Went camping Firday night. Last year camping was wonderful, this year not so much. We made it in time to set up the tent before dark (as oposed to last year where we were cooking in the dark). We grabbed food on the way from a local grocery store so that we wouldn't ahve to cook in the dark… and also we forgot some things (forks, spoons, plates, dish soap, napkins, plastic wrap, etc). Someone in the campground had some animal that made such a god-awful noise I couldn't tell if it was something that belonged in the camp ground or not! We did our best to get to bed early (despite the neighbors setting up their folding chairs next to the back of our tent), as I was hoping we'd go fishing and swimming on Saturday.

Friday night, though, was rough. The wind was loud and strong. The tent kept trying to buckle in on one side. Thankfully, it did not, but the pole for the "rain fly" did get bent. The next morning, instead of cooking over the open fire like he did last year, my BF had a camping stove. We had the same breakfast as last time: Bacon Eggs and Pancakes! Though, we didn't read the pancake mix box that said it needed milk and eggs (odd for a box that also said to refrigerate after opening). Oh well, it worked with water just fine.

After we cleaned up, the flies started getting really bad. Even with everything clean, they'd be after — not the stove — but our legs, picknick table, water jug and gas tank. We sprayed down (a second time) with bug spray and decided to go to the visitor's center.

From there, I thought we were getting our fishing licences. But my BF decided we should go hiking instead. I didn't want to go on a long hike as I'm out of shape (unless you count round as a shape). But the 1-2 mile hikes seemed ok. My BF insisted on the 2.5 mi hike as it was in the "old growth" portion of the park. I didn't appreciate that it was longer, especially with only one water bottle (it also had a larger altitude change). But, away we went. The drive was nice at least. We had to keep the windows down as the flies were still a menace.

The hike was…….. ok. I was dead tired by 3/4 mile into it. We were out of water too. Thankfully that fer into the hike was the road. My BF wanted to go further, as he had a water filter/pump to refill the bottle. The river we were beside had large warnings about rapids, undertow, whirlpools, deep holes, etc that people were not allowed to swim or wade in it. The only other option for water was swampy stuff. I really ddin't want to go, as I was tired, and the rough trail with steep hills of tree roots to climb or slide down on were just… not my thing. I'd get afraid my knee would give out, or I'd slip and land in the river. We tookt he road back to our parking.

My BF tried one of the scenic overlooks instead, but that was also swarmed with flies. It was beautiful, for sure! But we couldn't stay long to enjoy it.

Returning to camp, I wanted to ask the "Camp Host" where to go to swim. We'd seen some vehicles pulled off on the side of the highway near a sandy beach area, but we thought there's be swimming within the campground itself. We couldnt' find the camp host, so we went looking for the water ourselves. But the lakeshore next to the campground was rocky and slimy. Just trying to get my feet wet made me slip and land hard on the rocks.

We tried to find the camp host again, but still no one to be found. The swarms of flies were so bad, that even sprayign them while they were on my pants, only made them scatter for about a minute, and then return. At that point, we realized we wouldn't be able to get back into our tent without the swarm getting in too. On top of that we felt like walking chemical factories with how much spray we'd used on ourselves. So we gave up and went home.

I miss our trip from last year.