Sometimes the most dubious of mornings can become amazing by nightfall, perhaps because initial expectations are already low.

I mean, we totally expected a rain out for our camping trip to Maidstone Lake this weekend, which is why we didn’t bother heading up on Friday night. But, over dinner and a drink, Jen and I decided we’d get things going early on Saturday morning and at the very least try to make a day of it.
It also helped that Thom the Park Ranger called me at around 6:30pm asking where the hell we were and what time we thought we’d be checking in… (Yes, the state parks in Vermont are more attentive than many 5-star hotels I’ve stayed in.)

So in the morning I packed the car as if we were doing a full weekend’s camping…

And with a couple quick taps into the GPS, we pulled out of our driveway and headed to Maidstone Lake.

Speaking of GPS, I love that Google inevitably feels the need to warn us, everywhere we go, that there will be “some unpaved roads!”

Maidstone State Park is a little over an hour from our house. And I’m astutely aware of how much stuff we packed in the car given that we were just an hour away from home. Thank you for pointing it out, though.

When we arrived, Thom the Park Ranger was there to check us in.

Thom and I talked for a bit while Jen and Daph waited in the car. And then Thom continued to talk. And then some more after that.
We discussed the weather, seasonal allergies, bears, grandchildren, the recorded history of all three bathrooms in the park, statutes and laws involving firewood, and who was currently in residence at the various campsites along with the potential merits and drawbacks of each.

To put it succinctly, Thom was awesome.

Turned out there was a cancellation in the “Maple” lean-to site (see yet another circle above) and he upgraded us from our campsite to that one at no cost. He also advised us that we’d have a neighbor in “Cedar” but that it was a single mom and her daughter and they were pretty quiet.
I’m telling you, Thom knew everybody.

So we drove to our site and unpacked, during which time Daphne staunchly refused to get out of the car. I have to assume this was in silent protest over the fact that she’d rode the whole way up here in her bathing suit and, whatever the hell this place was, it definitely was not a pool.

So rather than force her to get out of the car and start the family trip off with a meltdown, we let her hang out in there and listen to her music while we set up camp.

Once we’d gotten things moved in, we made good on our promise to take her swimming. Albeit we went to the “day use” area, which has a much nicer beach than the one inside the campground.
We schlepped all our stuff out there and found…

That’s right. Just us.

Actually there was one lady there when we arrived but she took off a few minutes thereafter, likely because we disrupted her peace and quiet.

Daphne wasted zero time in heading straight for the water and spending over three hours jumping, wading, floating, splashing, and generally having a fantastic time.

Meanwhile her parents got to spend some quality time with one another, having an equally fantastic time curled up on our new Kelty bench. (Thanks Santa!)

And when it started to rain, we grabbed a towel and stood with our arms wrapped around each other beneath the canopy of a nearby maple tree.

I love this woman so very much. Asking her to marry me 15 years ago was unquestionably the best decision I have ever made.

Anyway, Daphne took all this in stride, and paid her parents being gross no mind at all.

Eventually an oncoming thundercloud proved a bit beyond the pale for allowing your child to swim in a lake surrounded by towering trees, so we had to call it a day. And to her credit, Daphne was totally compliant about doing so.
I mean, she belly flopped and splashed every so often as she slllloooowwwwly made her way to the shore…but she did come in when we asked. At which point we all scrambled toward the bathroom to change while allowing the downpour to pass by.

It wasn’t until we got back to the campsite, and it became clear that swimming was done for the day, that Daphne expressed just how displeased she was about this development.

After some soothing snacks we spent the rest of the afternoon relaxing in our tent, pondering our next move.

And that “next move” turned out to be a decision that we didn’t want to push things too far.

We’d already had such a wonderful day and there was a distinct possibility that after we drove home to lock the chickens up for the evening and then drove all the way back in the dark… Well, that whole maneuver might be a bit too unsteady for everyone involved.

So we did one last quick stroll around the campsite…

And then we called it a day.

And this marked the end of our first “camping” trip

Okay sure we didn’t stay the night.
And sure, we spent about 8 hours at the park.
And yeah, we didn’t actually cook anything over that fire pit.

But that’s wholly irrelevant. What’s most important is that we all had a fantastic time together.

So the camping family day outing was a success. And as I write this, looking back at the events of the weekend, I’m realizing that not only was this one of the best times we’ve had in Vermont so far, it ranks highly among the best days of my life.

j.s.