December is such a hectic time of year. The holidays create their own chaos, work gets very busy, and there is not enough time for rest and relaxation. With all the hub-bub, there is a temptation to skip our monthly camping weekend. Instead of not going, we opted to plan a close to home, relaxing trip this time.
Instead of getting up at the crack of dawn, we allowed ourselves some time to sleep in. Once we were up, we headed to Richmond for lunch, with a stop at J.C. Penney to pick up a Christmas gift. I had ordered the gift online and opted to pick it up at the store to avoid the shipping charge (or having to buy another item to earn free shipping). I knew we would conveniently be going right by the store for our trip.
Our plan was to have lunch at Roy’s Big Burger, a little walk-up restaurant with awesome, cheap burgers. We studied the menu and made our choices while we waited for our turn at the window. Unfortunately, they had a gas leak (at least I think that’s what she said) and were unable to use the grill. They could only serve food from the fryer.
We checked Google to see what our other food options were, and found Carytown Burgers & Fries just down the street. After lunch, we stopped at Fins & Feathers, one of Chris’s favorite pet stores, to check out the beautiful reptiles. After Chris had his critter fix, we continued our journey to Pocahontas State Park in Chesterfield, VA.
We found a nice spot and set up camp, while we waited for our oldest, Joe, to arrive. He lives nearby, so came out to spend the evening with us. We were running out of daylight, but still had enough time to go on a short hike. The trail map was very confusing, but I was able to find a shorter trail by the lake. We didn’t realize that some of the roads were closed in preparation for a controlled hunt that the park was doing the next day. We quickly regrouped and found another trail around a second lake.
We got there just in time to see the sun setting over the lake. It was spectacular. As we hiked we saw a few mushrooms, squirrels, and some geese swimming on the lake. It was a beautiful walk. We did not make it all the way around the lake but managed to get back to the car before it was totally dark.
We made a quick run to the store to pick up dinner supplies and firewood, then headed back to camp. It was getting chilly, so Chris got the fire going quickly. It was a pleasure just sitting around the fire, listening to music, and talking. While at the store, I picked up marshmallows and fudge striped shortbread cookies. Joe and I toasted marshmallows and snacked on s’mores.
Chris cooked up perfectly mid-rare steaks and topped them with a fantastic Gorgonzola, mushroom, cream sauce. After we enjoyed our steaks, the guys put the rest of the wood on to build a very warm, gorgeous fire. We spent the rest of the evening enjoying the company and watching the cloud cover take over the clear, starry sky. Once the fire died down, we said our goodbyes, Joe headed out, and we called it a night.
The temperature was in the 30s but we were ready for the cold. We added a thick carpet to the floor of our tent when we started using the cot (to prevent tearing the floor with the cot legs). A great side effect of using the rug is we now have an extra layer of insulation against the cold. We sandwich our sleeping bag between a thick blanket underneath and a comforter on top, creating a toasty warm sleeping space.
We were not on a tightly scheduled trip this time so we slept until our bodies told us it was time to wake up. As we broke down camp, the camp host (on the other side of the bathhouse) started blowing leaves on their site. It could have been a coincidence, but with the timing, I am pretty sure that they courteously waited until they saw that we were up and moving around before they started the noise. The courtesy was very refreshing.
After a nice late breakfast at The Diner, we went to Windy Hill Sports Complex in Midlothian to play The Breeze, a new disc golf course. The sports complex offers a lot of activities, a 9-hole golf course, a disc golf course, a soccer golf course, putt-putt, a driving range, and go-karts. The disc golf course is on the ball golf course. We spent the extra $5 to get a golf cart, which was a lot of fun.
The course is nicely laid out. We had a little trouble finding the first tee, it was just over the hill from the ball golf tee. The disc golf tee, marked by discs on the ground, could not be seen from the cart path, but once we walked to the ball golf tee we found it. The transition between the 4th and 5th holes was a little confusing. We drove the cart around to the other side of the trees (judging by what we saw from the map) when we really just needed to walk back into the woods to find it. The basket is not visible from the tee, just follow the path and then throw over the hill.
Finding the 7th hole was a bit tricky as well, a little more in the woods than the map shows. The 8th hole, played as an island, was fun. The 9th plays back into the woods along a stream, which I managed to throw into three times, with penalty strokes for each! We could see the structures from the haunted houses they had used for Halloween.
Just as I was about the throw on the 12th hole Chris spotted a beautiful hawk diving for prey. We attempted to keep an eye on him to get a photo, but could not find him when we were close enough to take the picture. We saw him again as we walked to the next hole, but he flew away before we could get to the camera.
The basket, suspended in a tree, on the 14th hole was fun. Chris found a possum head on the 18th hole. We aren’t sure what took him out, but it looked like it had been pretty recent. Chris finished with six over par (not bad for a new course) and I ended up with 27.
This was not the most pristine course we’ve ever played, but it was really fun. After we were home we found out that our friend, Jon, designed the course with his brother.
We wrapped up our fun, relaxing weekend with dinner at Can Can Brasserie followed by a walk down Cary Street. The neighborhood had an exciting vibe that I really enjoyed.
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