Celebration of One Great Year

We have had quite a fun weekend here, and all the preparation I mentioned in the last post really paid off. When I left off Matt was busy in the kitchen making meals for our trip to the great outdoors to go camping, in a tent and in the woods. Before I get into what we had to eat and what we did, I should explain that all the meals were planned and made by Matt- I must say he did an outstanding job! I think we're going to have lots of people wanting to come camping with us in the future after you see how well we ate.

We decided on Raccoon Creek State Park located west of Pittsburgh because it had available camping spots, it was near Pittsburgh, and it had lots of hiking trails. We used the tent we got from Matt's dad that has been used since before Matt was even born, and although it looked small from the outside the inside was quite spacious- but not quite the tent 'castle' I was used it. Growing up we had a tent with three "rooms" and you could stand up inside, while this tent was more of a crawl in version. I wasn't complaining since it fit an air mattress with plenty of room-yes an air mattress!

We arrived Friday afternoon around 3pm to check into the campgrounds during pouring rain. Needless to say I was a bit concerned because camping in the rain isn't much fun, and setting up camp in the rain would have been much worse. Luckily we just waited a little while and the rain stopped and the sun came out for the rest of the trip. We set up the tent, got the bed all made, then headed into town to get some firewood.

Friday we planned just to set up camp, have dinner and relax. Dinner was tilapia with grilled corn. Matt prepared the tilapia by creating foil packets with mixed veggies and seasoning. The foil packets were grilled over the open fire with fresh grilled corn.


It was a great meal and we spent the rest of the evening just enjoying a campfire- and of course some s'mores. Sorry no pictures of the s'mores because they were consumed very quickly.


Saturday morning was our official one year anniversary, and after a shower I found this love meal prepared.




Yes those are pancakes stacked with layers of jam, peanut butter, banana, maple syrup, coconut, and cocoa nibs. AMAZING!!!! A fabulous way to start our day of adventure.

Saturday we took a 2 hour drive to see one of the most famous homes created by architect Frank Lloyd Wright, Fallingwater.



We took a tour of the grounds surrounding Fallingwater and toured the inside of the home. It was a relaxing day of taking in the sights, but unfortunately I can't show you the pictures we took of the home because we received specific instructions that pictures could not be posted on personal websites. We would definitely love to live in that house! Too bad it will never be for sale!

We enjoyed lunch at the cafe located on the grounds of Fallingwater because we were so far from our camp, but upon arrival back at the campsite Matt set to work on another amazing dinner. He skewered chicken, beef, tomatoes, peppers, and mushrooms- then grilled them over the open flames. It was served with a wheat berry salad, and was the perfect meal after a long day of exploring.


Matt even planned a dessert for that evening of grilled peaches. He packed the grilled peaches in a foil pack with brown sugar over the open flames to create a tasty treat.


Sunday morning we slept in because it was so cold overnight that we didn't want to get out of bed. I think it was in the forties during the night, and our toes were freezing! I think I slept with the blanket over my head and the thought of crawling out of the bed to go to the bathroom was dreadful, so I always tried to wait until I really had to go.

Anyways Sunday morning we had a pretty leisurely day, Matt prepared another great breakfast of eggs with sweet potato home fries and crumbled turkey sausage. On the side we had fresh cantaloupe with blueberries. It was so very tasty, and better than any breakfast I've made at home.


After lunch we took a walk around the park and just enjoyed the beautiful weather, later in the afternoon Matt made us lunch. It was homemade black bean soup and grilled cheese sandwiches. By grilled I'm mean literally grilled over the open flames- with two thumbs up and no complaints from me!


After another great meal we headed out to explore the Wildflower Reserve and took a walk through the trails and captured some beautiful photos.






After a nice walk we grilled some sausages over the fire and had some fresh made guacamole on the side. We enjoyed another great fire and another round of s'mores.



After all that fun I was so relaxed I curled up in a blanket and fell asleep next to the campfire! Shortly after Matt snapped this picture he woke me up and sent me to bed, while he enjoyed more fire burning. Boys sure do love playing with fire.


Monday morning was the end of our camping trip but not before Matt prepared one last meal. Egg, ham, and cheese sandwiches on grilled rolls. Two thumbs up!!!


Then it was time to pack up the campsite and hit the road home. We back a couple wraps for lunch on the way, and headed out. We did stop at the outlet mall to do a little shopping, had lunch, then enjoyed some self-serve yogurt! We've been looking all over for a place that have multiple yogurts with endless toppings- you pay by the ounce and can mix and match as you want. So fun and it tasted great!



There you have it, a great weekend camping! We celebrated our first year of marriage, and are looking forward to many more!

Have a good night!