Camping at Nolin Lake

 One way that we thought we would change up the summer was to throw ourselves into camping. Sarah got on top of the reservations when the state parks officially opened, but unfortunately these were all cancelled until the first week of July due to Covid. Then she did some research and found a great spot right on the lake at Nolin Lake State Park for the July 4th weekend. We were so excited, and then we got there...the park told us they had switched us to a new camping site because our reserved site was under water due to recent rains. Reluctant to surrender a great site we asked if we could still take a look. This is what we found. They were right.

The site we ended up at was at the main campground so we didn't get the same private lakefront view. But it would work, and the girls were excited to set up their hammocks as part of the camping experience.

Apparently the theme of our summer was hiking and waterfalls. The hiking at Nolin Lake did not exactly match some of our other treks, and the waterfall were a little lacking in volume as well.

One reason why we picked this campground was because it had a beach where we could actually swim in the lake. However, we arrived to signs saying the beach was closed. We were crossing our fingers that this was only for the day. Otherwise it was going to be a long three day weekend.

State park camping is always a mixed bag and provides various elements of surprise. It's great to be outside, but your experience can be shaped by the proximity and attitude of your neighbors. One of our neighbors was very nice, but apparently had only clothes with bananas on them. From shorts to shirts to bathing suits. Fascinating.

Fortunately, banana man and his partner had lighter fluid, which enabled us to finally get the damp state park firewood to burn. This was the trip that made Sarah realize we needed a hatchet to add to our growing camping supplies.

Here you can see we now have a full on camping kitchen and we have a system for meal times that works well as long as everyone pitches in. Callie enjoys the kitchen set up and doesn't mind washing the dishes. As long as the water supply isn't too far away we are able to handle it all pretty well. That night, however, we should have brought ear plugs because camping over the 4th of July means lots of illegal fireworks. It was a long night.

Covid has certainly meant more family time across the board. We are all home together, but when we are home we are not necessarily slowing down and taking in the time together. Nolin Lake allowed us to slow down and take that time.

The hammocks are definitely one of the critical parts of our camping gear. And they are extremely comfortable.

As something of a 4th of July miracle, the beach opened for swimmers and Reese could smile again. The girls quickly got on their suits, grabbed their swimming noodles, and hit the water. It was a bit more crowded than this picture makes it appear, so we spent most of our time on the perimeter. But it made our time at Nolin Lake that much better. We do hope to go back and get our lake front camp site one of these days. We just need to make sure it hasn't rained for at least a week beforehand.