Oliver's first camping trip

Once our family left town, Scott still had a few days off work. Scott planned on going backpacking with Bruce, but then Phoebe found out and she wanted to go too. And then if they were both going, I felt like I had to go too - and so it turned into a family event. We headed to the Berkshires for some camping (backpacking was a bit too much for me and Oliver at this point).

We stayed at Savoy Mountain State Park, one of about a zillion state parks in the area. We hiked and played there, and drove over to Mount Greylock for some more hiking there. Wild blueberries are in season, so the kids filled their tummies on just about every hike.

When we went to Mount Greylock, I had to feed Oliver before setting out. Scott and the kids headed out on the trail and I told them I'd catch up with them on the loop. There was one part of the loop where the trail split into two before joining later back into a single trail: one side of the trail went to some scenic vistas (Greylock is the highest point in Massachusetts) and the other side went to some airplane wreckage that the kids thought would be cool to check out. Apparently Scott said they would meet me at the scenic vistas, but my sleep-deprived brain didn't compute that so I headed for the airplane wreckage and pressed forward on the loop. I got back to the car a few hours later, fed Oliver again, got a little nap, and finally Scott and the kids showed up at the car wondering where I'd been the whole time. Oops.

 Here is the view from Greylock. I saw the airplane wreckage, which was also cool/ scary. It was a crash from the late 1940s and the plane looked like it was made from flimsy pipes; the pilot was flying newspapers from New York City to Albany on a foggy night.

The kids love camping and hiking so much. Bruce and Phoebe stayed in a small 2-person tent while Scott, Oliver, and I occupied a much roomier 6-person tent. Bruce and Phoebe slept great. Scott slept okay. And Oliver and I had one good night (he got up once) and two bad nights (he got up every 1.5-2 hours).

 Oliver survived without a single bug bite. Bruce and Phoebe each got one or two. Above, Bruce has a band-aid mustache from a scratch Phoebe gave him.

We hiked around Natural Bridge State Park after driving past it on the road once or twice. It has a natural bridge of course...

 ...and lots of super-old graffiti...

 ...and a dam built out of marble.