Camping Weekend
Monday, October 17th, 2011 | 93 Comments 
I went camping this weekend at Shenandoah National Park! It’s a 3 hour drive and we couldn’t get a campsite reservation. But we packed up supplies anyway. Figured we could just do another day trip if all the “first come, first serve” sites were taken. Got there and even though all campsites were listed as “full” we were SUPER LUCKY and snagged the 1 and only cancellation opening! 
So we parked the car and walked to the site and set up camp! Later that morning we went out hiking.
There’s a nearby lodge resort. It’s in easy walking distance from the campsites. There’s actually a FANTASTIC restaurant there. Because we weren’t 100% sure we’d get a campsite we only brought snacks to eat. So we had large meals here. 
This was an EXCELLENT weekend. 
I loved it so much. Even though that night it was extremely windy with temperatures in the low 40’s, 
we had a an amazing time just being out in the woods working hard to keep the fire burning bright to keep us warm. We talked and roasted marshmallows all night. And surprisingly the tent didn’t get blown down, not even once! 
We saw other campers weren’t so lucky. And of course we saw tons of wildlife too. Deer and even bears! I hadn’t been camping since I was a kid. I would definitely do it again next year though~ … but maybe before the autumn temperatures set in, haha! 
Jenny posted at 8:38 pm ; Monday
TAGS: travel, food
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Jenny
loving the pictures ^^ it looks so warm there, love all the colors
It was actually quite cold xDDD but the sun was definitely out and the leaves were almost at “peak!” Lucky timing \
/
Waaaah~ looks like you had so much fun! And omg AUTUMN! Nice to see some trees with color~ still too warm over here for the leaves to change :(
I used to go camping all the time when I was little~ but haven’t been in years. Now I wanna go! hahahah.
I knooooooooooow! The early cold snape forced the trees into a slightly early and intense color change this year!!! Last year I went up at the same time and it was still 80% bright green.
Very cool! I suppose you probably don’t know but I was in SNP recently too! I was hiking the Appalachian Trail
(http://hoshikogen.tumblr.com/post/10557318747/atsectionhike)
Your pictures are gorgy! The leaves hadn’t turned as much as when Andy & I were up there :(
There’s something magical about camping, IMO. It always makes me feel whole and satisfied
Cool!
Ah, this made me really want to go camping. I haven’t been since I was in girl scouts. I loved making campfire food. :3 I think if I went now though I’d need a cabin since I own absolutely no camping gear at all.
Yeah that’s what we did a few years ago, got a cabin. But usually we just do day trips now. Because of the season it’s sooooo hard to get reservations this time of year so we opted to go for the “first come first serve” campsites. And full disclosure, we BORROWED the camping gear from the brother-in-law
Wow so pretty! That’s my favorite part of fall. Getting to out, changing leaves and the way a campfire smells, especially after roasting marshmallows on it! :3 I’m not much of a camper (being outside and all that, bugs jafpioehga ew) but your pictures and post make me want to go camping!
I can definitely say I loved it BUT couldn’t see myself doing it all the time. After we got back home I immediately praised civilization for “hot baths and fragrant lotions!!!!!!!!”
Wow! So pretty! It’s still summer here in Texas. u__u I’ve never been much of an outdoor person, but I kind of want to go camping now!
I really thought I’d “regret it” after a while and just fully realize I do NOT belong in the woods these days but that, happily, didn’t turn out to be the case.
Even though that’s right up the road from me I’ve never been. haha. Usually I’m not much of a camper, but your pictures make it look like so much fun! Now I’m tempted to go!
You could definitely go the hotel or cabin route too since you’re so close!! We stayed in a small private cabin one year, it’s much less work but you don’t get a personal fire
Aw, I love autumn in Virginia…and all the trees! These photos are making me so excited to come home. :] There’s no real autumn where I live now (or Halloween decorations), so it doesn’t quite feel like October.
I understand that a little. I grew up in the South where all the trees are evergreens. I really had no idea places could ACTUALLY look like this until I moved here!
How beautiful!!! The nature looks as if on fire.. gorgeous!! you look so cute at the camping fire!!
I know, I couldn’t believe we got there at such an amazing time for the leaves to peak!
The lodge. I’ve been there. Its really nice. My Mom and Dad ditched my brother and I in a room and my Mom got drunk off of the Prohibition Punch drinks they had in the downstairs area (she had like a total of 4 (▰˘◡˘▰) ). She ended up singing some song.
That was probably the best part of the trip. Especially the ride up. A huge tree fell in the road because it was raining so a bunch of people (started by my brother and dad) started breaking off the branches so they could possible get a opening for cars to go through. Then this lady was like: “Hold on, I have an axe in my trunk. Let me get it.” Wut? It was so weird. But they ended up making a hole so it was good in the end I guess.
Sad part was this was all in a day. But overall it was a good trip. We went to a lot of places on it.
ANYWAYS! I’m glad you had fun. Shenandoah is VERY pretty. *cough* Totally just made like a blog post in your comment section… sorry…
Hahahah those moonshine drinks are AMAZING!!
You got a nice shot!! I love it
Spring eh? Is it still raining there? No more right?
I envy you Heheee..
So far the rain stopped but more tomorrow. It’s been extraordinarily rainy this year :(
lovely place. i wish it were autum too here in Sydney but it’s sadly Spring :( sigh
While freezing in the tent I could have easily wished for spring
Wow. It’s so pretty. I don’t think I would be able to find any campsites like that in Aust.
Same in MS. When I camped as a kid it was always up river on a beach.
Aw~ haha so cute & pretty! I went camping SO MUCH as a kid that I actually don’t really enjoy it. But I think I am almost the point where I haven’t gone in so long that I’d start to like it again if I went with friends. Especially if there was somewhere with a lodge! How nice~
Haha did you wear makeup the whole time or just take pics of yourself on the 1st day? Teehee
That makes since though, you sorta live in a better “camping place.” In Mississippi we only ever did it on the riverbanks in summer/autumn and it was warm and … well, just different.
Haha the makeup was just the first day. I washed my face that night. It’s just gold eye cream and canmake cream blush … which my camera apparently LOVED on “pop art” mode!
Awwh these are some lovely photos. You sure were lucky!
I definitely felt I was!
i had some really bad highschool camping experiences so im mostly against it but it looks so cozy and fun
nice
Understandable.
Ah, I’ve never gone camping before mostly because I’m kind of a neat freak and I don’t like sleeping out in the wild. lol.
Beautiful pictures of the leaves by the way. I’m planning of going to the park this weekend to take pictures of autumn. But it has been so dark and gloomy for the past few days so I’m happy it’ll be sunny again soon.
Hope the weather is good for you.
LOVELYYYY autumn trees! its so nice that you and Mike can getaway for a relaxing weekend in a beautiful location!! :3
Ah thank you. I’m really surprised at how much of a vacation it really felt rather than a rushed trip.
Uwah, I’ve never done camping before but that sounds like so much fun! :3 It must be exciting everyday to think that you are sleeping among deers and bears (!!!) On a side note, I also love your make-up! *o*
There was this one deer that just kept grazing at our campsite over & over and you could hear its hooves clomping in the middle of the night by our tent!
Ah thank you, it’s just a gold cream shadow and cream pink blush
oh my goshhhhhhhh your pictures are lovely!
the colors are so vivid!!! what camera did you use?
I used the Olympus E-PL2. I switched between vivid color settings and Pop Art setting mostly with a few random setting in between depending on the photo
The weather looks gorgeous and I love how the leaves are really red and gold with oranges! Our trees here have yet to change, can’t wait for them too though! Your tent looks so cozy!
Yeah there was an early cold snap here that forced them to change earlier than usual
aww, what a lovely scenery, it looks so fun there!
Thank you!
I’m one of those people who would never go camping, but it looks really fun now!
I understand that, it definitely sounds like a crazy idea at heart. Sleep on rocks amongst wild bears all the while maintaining a fire for warmth and food LOL
I LOVE CAMPING~ Awwwww everything looks so cozy and nice~ I miss this~
I’m glad you guys had a good time~ Hope you get to go again soon~
The trees look so lovely…i wish LA had pretty orange trees like that~
I never take these trees for granted. MS only ever had pine trees so autumns were boring.
the pictures look so beautiful, the colors look so vibrant and the images are so sharp. Are you using a pen epl2 or epl3???
The E-PL2
Thanks
I am now seriously lemming this cam! So far they don’t have white ones in stock here but I want the white! itss soooo pretty!!! LOL
Wow! It looks amazing! I would have loved it! I actually tried talking my BF into camping this weekend too, but he said it was too cold :/ (kind of funny, me trying to talk him into it since it’s usually the other way around). Guess we have to wait until spring. I love your photos - love nature
Spring will be lovely though too. Less cold (omg I was so cold!) and new blooming trees and flowers to enjoy!
Looks so beautiful with all the different color leafs *O*
I haven’t been camping since i was a kid too but looking at that it’s kinda tempting :3
That’s how I felt. It was pretty tempting just to see if I could still enjoy it after so long
The autumn trees are so pretty!!!
Thanks Miamy! I caught them at a great time!
That sounds like an awesome weekend!! I’ve never done any camping, but now I’m tempted to try that out! but too bad we don’t have nice camping spots here, besides our weather here is only rain, haha
Camping + rain = terrible, I imagine xDD
A wonderful trip. And the photo you took are great. The leaves are pretty as well. Malaysia don’t have autumn weather. Just hot or rain. What type of season do you like the most?
Autumn. It’s always been my favorite. Though after moving here the summers can sometimes feel like the autumns of my hometown so I sort of like both here.
how do you always manage to take such great pictures? i must be damaged because mine just don’t work as good as yours ―(T_T)→ what camera do you use actually~?
but anyways, i’d love to go camping! never done it before it must be super fun! the only downside here is that we don’t have fall/autumn here and from summer we go directly to winter （￣～￣;） which points me to your super cute outfit! i can’t never pull something as cozy looking as this. we have to put the big winter jackets right after the t-shirts…
and those are uggs right? i didn’t like them at first but now they look more appealing to me, considering getting them! also your bag looks super cute!
this comment is getting too long and over the place, glad you had a great time!
I used the Olympus E-pl2 for all of these. What camera do you use? Hm, well, ugg-like boots are definitely good for chilly cold camping trips at least.
actually sorry for asking about the camera, when i went back to catch up on the old entries i saw you even made a post about it!
but i’m using a very simple camera actually sony cybershot w180, i’m thinking of getting something more pro-ish, still my skills are really bad with the camera orz
Oh, no worries! I posted it weeks ago, I didn’t expect you to see it. I just recently upgraded from a pretty basic point & shoot to this.
i was browsing the nikon cameras and it seems that the best entry-level one is the d3100 but it’s too pricey for me, i see that olympus have better prices so i’m considering it! or i can just switch to a better point-and-shoot
Yeah, you gotta go with whatever fits your lifestyle & needs best! I chose the Pen b/c of its features and accessories (it even has a ring light option) but I didn’t want to get into full DSLR because I knew I would still mostly use my iPhone because it’s handy and decent enough for my blog. Since last February I mostly 100% only used my iPhone.
i completely agree! i indeed have to consider my needs and lifestyle too.
what really surprised me in your previous pictures is that they are super clean and the iphone only has 5mp (i believe?) really neat c:
Yeah, it takes a little time to learn the limits & quirks of the iPhone camera but overall it’s a pretty great little point & shoot on its own! I ended up liking it better than my Samsung point & shoot in the end.
Your new camera takes SUCH amazing pictures ♥ The foliage is so gorgeous too, I’m glad you & Mike had such a lovely weekend visiting near my neck of the woods, haha! ;Dvv
I was sooooooooo happy with these photos & the camera! I can just load them & resize for web and be done with it!
Great pics! Autumn is extremly beautiful! love it
and this kind of weekend probably gave u a lot of relax, nice!
It really did! I thought it would be draining but nope
omg u are so lucky! and the leaves looked so beautiful. must have been a lot of fun!
I know, I really did feel lucky!!
I love the Autumn, the leaves are so beautiful! Nice pics by the way, they look stunning! (o^^)o
Thank you Momo
Wooooow the colours are beautiful!
You look cute xD so innocent
Haha, um, thanks! \
/
EEEP So fun/pretty! I’ve been wanting to go camping SO bad but it just hasnt been nice enough (till like, today). Seriously, the leaves there look so beautiful ;-; Texas is so ugly. I love the bear sign too c:
anastasia
I think I can imagine your “autumn.” I grew up in Mississippi so nothing but pine trees :( As for the weather MAN WE LUCKED UP! So happy
beautiful campsite, makes me want to go camping with my friends
*agrees
It’s very pretty! I love autumn, you can see so many vibrant color. You got to see deers and bears! Luckyy!
It’s really one of the best seasons given the right atmosphere
The leaves are So gorgeous!!
I was taken back we got there right at peak! I’ve missed it for the past couple of years :Y
How fun! Look like you really enjoyed yourself! I have only slept in a tent once during my school days. We don’t really camp here in Singapore. Kinda sad no?
It’s sorta a bummer it’s not popular there but at the same time sleeping in a thinly lined tarp held up by sticks outdoors sorta sounds crazy anyway right, haha!
This looks beautiful! I’m so jealous! I went camping for the first time this summer and it was super fun but got hot and muggy…I think going in September would be best
Your autumn leaves pictures are gorgeous too! ❤
Yea in MS we’d always do late autumn to avoid killlllllller heat & humidity but it was only ever up river so sorta bean meets woods. This felt much more, I dunno, proper?? LOL proper camping hahahah
lol “proper camping”…makes me think of all those people who brought rv’s and generators. I was convinced they were cheating!
Great pictures ! I love your blog
Greetings