Two days in heaven

I've decided to keep the blog going. I might not be in Ireland or traveling Europe anymore, but I am doing a bunch of small trips around home this summer, places elegant and stunning in their own way, so I thought I'd keep sharing my adventures.
I've been going to Allegany State Park in New York since I was a baby. My parents met there, and before them both sides of my family made yearly vacations to the forested wonderland — you can probably say love of the place was built into my DNA. Childhood memories and radiant thoughts flood my mind every time the place comes up in conversation. Every other year I look forward to a week of camping in the woods with no cell phone reception, smelling like campfire smoke and cooking meals on a old-school stove.

Because of work, I only had a few days in paradise this year, but I took advantage of every moment. I gazed at the stars, which seem to shine much brighter without the lights of the city to drown them out, losing myself in the clear sky, interrupted only my the tree canopy. I sat next to the blazing heat of a well-stoked camp fire, making fresh popcorn and mountain pies, snacks one can only find at camp. I soaked my feet in the chilly creek, water that runs down the mountains and keeps the younger cousins hunting for crayfish and splashing in water fights. I smiled in the warm summer rain, which always seems to find us, as it came down in the early afternoon. I talked and caught up with relatives and family friends that I only see at camp, getting to know each other all over again and laughing all the while.
The forest surrounds everything, engulfing us in a quiet, simple atmosphere and shifts me to a relaxed state of being. The creek gurgles and the lake lays out before me like a flat piece of glass that ripples and shimmer in the hazy July heat — the place is simply breathtaking.
I sat in my lawn chair near the crackling fire with a cold beer, of which there is an unending supply at camp, looked at the loving people and gorgeous scenery around me, and thought to myself, "This is the life."