Cindy & BetoHey campers(and those who prefer indoor plumbing), buckle up for a tale of epic proportions (by which, I mean slightly disastrous but hilarious hindsight). We took a trip down memory lane by revisiting Ohiopyle/ Pittsburgh. Only this time, with some convincing, we took Beto’s son, Griffin, with us to rough it in the wilderness.
Our grand adventure began with a stop at Fallingwater, the Frank Lloyd Wright architectural masterpiece (and according to Griffin it was just ok). After learning all about cantilevers we ventured onwards to Ohiopyle State Park, ready to commune with nature.
A tip for aspiring outdoors man; don’t be like me… when dousing the outside of the tent with bug spray, ensure all occupants are outside (especially the ones that get angry when they can’t breathe – Beto). Next up was whitewater rafting. Now we are all for an adrenaline rush, but appearantly so are the snakes. Yes you read that right. Midway through the rapids I spent more time asking repeatedly “Where did the snake go? There’s a snake on the raft!” than enjoying the scenery. After our guide found the snake and evicted it from the raft we continued on with our adventure. Griffin and I took an unintentional swim at Charlie’s Choice when we hit the rapid just a little too far to the left and our raft tipped a little. I watched Griffin fly past me and I quickly followed. We were both ok though, until Griffin became a blood pact brother with the Youghiogheny River. He was jolted into the middle of the raft and sliced his knee on the valve cap. We ended the rafting trip with a valuable life lesson; keep an eye on your stuff, people. Beto, bless his heart, had a minor meltdown over leaving his favorite water bottle behind at the park where we took out the rafts. It wasn’t just any water bottle, mind you, it had stickers! Unique, irreplaceable stickers.
Once Beto found his zen again, we headed back to camp, which had filled up with a lot more people since the morning. Nightfall brought a symphony of rustling leaves while we waited to see the synchronized fireflies. Instead we got disgruntled raccoons. Thankfully our neighbors provided top notch entertainment by yelling at and about said raccoons, who had broken into the screened food tent to steal from their buffet table of food!
Exhausted but exhilarated we continued our journey to Pittsburgh. Grand plans of museums and sightseeing quickly dissolved into a much needed day of relaxation and some great Chinese food.
Looking back, this trip was a hilarious mess of mishaps and mosquito bites. We may have had some bickering over driving, scared by a snake (and maybe some racoons), and frustration over missing water bottles, but more importantly we had fun. And hey at least Griffin has a story to tell and a gnarly scar to prove it.
So there you have it, our not so perfect but undeniably entertaining camping adventure. Until our next adventure, stay wanderlustful!
