Versaille State Park (IN) Lu Family Camping Trip #3

Believe it or not, the Lu Family participated in three camping trips in one year. Wait, make that in 3.5 months! Who would have thought a city slicker family like mine would hit the trails so many times in such a short period? Our first trip was rough, the aimless search for the campsite set the bad tone. The discovery of the so called "modern bathrooms" was sure a "deal killer" for my wife. You know, when you are out camping, you just don’t expect everything to be kept tidy and clean. I was happy that there was hot water in the shower stalls! The electrical outlets were the icing on the cake. But I guess that’s just me, I’m quite easily satisfied, well, most of the time anyway. If you have yet to read about our first outing, please pause here and scroll to May , for trip 1. (I was too busy to write about trip #2.)

Perhaps it wasn’t a bad thing that my wife had to skip our second trip, my older son had gotten sick so both him and my wife had stayed home. After that first trip she didn’t want to go on anymore trips. My younger son and I had a blast especially when we found out there was a swimming pool. Throw my boys in a swimming pool and they are as happy as a couple of clams in the mud at high tide. As with the previous two trips, I tried to get as much information about the park, the campsite as possible before we packed up the car. It would be very helpful had one of the campers been to the campsite before. Unfortunately like us, it was their first trip to Versailles State Park as well.

"Very clean", one of the reviews I found online said about the park. "Great for fishing!" – another good review. Hmm…I wondered if it were really as good as "advertised"? There was no way to know if these positive reviews were posted by real campers or people who work there, right? The only way to find out is to, well, go see for yourself. Versailles State Park is roughly 90 minutes from our home, a relatively short driving distance.

With two camping trips under my belt, I thought this would be a piece of cake. We didn’t start packing anything until the evening before our trip, which was Sept. 3rd (Thursday). The trip plan was to get to the campsite after work, set up the tents and rest for the evening. All activities were to take place in the two days that followed. When I told my sons that there would be a swimming pool, their eyes got really big. "Do they have a springboard? baba." my younger son asked me. Well, I couldn’t find any information on the swimming pool amenities so I told my son that it was possible that there was one.

OK, the trip….after our boys got home from school, my wife and I had already started packing. A light snack before we hit the road, and a pre-trip shower, too! There is no telling if we’d get lost finding the campsite this time. The maps we pulled from Google, MapQuest, LiveMaps don’t really say if they lead to the park or to the campsite. In a 2000+ acre park, finding the campsite can be a tall order if there aren’t signs to guide you. Perfect example was our first camping trip.

So, we packed up our camping gears, got everyone in the car then hit the freeway. It was on a Friday afternoon so some traffic congestion was expected. Once we got out of the city it was all cruise control. We all got hungry at around 6:15 pm so we stopped at a Denny’s for dinner. Breakfast items for dinner, a change of pace, we thought. It was close to 7 pm when we hauled ourselves out of the restaurant and hit the road again. We were less than 20 miles from the state park. I did want to get there before it got dark though. Daylight was getting shorter and shorter.

There were a few signs that lead us all the way to the park entrance. The information booth was about two miles in, we verified our campsite registration and received a parking placard. The sun was setting quickly. When we pulled up to our designated parking space, three other families were already setting up their tents. We greeted them then got started unloading and putting our tents up. My boys were out making friends, playing with other kids and exploring the surrounding area. "Stay close!" both my wife and I told them before letting them loose.

We set up two tents so it wouldn’t be too crowded. We could have bought a larger tent for all four of us, but it’s a pain in the neck to set up a big tent. Each campsite is large enough to hold half a dozen tents easily. It was first come first serve so whoever got there first could claim their "boundary". I laid out a tarp to keep the moisture from seeping up our tents. It didn’t take long for me to set up the tents, after all, I had done this twice already. We bought a couple of new air mattresses so we could sleep better. The cushion pads just didn’t work worth a dime on our first trip. My back and butt were sore for a full day after sleeping on the cushion pads (our 1st trip).

After setting up our tents and getting our sleeping bags out, the rest of the families arrived, too. In all, there were 9 families, about 35 some people. A fairly large group I’d say. One of the families brought their two dogs, too! – Coco and Jojo.(see above) Some campsites allow pets, namely dogs. I don’t think I had seen cats on any of the trips we had taken this year. It was quite dark at around 9 pm, those who arrived earlier started helping out those who arrived late. I think by around 9:45 pm, all the tents were set up. We went and checked out the restrooms and what a pleasant surprise! they were very clean! We were all tired by then so we retrieved to our tents after brushing our teeth and saying good night to all.

The next morning started our full day at the state park. We had 蔥油餅, with or without egg. Pork sausage links, toast with jam, milk, juices. I usually don’t eat a big breakfast but I helped myself to a second serving that morning. Don’t worry, the pork fat hasn’t had much affect on me yet. Besides, we were going canoeing later in the morning. Shortly after breakfast, we piled onto the back of a truck and off we went – to the lake. The morning air was fresh and rejuvenating in a way, I took several deep breaths. We got to the lake attendant’s office to get our rental boats (paddle boat, row boat, canoe). My boys and I joined another family and got one rental boat. It’d be much easier having two adults rowing the boat rather than doing it all by myself.

I have seen people row a boat on countless occasions, how difficult could it be? Boy, was I in for a big surprise? I took charge of one oar while Mr. Chen took the other. We had to coordinate our paddling or the boat would quickly turned one direction. I think on the 1 1/2 hours long boat trip, we were zigzagging half of the time. It would probably be easier if one of us took the oars while the other rested. One valuable lesson learned.

We docked our boats for lunch, although there was still about 1/2 hour left on the rental time. There are several large picnic areas throughout the park. We picked one that was in the shade. Rolled sushi (5 different flavors/styles!), plus seasoned cold noodles and sliced roasted beef! Wow, not you regular picnic lunch for sure. While the adults were busy setting up the lunch tables, kids were busy playing. My sons ran to me and said to me in a very excited tone, "Swimming pool! and a water slide!!". Lo and behold, around the corner and slightly hidden is the swimming pool that I read about when I looked up for the park information. I knew there was a swimming pool in the park but didn’t know about the water slide. By the way, this isn’t a kiddie slide like the one they have at the YMCA close to our home. Although not amusement park size, this water slide actually has several turns. Wait, my younger son wasn’t done yet! "There are two springboards, too." my younger son exclaimed. I could see him going up and down the springboard platform 20 times already!

It was about 1:30 pm when we returned to our campsite. My boys were already anxious to get changed for the swimming pool. I asked them to wait until 2:30 pm since we had just eaten lunch. The one hour wait just about killed them. By 2:10 pm, my sons were already bugging me to get them suited. We got them each a swimming shirt for sun (proof) protection. It’s much easier to slip on a shirt than putting gobs of sunscreen on them. I think I will get one for myself next year. At 2:30 pm sharp, we packed up the kids (and adults) and headed back to the swimming pool. We got to the pool area after paying the $2 admission (each, adults and kids). Wanna guess where my younger son went as soon as he got to the pool deck? "Baba, look at me!" my younger son called out to me as he stood on top of the springboard. Off he went – dive #1…#2, #3 soon followed. My older son tested out the lower springboard first but soon found himself standing in line to the higher springboard. Did I do it? No, since I was busy taking photos of my two Kamikaze sons. I did put away the camera for a good swim later, man, that water was cold!

It was a great afternoon at the pool for all of us. Easily the best $6 I had spent! Nearly 3 hours of great fun, activities for $6? I’d do it again in a heartbeat! By the time 5 o’clock rolled around, I could tell most of the moms and dads were already tired. I checked with the others and decided that we would head back to our campsite in 20 minutes. Time to hunt for my kids, the swim shirt made them easier to spot. We went to the shower area for a quick rise and a wipe down. I knew they would play again after dinner, that’s why we didn’t shower after swimming. Just before we headed to the parking lot, a park ranger arrived at the poolside for some show and tell. She brought with her two turtles, both from the lake in the park. We stuck around for another 10 minutes or so. My boys even petted the turtles.

My wife and some of the other ladies stayed and prepared dinner. Let’s see, BBQ chicken and beef, a huge pot of stir-fried veggies and an even bigger pot of 滷味 (豆干, 豆皮, 滷蛋, 豬腳, 海帶). Talk about a hungry crowd! The massive amount of food quickly disappeared – into our stomachs. There were some leftovers, about two medium size containers. We even had 刨冰 after dinner. One thing for sure, we (Taiwanese) love a good grub! Simple, easy dishes are usually the best, trust me. Everyone relaxed and chit-chatted for a while before going for an after dinner stroll. There are a few playgrounds in the park, we took the kids to the one near us. My wife volunteered to walk one of the dogs, why not? dogs need exercise, too. We hit the shower one by one after the nice walk. Kids were plenty dirty and needed a good scrub-down after playing in the sand at the playground.

How would you cap off a fun day like this? How’bout roasting marshmallows by the campfire and singing to some nostalgic 校園民歌? Mr. Chien, a special guest on this trip with his family, lead the wonderful and memorable segment of the evening. Mr. Chien had participated in many summer camps in Taiwan. He had entered in several talent contests, too. A very accomplished guitar player. Under the moonlight, next to the campfire, children and their parents gathered around. The firewood was crackling while I started roasting marshmallows for everyone. Kids told jokes as moms and dads engaged in their own conversation topics. There were some fireflies in the woods all around us. I listened and hummed to the songs as Mr. Chien strummed his guitar. The familiar tunes that I had listened to while growing up in Taiwan. Wow, it warped me back to my early teenage years! Kids were getting tired and were brought back to their tents one after another. After getting my boys to brush their teeth, I brought them back to their tent, I then rejoined the campfire "choir". It had been a while since I felt this relaxed. My wife excused herself as she also had an exhaustive day – manning the cooking chores. We continued until we ran out of firewood, it was nearly 11 pm. I said good night to all and thanked everyone for a lovely evening. My family was to head home the next morning after breakfast. A few families were planning to stay until the afternoon. This was easily the best camping trip without a doubt. I’m quite certain that we will do it again next year.

original post date: September 16, 2009