Change of Scenery

We weren’t alone when we set-off to a campsite on Lake Millwood near Ashdown, Ar. for the Thanksgiving weekend. Warm weather appears to have made quite a few folks think of taking a camping trip for the holidays. So why not load up the tents and sleeping bags, travel-trailers and motor-homes, a couple strands of festive holiday lights, and head-out to a scenic recreation area for Christmas? Heck, if you don’t have the gear, you won’t find it too hard to find a park that rents cabins of all shapes and sizes, that will comfortably accommodate a couple, or the whole famiy reunion.

Wake-up Christmas morning in a secluded, woodsy spot, where the Christmas trees are already there for you, and you may even get an intimate visit from a few deer who didn’t make the cut when it came to sleigh-pulling duty! Exchange presents beside a blazing fire which might just be cookin’-up that big pot of Christmas gumbo! Wear your fluffy slippers and Ho-Ho-Ho flannel pj’s…no dress code when your camping, just like the living room on the Big Morning.

Of course, this warm weather pattern could well be long gone come December 25th, and super-frigid conditions would make any venture outdoors more than you might be willing to endure, and probably not exactly “festive.” If you opt to go with your usual routine, here’s wishing you and yours a meaningful, memorable season. But if you want to break with tradition and “do it in the woods” you won’t be the only elf jingling his bells at the campground.

Here are a few photos from our recent trip. Some links to area camping follow.

A small galley in the travel-trailer doesn’t keep Shelley from serving a delectable Thanksgiving dinner! Sweet potatoes, green beans, rolls, stuffing and apple pie. A couple Cornish hens save oven space, and there’s no fighting over the drumstick.