Reading by firelight
It was the Ethiopian New Year. My wife and I, and our daughter (who was born in Ethiopia) traveled to Baltimore to attend a celebration with other Ethiopian adoptive parents and their children. It has become a tradition in our house, and despite the recent changes in our home—we’ll be celebrating the Chinese New Year with our newly adopted son next January—we still made the trip on September 10th.
Rather than spend the night in a hotel as we have done past years we decided instead to take our camper to Patapsco Valley State Park and enjoy a night of sleeping in our own bed, somewhat under the stars. And share the joy of the woods with the newest member of our family, my son who has been home from China for six weeks.
We arrived at the park in the late afternoon after a mostly uneventful drive from our home on the eastern shore. Mostly uneventful save for one wheel of the trailer bumping against a construction barricade on I-97 and causing the camper to swing back and forth across two lanes of traffic. I eased off the gas and kept the wheel of the car straight while the cars around and behind me slowed and allowed plenty of room. Soon enough the trailer stopped swaying. I slowed down and moved into the next lane away from the concrete barriers. I’m still getting used to driving with the trailer.
Patapsco Valley is over sixteen thousand acres of preserved land stretching along 32 miles of the Pataspco River west of Baltimore. Created in 1907 it is one of Maryland’s oldest state parks. With eight developed recreational areas for camping and picnicking, and over 170 miles of mixed-use trails, the park has something for everyone. For us it had an open campsite with electricity a week after labor day.
The Hollofield Area is located off of Route 40 west (also known as the Baltimore National Pike) in Ellicott City. This is not only the headquarters of the park, but also the registration for all campsites. The polite rangers gave me a map of the park as well as directions for getting to the campground. I was glad to hear that camping gave me a code to get into the park after the gates closed at dark as we weren’t sure when we would be back from our dinner.
I backed into the site without incident and quicker than I’ve been able to backup the 18 foot R-Pod previously. In less than ten minutes I had the camper plugged in and leveled, and my wife had it cleaned up and the beds made inside. We were ready to turn back around and head out for dinner.
Dukem Restaurant on Maryland Avenue in Baltimore serves up traditional Ethiopian cuisine with a traditional style. The special tibs are not to be missed, and the doro wat is perhaps the best I’ve ever had. Plus we enjoy getting the semi-annual chance to chat with other adoptive families. The owner of the restaurant warmly welcomes both the parents and especially the children with a hug and a smile for each one.
After dinner we drove back to Pataspsco where I took both my kids on a short walk through the trees to find the store of firewood. Because of the risk of transporting the tree-killing Emerald Ash Borer, firewood is only to be purchased at the campground. I loaded up on a bundle of wood and carried it all back to the campsite. On the way I met up with an old friend of my wife’s whom she hadn’t seen in years. She happened to be camping here with her family and some friends, and it seemed a lucky coincidence that we all showed up at the same place. This is one of the joys of camping, the surprises you find in the most scenic of places.
The fire came alive quickly, as did my realization that I neglected to bring the fixings for s’mores. “Dad!” my daughter whined. “Having s’mores is the whole point in going camping!”
Thankfully I did remember to bring homemade chocolate ice cream, so that made up for it. We sat around our fire, ate ice cream, while my wife read the first Harry Potter book to my daughter.
My son took to camping straight away. There was so much to do! Trees to touch, leaves to collect and shrubs to poke with sticks found on the ground. Another camper wandered past our site with a phasmid or walking stick crawling up his arm. And around the corner were dozens of kids with balls and bikes and a willingness to let a new little boy and a happy young girl join in their games.
In the morning I woke early and took a run down to the Patapsco River. The water was running clear and cool and I splashed some on my face and arms to wash away the night’s heat. I found a peace as I sat on a rock next to the river, the kind of peace I often only find when I’m in the woods, a connection to nature and to the world that’s hard to find when I’m mowing my lawn or pulling weeds out of my flower beds on hot summer afternoons. That there is a place like this, so close to home, and so close to Baltimore, makes it even more special. A park I plan on taking my family, and my trailer, to again.