Camping, Not Glamping

I spent my Memorial Day weekend camping at Folsom Lake with my family. We've been camping there for over a decade now, but I hadn't been able to make it to a trip for a few years. I was exceptionally happy to enjoy the holiday weekend with my family.

I took Friday off so my sister Andrea and I could get more time basking in nature. We arrived before anyone else did and expressed our excitement by instantly performing a bit about being alone in the woods. It was silly since there wasn't an audience, but totally fun.

Andrea and I felt that Friday's weather wasn't swim-worthy, so we hung out on the shore after camp was set up.



Soon enough it was dinner time and then SUNSET.

My favorite time of day, if you couldn't tell.

I wanted a simple picture of my silhouette in the sunset, so I handed Andrea my phone...and then this photo happened.

It was/is so cool, I'm still not over it.

Our underbit pup.

After sunset we gathered around the fire for some s'mores! Andrea was a marshmallow roasting queen this weekend. I'm not a big fan of marshmallows, but I'm sort of regretting not having at least one.

It's hard to tell in the photo, but this is a marshmallow smushed between two Oreos...

Or as Andrea called it, her S'moreo.

We spent all of Saturday napping in the sun and swimming. Like for real alllll day.

Even the pups were into it!

Sun napping is matched only by hammock relaxation.

Then once again, it was time for sunset!

Sunday was our last day at the lake and we enjoyed it in the same way we enjoyed the previous day.

Isn't that what vacationing is about? Doing something seemingly boring (like tanning or napping or swimming), but getting to do it in a beautiful place that isn't your couch or complex pool?

Before we left I knew I needed to try to capture a photo I'd had in my head since we arrived. I didn't intentionally wait for sunset, but in the end it worked out, because this is how the photos turned out:

I couldn't be happier.

Andrea said they sort of reminded her of the scene where Belle is singing her reprise in Beauty and the Beast (except she didn't actually use the word reprise).

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I'll take it! Maybe it reminded my subconscious of Beauty and the Beast, too, and maybe that's why I went to take the photos in the first place. And maybe this movie is the true source of all of my favorite things: travel, having little pieces of hair that frame my face, sunset, running through wide open fields, France, public group singing, reading while walking, you get the picture.

We had to head out too soon for our liking. If it was up to us, we would have stayed another night, but the post-grad life comes with responsibilities, so we drove home and only slowed down once for me to take this farewell photo of our favorite lake.

See you (maybe) for the Fourth of July, Folsom!

♥  Alex