It's July and summer has officially set in. How do I know? I glisten in the sun for nothing more than sitting still. Despite this time of year not being my favorite camping weather, it's time for camping at Cuivre River State Park! Featuring a lake and newly renovated beach, reopened in May 2021, we would be making use of the water and beach opportunities to beat the heat! At least, given recent weather trends, it wasn't expected to storm or rain on this trip meaning post trip cleanup would be minimal.
Camping in the heat is something I am familiar with. It happens more than I would like. It isn't often that I end up camping on a weekend featuring a heat advisory either and, if the first trip of the year at Dr Edmund Babler Memorial State Park was a "take it easy" trip, this one would be a "take it extra easy" trip. When not enjoying the beach and the lake, time would be spent with as little movement as possible.
In spite of the heat, and because of the lack of rain, I would finally get to build a campfire this weekend! Not that I would ever get rusty from lack of trying but it was good practice and I did get to burn through my loads of sticks and wood that had been building up for months on account of not getting to camp earlier or it being too rainy to worry about a campfire. Regardless, it aids in the relaxation of the weekend to hear a fire pop and crackle!
The last this weekend campout would offer is pair of the lesson preferably learned the easy way. For us, we had it covered. For our camping neighbor, well, it was the hard way... Whether you have a lot or a little, you should always take your personal trash to the proper receptacle, provided you have one available to you. If not, secure it the best you can or you will find out what happens if you don't! It's a safe bet that raccoons, the bandits of the night, will come and empty the bag of trash you so thoroughly packed. While you're at it, watch out for mountain lions (a.k.a. feral house cats) that... wait, where did that come from?! OK, well, you should keep your distance from any and all animals you find in the wild. Be sure to keep your tent closed off to avoid unwanted guests. Had this little kitty not been spotted earlier, it might have made it into the screened enclosure of our tent and might have been hard to remove if not causing damage to the tent with any claws it might have. Besides that, there's no telling whether any animal you happen to cross paths with is carrying a disease. Best just to steer clear when you can!
Oh, right, special bonus lesson. Remember that rain-less weekend I was talking about? Yeah, that didn't last. The final morning of the trip brought in surprise showers that were not part of the weather forecast just days earlier. Always good to be prepared for rain regardless of the forecast as you never know how or when it will change on you!
All in all, it was nice to get the second trip of the year on the books with 3 more to go!
Span of 3 days; Approximately 1 hours and 43 minutes of cumulative driving; Approximately 73.1 miles; Approximately 5.908 gallons of gas used; Approximate average MPG 12.37; Approximately $15.53 spent on gas; Average fuel consumption rate of 3.441 gallons per hour.
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