WDYDTW: July 18th - 20th, 2025

Another relaxing and unplugged weekend for the Park family! This post will probably read like a social media post/photo dump, but I love our camping weekends too much to not share.

Friday

I was in full preparation mode for our camping trip. We go to Mauch Chunk Lake Park in Jim Thorpe, PA, at least once every summer. We're talking about going more and staying longer now that our kiddo is a more experienced camper (and she loves it just as much as we do). I spent the morning dropping her off for her last day of summer space camp, dropping the dog off at the kennel for the weekend (she unfortunately hates camping), and making tons of homemade food for the weekend.

I planned all the weekend meals to a T this year! On Friday morning I baked two loaves of sourdough - one being a cinnamon raisin bread - and made a homemade glaze for it. I also made a creamy zucchini pesto for the pasta dinner we'd be having. Before it was time to pick up my daughter from space camp, I blanched & peeled a bunch of peaches, then threw together a peach cobbler for a camping dessert. Oh, and I made a delicious radish/scallion veggie dip that we always devour with pretzels. All in a span of about 5 hours!

After Jake finished a half-day of work and got his license photo updated (that surprisingly only took like 15 minutes!), we packed up the car to head to the campsite. One of the many reasons we love Mauch Chunk Lake is that it's only about 75 minutes from our house! Far enough to feel like a getaway, but close enough that the car ride passes easily. We set up camp quickly, then headed to our favorite local pizza place for an easy dinner. We finished Friday off with campfire smores, reading in the hammock, and enjoying the scenic lake sunset. Our kiddo slept in her own tent this year, which is a first! She stayed in there all night and totally loved it.

Saturday

Saturday was a wonderful day. Jake slept in the hammock all night, which he was so excited to do. I thought for sure he'd get rained on or eaten alive by bugs or something - but he slept well and had nothing happen to him! I got to sleep in the tent on the camping cot that my MIL got us recently. It was surprisingly comfy! Once we were all up Jake made his famous camping French toast, which is just French toast made with potato bread. We relaxed around the campsite for the morning playing UNO, more reading, and taking a walk around the campgrounds.

Around lunchtime, we packed up some snacks and headed for the lake beach. I had a sort of nostalgic/proud parenting moment seeing my daughter head straight into the water. For the past 3 summers of her life, she was content sitting in the sand and making castles the whole time. This year, though, she's really gotten comfortable with the water, dunking her head in and trying to swim. She was loving it! After a few hours, it started to drizzle, so we headed back to camp to get changed and cleaned up.

We spent the afternoon downtown in Jim Thorpe, which is something I've wanted to do since we started camping there several years ago but had never gotten around to. The shops are really neat - little hole-in-the-wall and "ma & pa" types of shops all over the place. There was a music store with tons of CDs, so our kiddo picked out a new one for her CD player (she picked "Breakfast in America" by Supertramp. Proud parent again). Some of the other shops I was intrigued by included a gem shop, "witchy" shop, natural/sustainable clothing boutique, and a store literally named "Plants and Crafts". We ended our stroll at a Harry Potter-themed coffee shop. The specialty drinks looked interesting, but we both decided on iced Chai lattes (and a homemade "Pop Tart" for the kiddo that was honestly delicious).

Saturday night's zucchini pesto pasta was simple AND yummy. Everyone ate a bunch of it! I also grilled some corn on the cob over the campfire. It's sooo much better than boiling the corn at home. The peach cobbler was a sweet treat to finish off our dinner, and of course a few more smores were made that evening. After a full day of camping activities, we all fell right asleep in the same spots as the previous night.

Sunday

I think we all slept even better the second night than we did the first. Our daughter did NOT want to get up on Sunday morning! It was going on 8:30 AM by the time we finally got her out of her tent, which is way later than she usually rises! After cinnamon rolls, yogurt, and coffees, we set to work packing up the campsite. Jake and I have a pretty solid routine for this procedure, so we can get everything packed and loaded into the car quickly and easily. The worst part is stuffing the entire tent back into its bag, but even that isn't too much of a hassle for a two-person team.

The rest of the day was relatively uneventful - just getting home, unpacking, throwing in some laundry, and picking Piper up from the kennel. She got a bath and nail trim while she was there, so she came home all fresh and clean. She's a cutie, that dog! We had a relaxing and refreshing weekend, but we were all happy to be home as the weekend came to a close. Next year I'd love to add in more camping trips, stay an extra night, or even plan group camping trips with friends. We all enjoy it so much, so why not try to do it more?