I live in a rural area near the Ellisville Harbor State Park, and a road runs right by the salt marsh. At low tide the mudbanks butt up to the road and a few years ago I took this photo. At the time I knew almost nothing about ducks, and noticed the strange looking mallards in the mud. My philosophy is always shoot first and ask questions later, so I shot and went home to check the references. I didn't even know Green-winged Teal existed. At that distance my Canon Powershot S5IS with a 12X zoom can handle it, although I don't get that nice feather detail. Some day I'll get better equipment, but not right now. Claire

For our first tent trip, our kids were 2.5 and 4. I had no idea if they would like it, so we went only for 3 nights to a fairly close camp (about an hour away). We all loved it, and have since camped at the same camp exclusively. Of course, that was only 2 years ago, so we've got some time to find other camps! You didn't mention what kind of vehicle you have other than a car. What kind of car? You may be hard pressed to pack all you need into a car. We have a station wagon with no rooftop carrier, and we barely fit all we needed for just the three nights. We did not take bikes or scooters or firewood or dog . (We had one at the time.) We did shop for the perishable once we got to the camp, so I was able to use the big cooler to pack other stuff. The biggest volume hoggers were the tent, cooler, food container, tool/utensil/misc container, sleeping bags, clothing bags, and dining fly. I tried to condense as much as I could in each of the containers, like packing only as much oatmeal or sugar or Captain Crunch in one Gladware container as we would use for three days. Condense condense condense!!! That was my mantra for the three days it took me to pack!! We packed every cubic inch of that vehicle. Under the seats, under the kid's feets, under my feet in the passenger side, between the kids, between me and my husband; we cozied some smaller items in with the spare tire and in every crevice we could find. It was a project! The next year, we broke down and took two vehicles so we could bring the bikes, and skip the shopping trip (it was SO expensive at that grocery store near the camp...duh!) This year, we have a new F150 truck, so we may be able to pare down to one vehicle again! We'll see! My husband kinda babies that truck and is hesitant to take it into the "wilderness" of the state park! mozy

Your story about your motorcycle trip stirred some memories! I sold my MC last fall, since my wife decided she didn't like me riding off into the wilderness of W. Pennsylvania, all by myself! The fact that i turned 81 last September might have had something to do with that! so, now, all i do is sit with my memories of motor-cycling! nothing better than starting it up and riding off to strange places! I enjoyed your story immensly, especially about sitting and listening to the street entertainer, with his folk and bluegrass music. Rustyju

Linda, it is lovely isn't it. On a clear day it seems like you can see forever. They have put in a handicap walkway to Bald Rock (elevated wooden walk with benches every 50 yards or so) but we chose to walk the path (less wind near the ground). There are lots of hiking trails, bike paths and roads. There is primative camping, semi improved, and full hook-up, cabins, lodge or hotel with restraunt. We haven't eaten at the restraunt yet, always just cook at the camp site. Moving up to the RV from the pop-up was the best thing we ever did. So easy to pack, set up, clean ... really handy for bike rides, just park in the lot and turn on the propane. When you get back, nice hot shower waiting for you. beverly