Camping on my day off… fail.. fail… fail…

I took last Friday off with the intent of going camping in Pawtuckaway. Well, let’s just say it didn’t go quite as I planned.

I woke up early (normal work morning ritual), did some things around the house, and then called Pawtuckaway to see if they had any spots available. This very friendly girl said she had three spots left, but they are “first come, first serve,” so I better get there fast if I wanted one.

I thought sure, I can be there in just under an hour including the time it takes to pack my jeep. It was still early on Friday. I’ll beat the weekend crowd for sure – no problem.

I went outside, loaded up all my gear (tents, chairs, stuff, bags, beer, etc.) and headed to the park to get my spot. After about 30 minutes of driving back roads into New Hampshire, I pulled into the main parking lot at Pawtuckaway State Park. I parked my Jeep, walked inside the main building, and just as I stepped up to the counter – the girl put out the “campground is full” sign…

I said “awe, c’mon!”, and walked back out to my truck – defeated. I had missed my chance, but was not going to take it lying down. I was already in NH, had a Jeep packed with gear, and my Viking instinct was craving fire burgers and beer. There had to be somewhere else I could go.

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Camping this weekend? Take a day off? Awe yeah!

Missed band practice last night. At like five o’clock I got dumped on with work that needed to be done. I couldn’t really bail on work, so I bailed on practice at the last moment. Yeah, I’m dick… I get it. Oh well, I was pretty much cranky anyways and didn’t feel like driving 50 minutes to practice for an hour, then drive 50 minutes home. No thanks…

I put in for a day off today! This may not sound like a very big deal, but I’ve used almost no time off this year. I’ve been saving my hours for when the baby comes. But, seeing I have a ton of time saved up, and could really use a day off before the baby comes (and takes up all my time), I’ve decided to take Friday off and go camping for a couple nights. I’m pumped.

I’ll probably go by myself for the first night (Friday), and Dan and JG will said they may come down on Sat. for a bit to have some beers and play some guitar. Danielle would come, but she’s like mega-ultra pregnant right now and would probably rather chill on the couch. I can’t blame her.

I love to camp. I do it as often as I can. I also don’t think you need to drive way the hell up north to get a decent camp site. I usually go to Pawtuckaway State Park in Nottingham NH. There are decent spots, great hiking, and if you get a lakeside spot – very nice kayaking right from the campsite. I suspect I’ll get there at about 3pm, set up, and be settled in with a fire and a pint in hand by 4. Pawtuckaway is like 30 mins. from me, so it’s really a piece of cake.

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Pawtuckaway State Park – Woronoco Trail – A Picture Story!

I have been a fairly avid hiker/ outdoorsy person for years. Unfortunately, living where I do (New England Seacoast) presents challenges when it comes to getting out on the trail with any regularity. It seems like I need to drive a couple hours north before I can really get out into the fresh air, on decent terrain, away from roads and crowds of people to do some hiking. Right?

Well, not so much…

It’s obvious to me that hikes in the White Mountains are superior to anything around the seacoast area, but I’ve been saying for years that Pawtuckaway State Park is as good as gets – outside the White Mountain National Forrest – and it’s only a scant 20 mins from my driveway! I recently did a “morning” hike on Pawtuckaway’s Woronoco trail. I emphasize “morning” because I was able to do drive there, do the hike, come home and shower before lunch… that’s completely awesome.

Thus it was time for a pic story; My trip to Pawtuckaway!

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