Taking the van out early for short trips had been our plan to shake-down the equipment and ourselves for longer trips later this summer. Thankfully, we have a ton of local parks, mountains and beaches within driving distance. Unfortunately, the State Parks are mostly closed until April and don’t allow camping.
But… Maryland also has State Forests, not all that many but those are a lot less developed and controlled. Savage River is one of them (the biggest, I think) and within easy driving range. Its got an interesting history (B52 memorial), a reservoir, creeks, lakes etc. And because its a State Forest, it has far fewer rules about what one can do and whats not allowed.
The drive there was uneventful, Serenity just rolls beautifully but in hilly country uses 12 miles/gallon -> no joke. I am starting to like driving her, she is sluggish uphill but on straights just keeps rolling along. The radio really is junk and needs to be replaced.
We checked out the campsites around 3pm or so and thought about exploring or going for a hike but the weather was already iffy and we somehow didn’t really feel like going anywhere. We lit a fire, let the dog run crazy in/around the little creek and basically treated ourselves to a lazy afternoon.
After all, the “camp life” is what we want to test out with the van, having a fire, tea, some junk food etc. If the weather had been better, maybe get a book out and just chill.
Cooking happened over the fire in the Lodge Cast Iron pan we had for years but never used. Worked really well, very delicious.
Next day starts weirdly enough with snow – we had not seen any in Maryland this season so waking up to an inch or two of white slush was very nice. The van’s heating had kept up really well, used hardly any propane and kept us warm and comfortable. Loud, though.
Slow breakfast, re-kindled the fire and headed out toward the Deep Creek area that we wanted to look around at – its a resort / recreation area thats quite nice but completely developed and in summer likely horribly overcrowded. Not so bad off-season – just not too exciting. Onwards to Swallow Falls State Park – now that was a really nice surprise. Lovely falls, great scenery – slight rain/snow but really worth going again (when I bring the tripod).
