Branched Oak Camping Trip

Camping over the Halloween weekend is a tradition for Matt and I but after freezing weather last year we decided to move our annual trip a few weeks early. We headed over to Branched Oak State Park , close to home and has lots of camping grounds to pick from.

A few years ago I painted an artwork featuring a camping adventure with a bright yellow tent. At the time my inspiration for the tent in the painting was an old army tent that my dad had mixed with a Coleman tent Matt and I had. Really weird that fast forward to the present day, and we end up buying a bright yellow tent almost exactly like my painting.
 

One of my favorite features of the new tent is the skylight in the rain fly. That and the tent just glows when your inside it. I took a short nap and think I got a tan.

Tent also comes with an optional vestibule for storing your items and making a nifty little porch area.

It was still a bit chilly but with hat, gloves, hoodie and a warm fire, it was perfect to hangout and enjoy a good read. (The Lost Hero by Rick Riordan is pretty amazing continuation of the Percy Jackson and the Olympians series)

Got some classic orange pumpkins to carve our jack-o-lanterns. I love camping in autumn because everyone decks out their campsite with Halloween and autumn cheer.

Toshi enjoys chilling by the campsite. Digging, napping, and crunching a few leaves are a few of his camping favorites.

What started as driving to get more firewood for the campsite ended up being a search for a gas station, which expanded to driving a little farther for food at a place called Toast. Ever since my friend Lindsey introduced me to the yummy fare at Toast, I've been pretty hooked. Here's a delicious club sandwich with potato salad and mandatory pickle.

My pumpkin turned out a little derpy (the one on the left), but I love the grin on Matt's Jack-o-lantern. 

It's pretty rare to get both of us in a shot together because one of us is usually behind the camera...thanks to a nifty timer this is one of my favorite photos.

Beautiful night sky. There was a while where the sky was a really deep purple.