Camping with Friends

What’s better than camping alone? Well… not much. But camping with friends is definitely a welcome change for us.

Just a few months after getting back from our honeymoon — and a busy event season for Rose — we were itching to take another trip. I mean, we had only used the trailer a pitiful 13 trips totaling about 6 weeks of travel time! That might sound like a lot for typical travelers, but we’re anything but typical.
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This time, we thought it would be fun to go camping with some buddies. So, we called a couple friends — my brother Colin and his girlfriend Kady (Maryland) and Rose’s bestie Jessie and her friend Sam (Ohio) — and found a centralized location that we could all get to easily. The destination: Babcock State Park, West Virginia.

​Jessie and Colin both had tents, while Rose and I stayed in our home away from home, the trailer. It was late into the Friday afternoon when we arrived. It took everyone about five hours to get there. Rose and I were the first to arrive and started the festivities like we do best, with lots of beer and music. Jessie showed up a little after that and Colin and Kady rolled in as it was getting dark. The first night was filled with catching up, telling stories, and of course, petting my good buddy Kratos!

The next day, we decided to go for a hike. The trailhead began right near our campsite and claimed that it was full of hills, scenery, and a beautiful waterfall. Right before we were set to go, Colin and Kady decided that they needed to run to the store for carbs — people that work out — so they didn’t come along. My workout is repeatedly lifting Cheetos to my face every couple seconds. They count as carbs too, right!? All signs said that the hike was about four miles long. So, we prepared ourselves for a decent little trek and started off.
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We passed a lovely little creek and a small waterfall before climbing a mountain. By the top, we were all pretty tired, especially the two fatties: me and Luna. The views were lovely though, so it was all worth it.

​After the scenic mountain view, the trail headed deeper into the woods. The map said that the trail was about 4-miles long but didn’t specify if it was a loop or one way. We felt like we had walked about two, and it showed no signs of turning around. We decided to go back the way we came and cool off in the creek on the way back to the campsite.

When we got back to the campsite, Colin and Kady had returned. Colin was busy chopping down a tree for some inexplicable reason. He claimed it was a new ax and he wanted to give it a test. They said they found a really cool bridge overlook on their journeys and that we should check it out.
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Before we headed to the overlook, we went to the lake that was in the park. As we walked around, enjoying our beverages, there were some people fishing that enjoyed staring at us for some reason. I guess we were funny looking — or at last Kratos was. We found a nice little spot on the shore and took a moment to enjoy the scenery.

​The bridge overlook was also spectacular. There were a lot of steps to get down to it, and we really had to pee…, but it was really cool. It was called the New River Gorge. There was a huge bridge that spanned the gorge that dropped well over 100 feet to the riverbed below. Quite the picturesque moment.

​After a hike, and then a mini hike down to the gorge, it was definitely beer time. We got back to the campground, lit a fire, and proceeded with the night’s activities. The next day, it was back to our respective states and real life.