Camping in Samuel P. Taylor State Park

My camp site #51

I have been looking forward to spending more time in the woods with Kelsey.  Finally the school is out and my weekend in Samuel P. Taylor S.P. has arrived. People rave about this park. It has 4 stars out of 5 on Yelp reviews. The place is fairly close and easy to get to for me.  I checked in shortly after 2 p.m. Kelsey was just as excited, and she immediately checked out the camp site.  My site, #51, is pretty cozy. Since I camp solo, it's good. I just set up my tent right between the picnic table and the wooden storage. 

The park is magnificent but a bit over crowded with people with their children and their fancy camping gear and RVs. A bunch of young boys decided to play frisbee right in front of my camp site. They were making quite a bit of noise with their loud talking and yelling and constantly throwing the frisbee into my camp site. Kelsey had already claimed her temporary territory, so she started barking and attempted to run after them. So much for wanting some peace and quiet.

After I set up the tent, I took Kelsey away for a hike to get away from all the noise makers.

Secrets of Survival!  Is Kelsey trying to tell me something?

The evening was quiet after some more yelling between people who tried to back in their RVs and trailers.  There were many warning signs about raccoons. I was pretty sure no raccoons would be visiting my site since I didn't really cook anything.  I had a burrito from my favorite taco truck right before going to the camp site, so I wasn't hungry at all!

In the middle of the night, I suddenly heard some animal's hissing and a man's scream. It sounded like someone had a surprise visitor.

Kelsey is so tired after the 2 hour hike

On the next morning, I was starving. I got up early so I could have more time to enjoy the quietness in the woods. Since I was camping solo, I didn't bother to make a fire to cook my food. Not long ago I bought a portable gas stove from Ranch 99 when it was on sale. It was the best $11 I have spent!  The stove is light weight and so convenient. I also got 4 cans of Butane canisters for something like $4. I use it for camping, picnicking, and I can also use it for hotpot meals in the winter.

After the breakfast, I took Kelsey on a 2 hour hike. It was so peaceful!