camping new jersey style

labor day weekend. i only got to go camping once this summer and i was itching for more, so i asked terra if she and kevin (our new friends who we'd met at ariel/andreas' wedding) wanted to go camping somewhere close-ish for the long weekend. they did! terra found a campsite in northern new jersey and was under the impression that it would be a good spot. honestly, i was a little skeptical. you just don't think of jersey as the ideal outdoor fantasy land. but all i really wanted was trees, sunshine and some water nearby.

i was picturing a dusty campsite, with a smattering of trees, and lots of loud families right near our site. it was none of the above. first of all, it was so green, i couldn't believe it. there were tons of gorgeous trees everywhere. the actual campsite was totally rustic (no running water) and huge... you couldn't even see or hear the other few campers around. we had a little outhouse on our site too, so we didn't even have to treck through the grounds to do business. we had our own little piece of paradise. i was happy.

scott (terra and kevin's friend) was the official camper of the group and handled the fires and wood gathering. and alex was the official camp cook. he made the burgers and dogs and sandwiches and a chocolate tart (!) AND a rotisserie chicken over the open flame! i was so impressed and we all ate so well the whole weekend.

the first day we checked out the nearby sunrise mountain which had a beautiful view of rural jersey (it is called the garden state, you know). next day was pretty overcast and cloudy so we went to the rivine which was fairy wonderland. and our last day trip was to this hidden lake that scott (the local) knew about. it was sunny that day so we were psyched that we might get to go swimming. the hike up to the lake was great. pretty steep in spots but it made the anticipation for the lake even greater. working up a little sweat we were ready to get right in.

"OH MY GOD" terra exclaimed as she got the first glimpse of the lake. it was pristine! huge and clear surrounded by trees and big rocks. rad. there were others there, but we didn't care. we pealed off our clothes, jumped in and swam over to the jumping rock. the water was absolutely perfect. we climbed up to the top of the rock and i decided i was going to jump. it seemed high, but not too bad. after a long time, i went for it. holy shit, it was higher than i thought, but pretty exhilirating. i did it again and then swam around for a while.

we finished off the trip with a fantastic meal at kevin's parents' thai restaurant. soft shell crab, shrimp, spring rolls, satay, turnip cakes, mango with sticky rice, the whole bit. so so so good. and THEN, a ride home from kevin's dad! i felt so lucky about the whole trip. a car, great food, amazing people all in a beautiful setting. be sure to check out my camping photos on flickr.