We went on a camping trip this weekend. I’ve been trying to post about it for a couple of days now, but more urgent things like sleep, church and work keep coming up. Hopefully, though, you’ll enjoy the pictures. =)

We (our good friends Steve and Rachel Elwood, and David and me) have been talking about going camping for a month or so, and when we first discussed it, set aside this past weekend as the date to do it. We Aukermans slacked on the planning, though, so the Elwoods picked up the slack the day before we left. We went to an Indiana State Park none of us had ever been to before:

On our way to the park, David and I stopped and bought bicycles (and a bike rack for the car). We’ve been talking about it for a long time, and since mine got stolen, neither of us has been able to ride. We thought it would be nice to have bikes for short trips to the Roger (our local Kroger’s K doesn’t light up at night, so we call it the “Roger”) and a great way to get some exercise, and since S&R were bringing their bikes, we thought, “what better time than now?” We LOVE our bikes, and loved riding them this weekend. We also realized that we’re a little out of shape. =)

Because we waited until the last minute to reserve a campsite, the only available sites were electric… Meaning running water, warm showers and flushing toilets about 50 yards from our tent. We didn’t really rough it, though we were truer to the term “camping” than our neighbors, who were all in RVs watching TV. =) Here are a couple of pictures from the campsite:

Steve playing the guitar

Rachel listening to her hubby

David unwinding after a long bike ride

We biked over to the Camp Office to see about renting a canoe and a couple of kayaks (the park’s website advertised them), and found out that all they had to offer were rowboats and paddleboats. We rented a rowboat, thinking it would be better than not being on the water. It was… interesting. Rowboats are infinitely slower and less maneuverable than canoes and kayaks. Our aspirations of exploring the [big] lake quickly dulled to just making it to the other side of our little leg. =) We had fun, though:

Steve taking his turn

Putting his back into it

Rachel enjoying the ride

Dave taking his turn

We made our way to the other side of our piece of the lake and pulled out on the tiny beach there. There was a steep bank just above the sand at the edge of the water that we climbed – at the top, there was a pretty grassy area, and a neat path into a wooded area:

(switching camera from manual to automatic = washed-out image)

We had a great time this weekend. =) I never remember just how much I love camping until I get back from a trip. Hopefully we’ll get to go again this season. We’ve got a busy few weeks lined up – hopefully it won’t get too cold before we find ourselves with a spare weekend again.