Background:
After being stuck at home for COVID for 6 months, we were extremely antsy to get out of the house. While we were contemplating a longer trip to Acadia, we decided to take a two day trip camping. Rita was initially reluctant to sleep in a tent, but was up for the challenge. We found a campground with bathrooms and a site along the Delaware River in Dingman’s Campground. Sam bought a tent, sleeping bags, and a portable coal barbecue. We packed up the car with food and the boys (leaving Shelly with the nurse) and drove up an hour or so to the area.
Day 1
As we’ve never taken the kids hiking before, we really didn’t know what to expect. We chose a short hike called Dunnfield Creek, and wanted to see how far we could go. To our surprise, the kids were pretty good. They picked up sticks, explored the area, and didn’t really complain. We saw we were on to something!
After that hike, we took some pictures at Point of the Gap overlook, which was one of the few gaps in the Appalachian mountains between Pennsylvania and New Jersey. Along the way, we drove by a hole in the wall animal “zoo,” and the inner Tiger King inside us demanded we stop. It was a really cool place where we were able to feed some exotic animals, with most being behind caves. The boys had a blast.
Next, we stopped at Raymondskill Falls. It was a short walk down some stairs to a really big waterfall. It was really cool to see.
After that, we headed to the campsite before dark. We started setting up our tent, and the boys helped Sam with that. We got some help from our neighbors to get our barbecue going (we didn’t know we needed lighter fluid) and Rita cooked us up some hotdogs and burgers. After we ate, we walked down the hill to take a quick dip in the river, which we pretty much had all to ourselves. After that we roasted marshmallows and told a scary story by the campfire, and went to sleep in our tents. Honestly, it was a bit hard to sleep hearing all the sounds around us, not knowing what was outside, but it was quite the experience and we all had fun.
Day 2
After waking up, and packing up our campsite, we visited Bushkill Falls. This place was outside of the National Recreation Area, and was pretty built up with paved pathways to multiple falls. Afterwards, we went to a picnic site to have lunch (Namanok) and drove through the park again to head home.
