I’m All for Camping If Not for the Overnight
I Visited a Campsite in Punderson State Park
My spouse and I are new to camping. No matter that I went tent camping as a
youngster. It had been a long, long time since I’d spent a night in a
tent. We doubted that we could fall
asleep on the ground, so my spouse and I invested in an air mattress. We have yet to use it. Our attempt at
overnight tent camping last spring failed. We have everything we need for a camping trip.
We have a tent, sleeping bags, and a cast iron skillet for open fire cooking,
to name a few. We made reservations at a
camp site at Punderson State Park, which is not far from Cleveland. In fact, we purposefully chose a park that
was within an hour’s drive from home so if we had to bail, we could. We could
return home to sleep in a bed. It was
smart thinking since we needed to go home early. The weather in May turned out to be too cold.
I share the story because it was still fun, and elements of
the day trip were successful. We hiked
along a trail by the lake. I love
physical activity paired with conversation, so I am happy walking quite a way
with a partner. Our campsite had a fire
pit and grill, so we cooked chicken, corn, rice, and beans in a skillet over an
open flame. Everything could go in one
skillet, which made things easier. Cooking
dinner in the great outdoors gave me quite a sense of accomplishment. It took us longer than if we were using a
kitchen oven, but I loved the challenge, even though I hoped I wouldn’t have to
miss dinner that night if the chicken ended up being undercooked. We don’t even have a patio grill at home, so
the cooking really was a new experience.
We had a backup plan. We packed
ham and cheese sandwiches in case our attempt at starting a cooking fire
failed. I like to be prepared,
especially when the alternative to preparedness is missing a meal. I love cooking so much; I think it must be
because I appreciate good food.
Mealtimes with good company is one of my great pleasures in life. Our entire outing that day revolved around a
good hike and a meal, in addition to a lovely ride through rural Ohio to arrive
at the campsite.
The sun shined on us the day in May 2023 when we went to the
park. It was too cold at night for us to
have been comfortable sleeping in a tent anyway. That was overly optimistic planning on our
part. Good camping weather will probably
start after Memorial Day weekend. We
were out several weeks prior to that.
Camping reservations fill up in advance. Punderson State Park had a very nice
setup. There was a shower house with
plumbing and a spout to fill your jugs with water. The campsites were close together, but if you
are new to camping and the outdoors, it feels more secure to have other campers
around. At least, that is my
opinion. The campsite we had was
wooded. There was room to park a vehicle
and there was an electrical outlet at our site. If you sign up for a campsite,
you’ll have to pay attention as to whether the one you choose is equipped in
the same way as ours was. We noticed the
people who were camping the same weekend in May had recreational vehicles. We do not travel by RV, but the people who
did were probably comfortable and warmer.
Who is to say that my spouse and I won’t make a second
attempt at tent camping? We might. I just think that it helps to stay flexible
and change plans if I learned anything from this experience. It was an advantage to stay close to home,
especially since we were new at camping.
We could focus on the activity outdoors, and we were not weary from
traveling. I enjoyed the physical exercise.
Dinner on the Campfire
One of our favorite summertime recipes is this Foil Pack:
Salsa Verde Chicken and Rice by Chelsea’s Messy Apron. It struck us as a good recipe to try on a
fire pit. We assembled our packs of
chicken and rice at home, put them on ice and transported them to our campsite. In the end, because we wanted to use the cast
iron skillet we had, we unpacked our foil packs and cooked the ingredients
directly in the skillet. But this recipe
includes instructions for putting the foil packs directly on a grill. It was a complete and yummy campfire dinner. In
researching campfire cooking, I learned that you cook over hot embers and not
over a roaring flame. You wait for the flames to die down before you place your
skillet over the fire. It was a helpful tip.
https://www.chelseasmessyapron.com/foil-pack-creamy-salsa-verde-chicken-rice-veggies/
Punderson State Park
For more information about Punderson State Park, click on the link below. The park is in Newbury, Ohio, a 45-minute
drive east of Cleveland.
https://ohiodnr.gov/go-and-do/plan-a-visit/find-a-property/punderson-state-park-campground
