Finding Lakota Lake

Last weekend we had the pleasure of checking out this lovely little lake. We have found that our usual lake locations are very over-crowded this year and have been on the hunt for a kid-friendly water spot. Lakota Lake did not disappoint ... it wasn't crowded, had several spots where the kids could access shallow water for wading and swimming, had an easy hiking trail around it and best of all (for the kids), it was loaded with crawdads!

Attempting "dispersed camping" -- Black Hills National Forest

For a while now Jason has been wanting us to give dispersed camping a try. I wasn't really familiar with the term, but found it basically means that you go to a National Forest area and pick a spot to camp {for free!} and hang out until the lack of any facilities gets the better of you. I was game to try this at least once and last weekend we went!

The Black Hills stretch across the South Dakota border and into Wyoming and on the Wyoming side you are allowed to have a campfire while dispersed camping, so that's where we headed - a place we hadn't yet explored!

Overall, things went really smoothly and we had a great time. Two years in China has prepared me well for alternative toileting situations and the kids were thrilled with that aspect. My only struggles were things that come up anytime/place we camp -- long, miserable nights because I feel extremely cold and I sometimes feel flustered trying to prepare meals with limited table/cooking space. Otherwise, we really, really enjoyed not having to stress about the kids making noise ... there were no neighbors, anywhere. It was a relief to not have to feel self conscious that our kids are AWAKE at 5:30 am and ready for the day. And, Jason found us a beautiful spot to camp in. Definitely something we'll try again.

Beautiful hiking right from our campsite.

Marshmellow time! (I forgot graham crackers!)

Welcomed back home by a beautiful sunet.