Travel Diary: Camping at Pequea Creek
We try to make it a point to travel at least twice a year. This year has been especially hectic and due to a variety of reasons we hadn't bad a chance to travel yet. We wanted to keep spending to a minimum and stay relatively close by while still having a chance to step out of reality and truly relax. What better way to do that than camping?
We chose to visit Pequea Creek Campground which is only about 30 minutes from where we're living at the moment. It was exactly what we needed!
Our campsite was at the end of a cul de sac so we had plenty of space to roam around. It was very quiet and peaceful. Our first night there was pretty uneventful. We arrived late afternoon / evening Friday, September 15, just in time to set up our tent and hunt for kindling to start a fire. That evening we had leftover Indian Dahl that we made the night before from Niomi Smart's book Eat Smart (honestly my go-to weekly cookbook) with smores for dessert. We enjoyed simply sitting around the campfire, listening to the crickets, and talking about life and our future.
The next morning we made the most delicious campfire breakfast: hash browns, easy-over eggs, and sauteed spinach, all seasoned with a little bit of Everglades seasoning (my go-to, use-it-on-everything camping seasoning).
We spent the rest of the day hanging out by the creek, reading, playing Mastermind (a classic and one of our faves), and admiring nature. While sitting by the water we had the cutest visitor - a little inchworm!
Mid-afternoon or so we decided to take a drive and explore the area a little bit. Pequea is not far from Tucquan Glen Nature Preserve which is such a beautiful place. The mountains are where I feel the most at home and this made me fee like I somehow transported there. I love finding places like that!
We're really bad about taking photos of ourselves but we remembered to get one this time! After about 20 tries we finally got one we're relatively satisfied with. Oh, and yes, we do have matching hats. :)
On our way back to our campsite we stopped by the Colemanville covered bridge that's right near the entrance to the campground. It's actually the second longest single span covered bridge still being used in PA! Covered bridges are a unique Lancaster County attraction and I find them very beautiful.
We spent the rest of the afternoon reading more by the creek and listening to a local bluegrass band, Noggin Hill, that played in the early evening. I wasn't able to get any good photos of the band but we listened to them for about an hour before heading back to our campsite to make dinner. We had sausage, bell peppers, and pierogies all wrapped in aluminum foil and cooked over the campfire. After dinner we made smores with mint chocolate which is such a good combo. Throughout the evening we heard music in the distance that sounded very similar to Lord Huron's The Stranger. If you don't know what song I'm talking about stop what you're doing and go listen to it. It's one of my absolute favorites. Ironically, this song makes me think of being out in the woods. It was one of those perfect moments that imprints itself in your memory and you know you'll look back on it fondly for years to come.
For our last morning there we made oatmeal with almond milk, banana, almonds, and a little honey. We read and talked for a long time, enjoying the peace and quiet before packing up and heading out in the afternoon.
As we were packing up we noticed a little visitor was trying to come home with us. :) We removed him and put him back in the woods.
Ever since we left on Sunday I've been daydreaming about still being out there. We had the best time and can't wait to go camping again. What's your favorite camping spot?