Catskills Camping, day 4

Thankfully Jason had another good night. Took a while to fall asleep, but then slept well, with the help of Tyler being in the pop-up with Mackenzie and family. The weather was iffy and it had been a long few days, so we made the decision that it would be our last day at camp and we'd drive home that night. Erich decided to start packing up camp while Beth and I took the kids for a long walk to the playground. Jason learned to blow bubbles. Mackenzie managed to flip upside down on a slide and nearly knock herself out. Tyler and Mackenzie argued like crazy. She accidentally knocked him over and he sustained a very minor knee scrape with very major drama accompanying it. By the time we got back to the campsite we were convinced we had made the right decision to leave that night as it was obvious the kids were very tired.


Unfortunately it started raining as we continued to pack up. Didn't ruin the fun for the kids!


Once the rain finally cleared we decided to take a chance and go over to Hunter Mountain. They keep the ski lift open in the summer and operate it as a "sky ride" to the top (well, actually about mid-way this season since they are using an alternate lift) of the mountain. Erich decided to stay back with Olivia, as the employee told us that the kids had to be able to sit and be cooperative for the ride or it could be dangerous (obviously). Jason was eager and ready to go though, signing "yes" and taking off for the ride when asked. He was very well behaved and loved it. Tyler was a little leery, but was fascinated. It was a steep mountain for sure and I was making Jason a little angry with my hold on him! Learned that this mountain is apparently very popular with the Jewish population. We got serenaded along the way. Interesting.












Afterwards we went back to the campground and went over to Beth's aunt and uncle's campsite, who had just arrived for the weekend. We hung out for a bit before walking to the lake, playing for a bit at the playground, and going for a short hike. The short hike ended up taking much longer than it should with two toddlers, one of which (mine) who insisted on walking the whole thing himself, water bottle in hands. We walked along the lake out to a place called dinosaur rock or alligator rock or crocodile rock or something of that nature. LOL. Along the way everyone picked blackberries. Jason was the one who enjoyed this the most, despite being the only one who wouldn't eat them.










We finally went back to the campsite and finished packing up before having a fascinating dinner at Three Guys Pizza (or was it Five Guys?). Either way, it was an italian joint, but the owners were apparently Irish. It wasn't bad pizza, but the service and facilities were, ummm, interesting. I'll leave it at that. Then we had some ice cream across the street before packing back in the vehicles to head home. We didn't get on the road until maybe 9 at night and it was a LONG drive, but luckily I had Beth to keep me up and awake. Poor Erich by himself with just a sleeping Mackenzie in his vehicle. But we arrived safe around 2am.

We survived our first camping trip. And we're crazy enough to be planning a second!