Maddie's Moments in Camping

Growing up, I always enjoyed spending time outdoors hiking, kayaking, sledding, and more. My family has taken a couple overnight trips to Hocking Hills and Mohican state parks in Ohio, and we typically stay in cabins or the lodge. However, I have never fully tent camped before this summer.

In June, my friend Aubree invited me to go with her to her family's favorite summer camping place, Pymatuning State Park, on the boarder of Ohio and Pennsylvania. So I packed up my dad's Honda Pilot, picked up 3 of my friends, and we drove a quick 2 hours to the park to meet Aubree, her family, and about 10 of our friends. We spent the afternoon playing volleyball, exploring the grounds, and making friendship bracelets and hobo pies by the fire. Eventually, it was time to start setting up our tents, which admittedly went better than expected

We spent the next day hiking with the teva gang Aubree, Kayley, and Maddie H, exploring the nature center, kayaking, and making bracelets. We also went for a run in the morning (with xc queens Kayley and Molly) and did Maddie H's legendary ab routine.

We also played some sand volleyball!

Stars were also starring this night and we had some fun guessing constellations (we don't know any.) We finished out the day with some campfire chats then got a few hours of sleep before waking up for sunrise and tackling a sunrise hike!

After some hammock naps, reading, a quick hike, and more campfire chatting and friendship bracelet making, it was time for us to depart.

Overall, this was an amazing first camping experience. Setting up the tent and sleeping arrangements were good, bathrooms were super nice, and food was as good as the company! Would do again 10/10. Thank you again to Aubree for inviting me and her family for dealing with us teenagers all weekend. I am so glad that I got to experience my first time camping with these amazing people.

Until next week,

Maddie