Our weekend at Loyd Park included the first day of Spring, accompanied by a symphony of birdsong. The warm weather allowed us to enjoy gentle breezes through open windows, visits from a mallard couple just outside our door, and persistent pecks from a pesky cardinal. The budding trees, greening grass, and blooming flowers all conspired…
Our Thanksgiving visit with Jon’s family began the weekend before Turkey Day, as we readied Cloud 9 for its long road trip. We camped at nearby Cedar Hill State Park, where we enjoyed mild weather ahead of what promised to be an unseasonable cold snap in the St. Louis area. Preparation included checking the tires…
This weekend brought an end to Daylight Saving Time (DST) and a return to Standard Time, giving us an extra hour of sleep and providing the commentariat an opportunity to argue for and against its continuation. We were surprised to learn that we were clinging to a few myths about DST. For example, we had…
Our weekend began a day early, when CJ from Dalworth Cleaning Services told us we wouldn’t be able to walk on our newly cleaned and waxed hardwood floors for 24 hours, so as to allow the wax the time it needed to “cure.” The campsite we had reserved for the weekend wasn’t available on Thursday,…
Anyone who spends time in forested areas throughout North America will have to deal with spiders. Every time we encounter a particularly menacing arachnid, we remind ourselves that spiders are our friends. They eat other bugs, including mosquitoes, so they actually protect us from pests. On Friday, as we were taking our sunset walk, we…
We’ve met all types of people while camping. Some are folks we wouldn’t associate with under any other circumstances, but love of the outdoors and the desire for adventure can create strange bedfellows. In these politically polarized times, when our differences are even more pronounced, many campers go to great lengths to make sure everyone…
This weekend’s campsite was new to us, although we had scouted it several weeks before. We selected it because we appreciated its seclusion, with heavy forestation that reminded us of Loyd Park. We arrived at the site around 4 p.m., but it took nearly a half-hour and three attempts before we were able to get…
As much of the Pacific Northwest sweltered in a dangerous and historic heatwave, we headed back to Cedar Hill State Park amid triple-digit “feels like” temperatures. We arrived around 4:30 on Friday afternoon and stayed with the dogs in the air-conditioned cab of our tow vehicle for about 45 minutes while we waited for the…
Our typical weekend activities served as “bookends” to our Saturday spotlight event: a visit from our friend John for cocktails, dinner, campfire conversation, and a celebration of Armed Forces Day, an observance established in 1949 by President Harry S. Truman as a single-day celebration for all five branches of the U.S. military. Because John served…
We entered our weekend through a narrow opening in the window of opportunity. After a full day of spring showers, we had just enough of a break in the weather to get hitched up and travel to our campsite at Loyd Park. Almost immediately after parking, however, a torrential rain thoroughly soaked our site, sending…
Garinns on the Go 