn’t like having his photo taken, but he willingly posed for this shot. Look closely at the photo to see why Allan thought he was being so clever.
The Beach
I love the beach and so do my girls. Thank heavens we live in a state that is almost surrounded with soft sand and beautiful blue water. I can’t wait for the warm weather to arrive so we can start packing the beach bags and head for the waves again.
Disney
Living in Florida, you either take for granted that you live in a state with miles of beautiful beaches and Mickey Mouse or your take full advantage of it. It’s been a year since our last trip to the Magic Kingdom and I miss the magic. Therefore for Mother’s Day this year, I requested a weekend at Disney.
Camping
Both Allan and I camped as kids, but until our friends, Erika and John, reintroduced us to the idea of camping a few years ago, we had forgotten how much we loved it. Now, we camp a couple times of year with our friends and it’s something we all look forward to, except when it’s raining.
North Carolina
We can also thank our friends, Erika and John, for our love for North Carolina. For the past three years, our two families have enjoyed sharing a cabin and playing in the snow in the Blue Ridge Mountains. However, last month was probably our final trip to the mountains for awhile. We’ll have to see if our next little one will be an intrepid traveler, car sleeper or car screamer like his/her sisters were as infants. Another car screamer would make me head for the hills for sure! Fingers crossed we can return to North Carolina in 2011.
Hooters
So, I cheated a little with this one, because my friend and absolutely FABULOUS photographer, Kelly, took this family photo. I really love Hooters, however, my pregnancy nose can’t stand the smell of chicken or fried food, so I’m really missing sunsets over the Gulf and hot wings and pitchers of beer at the New Port Richey Hooters these days. Food aversions really stink. (No pun intended.)
Home
Dorothy said it best. There’s no place like home. As much as I love to travel, it feels so good to come back to the comforts of home after any trip.
Also submitted at…
The Happy Campers Strike Again
Now, that I’ve crawled out from under my never ending pile of laundry, I can write about our camping trip. Of course we had a fabulous time!
This was our second camping trip to Hillsborough Rive State Park, which I feel is the perfect campground for families. Our friends and we reserved campsites in the second loop which circles the playground. Our children played all day on the playground while we sat around and drank beer always staying in our line of sight. The restrooms are also located in the middle of the loop, which is very convenient too.
The moderately sized campsites offer a decent amount of shade provided by large pine and oak trees. With our camping limited supplies, my family and I don’t require a lot of room.
Hillsborough River State Park always offers a number of hiking trails, with the Florida Trail being the longest at approximately 3.6 miles. Saturday morning, I woke up with an obsession to run one of the trails at the park, but I really don’t know what possessed me to run the Florida trail by myself without my camera or mace. Along the path, the trail narrowed and I found the uneven terrain very challenging since I am used to running on flat paved surfaces. With several steep inclines, lots of overgrown weeds and trees roots, this trail definitely seemed to be the trail less traveled. The Florida Trail followed the river with an occasional rickety bridge to run across and some trees bent over the trail required a limbo move while I ran. The scenery was gorgeous, however, I couldn’t really enjoy the view because I was too busy watching my step as I stumbled over tree roots.
As I ran along the overgrown trail, I cleared the path for the next hiker or runner by running through spider webs. At one point, I completely lost my footing and wiped out. I fell to the ground and rolled. Fortunately, I suffered minor scrapes. I bounced back up, shook it off and kept running.
Then, I heard some rustling behind me and out of the corner my eye, I spotted a long bushy tail. After reading flyers posted around the park with warnings about coyotes, I became nervous that I was being followed by one. After being spotted, the fluffy tail creature hopped into a tree. Now, I worried that whatever creature I saw would pounce on me and drag my bloody carcass through the woods never to be found again. Thankfully, that never happened and I lived to tell my tail trail run tale. (Later, I learned from my friend John that I probably encountered a Red Fox.) But I had to laugh about all these silly events during my run which made me think of my running partner, Tiffany, who detests nature and running through it on our Starkey Trail runs with the Striders. I felt a bit like that as I ran along the Florida trail on my own. I had nature all over me!
5 Miles
54:12
Ave Pace 10:50
Later that morning, everyone went canoeing.
Our friends headed south down the river but we went north in the wrong direction. Our little detour led us to some small rapids which we may have missed if we followed the crowd or if a Park Ranger caught us.
The scenery along the Hillsborough River is much like the scenery along any Florida river with large canopies of large Cypress trees and Cypress knees popping up along the river banks. We saw a few large hollowed Cypress trees in the middle of the river which reminded us of something from a fantasy novel.
There were also these beautiful overgrown lavender wildflowers that I had never seen before and they attracted a variety of butterflies.
Of course, during our canoe trip, we spotted the usual Florida inhabitants such as turtles, gators and several herons.
Eventually, we caught up to our friends.
One set of friends had white knuckles as it was her first canoe trip and rumor has it that they flipped their canoe. Their faces have been blacked out to protect their identity.
Like, I said in my Mr. E’s Beautiful Blue’s post, this year’s camping trip was something out of a bad slapstick comedy film. Later that evening, one friend stumbled into a fire pit. We believe her fateful fall may have been caused by her blood alcohol level and the Benadryl another camper slipped her to help with her allergies. Before she plummeted face first into the fire pit, another friend caught her, but not before she singed some of her hair. Thankfully, she was fine and didn’t suffer any burns, but it was still scary. This photo was taken before the fateful fall into the fire. Again, the faces have been blacked out to protect the identity of the fallen and her drug pusher.
With all the ups and downs (literally), we had a great time. We’re already planning our next camping trip with mace and minus the Benadryl.
In a Dark, Dark Forest
We’re heading into a dark, dark forest once again for our Second Annual Moms on the Go Camping Trip. Being a fair-weather camper, I couldn’t be more happier about the forecast this weekend with highs near 80, lows in the 50s and not a drop of rain expected. You couldn’t ask for better than that! And of course, it’s perfect running weather too!
S’more when I return from the dark, dark forest!
I Love Oscar
With summer quickly approaching in the Sunshine State, our short-lived camping days are coming to a close. Wanting to squeeze in one more camping trip before the heat hits us, we pitched our tent at Oscar Scherer in Osprey, FL for a few days over Spring Break.
Although we knew we wanted to go camping over Spring Break, we booked this trip last minute. Finding a park to meet our criteria was no easy task. The perfect campground for us needed to offer a playground close to our campsite, clean restroom facilities relatively close to our campsite, hiking trails and water activities such as canoeing and swimming.
Since many websites have claimed Oscaer Scherer to be a great family campground, I’ve had my eye on Oscar for some time. Then, a few weeks ago, the St. Petersburg Times listed it as one of “Florida’s best family-friendly campgrounds”. After camping at Oscar Scherer for a couple of nights over Spring Break, I would agree with the St. Pete Times declaration.
With an abundance Sabal Palms, Saw Palmettos and mangroves, the landscape certainly contained more subtropical foliage than the northern Florida parks we usually camp it, however, Oscar Scherer is still beautiful in its own right. Once a ranch for turpentine from the Slash Pines, the Scrubby Flatwoods now serve as a protected home to a wide variety of birds and other wildlife. Cardinals and Scrub Jays frequently visited our campsite. While canoeing, we watched a hungry Pileated Woodpecker tear into a tree to find his lunch. Also in from our canoe, we spotted an Osprey and a Blue Heron.
The park offers several trails and a hands-on educational nature center, which are in close proximity to the campground. Lake Osprey, a beach-like swimming spot, is a short walking distance to the campground, although the weather was too cold for us to test the waters.
Several wooded campsites follow the brackish river that flows through the park. Thankfully, the abundance of Saw Palmettos created a safety barrier for my curious children.
The palmettos also served as partitions between sites. Some may find the campsites a bit narrow, but our 11′x11′ tent fit quite comfortably on our little site with room to spare.
Even though our campsite was only a few short steps to the playground, we discovered two other playgrounds during our little excursions. While hiking, we encountered a Mourning Dove and many caterpillars.
We also stumbled upon the remains of an old railroad line that now serves as The Legacy Trail (Rails to Trails) in Sarasota County. These tracks once carried the Ringling Circus.
Perfect weather and ideal campgrounds made for a wonderful camping trip. Oscar Scherer can certainly wear the title as a family-friendly campground. I enjoyed our stay there so much that I’m already planning a return camping trip!
In a Van Down by the River
It’s Spring Break here, so my family and I are off on another camping trip. If you want me, you can find me living in a van down by the river. With the 30 mph winds whipping through Tampa Bay area at moment, I fear we will loose our tent and really be living in a van down by the river.
After a stressful week, I am really looking forward to a run through the woods drinking lots of beer by the campfire and becoming one with nature. Lots of pics when I return!
Wordless Wednesday: A Walk Through the Woods with Mom
These are two of my favorite photos from our camping trip two weekends ago.
A Crummy Camping Trip
My good friend, John, always tells me, “Denise, you’re not a true camper until you camp in the rain.”
This past weekend, I learned that I am NOT a real camper and I will avoid camping in the rain again. I have discovered that I am truly a fair weather camper. Next time the forecast calls for 70% chance of rain, this camper will cancel.
There was simply not enough beer to drown my sorrows miserable attitude while camping. As much as I love hanging out with my friends, I was so bored. The rain limited our hiking excursions and prevented me from squeezing in any runs.
When the rain finally slowed on Saturday, we went for a quick hike along the river basin, the Ravine Ridge. That was certainly the highlight of our trip!
As far as campgrounds go, I was not impressed with Mike Roess Gold Head Branch. Although the park offered oversized campsites, which could easily accommodate two or even three tents, the rain caused us to huddle under a canopy most of the time. Of course, that is no reflection on the park, just my own poor planning. However, these oversized campsites lacked shade and had there been any sun, we still would have been huddled under the canopies.
I’ve been pretty spoiled on previous camping trips to Hillsborough River and O’Leno. I’ve come to appreciate a playground near our campsite and well-attended to restrooms.
Into the Woods
My family and I are camping this weekend with some friends. I’m trying not to think about the fact that it’s Friday the 13th and we’re spending a long weekend in the woods. I’ll pack the mace just in case. That reminds me…We don’t own a hatchet.
So, far it looks like we’re in for a lot of rain, which makes any camping trip a horror for me. If we survive the long weekend, I’ll be back with more posts on Monday.
