🚿 Cold Showers, Boiled Hashbrowns, and a Drunken Stone Circle – Wildwood State Park Day 2 (and 3)

July 1, 2025

🚿 Cold Showers, Boiled Hashbrowns, and a Drunken Stone Circle – Wildwood State Park Day 2 (and 3)

It has become abundantly clear that I have forgotten too many things on this camping trip and that I will need to head into town for additional supplies. I end up taking a bad shower, breaking and losing pencils, sleeping poorly and loving every minute of it.

Sunday June 1st, 2025

Good morning.

Check out this tree.

Last night I was worried about the noise, but I fell asleep well.

I did not continue to stay asleep because it was very cold last night.

Below is a chart of my sleep.

That’s a lot of awake time mixed in there.

The good news is that the new ultra-light sleeping bag did a good job of keeping me warm.

As a guy who is over six feet tall, I made sure to buy one that is extra long.

It was still a tight fit when it comes to the length, but I was able to tuck my head into the sleeping bag and stay warm.

But now it’s the morning.

I have bad breath.

I didn’t think to bring a jacket because it was so warm when I left.

I want to take a shower, but I don’t want to be cold and wet after the shower.

I need to get up.

I’ll brush my teeth and warm up in the bathroom.

It’s heated.

Success!

But…

I need a plan.

My options are to get something warm or stay in the sleeping bag until the afternoon.

I could use some other supplies as well.

As I come out of the bathroom Jason asks if he can borrow a towel as he hasn’t showered for a while.

I tell him he can have my towel because by this point my mind is made up to travel into town and load up on a few supplies.

The bus that took me here goes back into town and by a couple of big box stores before looping around and heading back this way.

It looks like the bus is on an hour loop.

I could spend an hour at the store.

Maybe I’ll grab a bite to eat.

But I need something warm. My mind is made up. I have a plan and a shopping list.

Towel, wash cloth, jacket, soap, one of those apple charging cords for my air pods which are dying, something to keep my head warm and postcards.

Off to Riverhead, New York!

I’ll just cut through this seasonal shop thing to get to the store and save some time.

While I’m shopping I take another look at the bus route.

It swings by in another hour, but also in 15 minutes.

If I hurry and skip the last two items, I can make it back to the bus stop!

Ha!

I make it!

The bus driver recognizes me and see’s my bag and says “Good timing!”

I did not find postcards and I gave up on the beanie.

Let’s chat about these items.

One lesson that I have learned from this camping trip is that I should over pack a little bit.

In Texas the state park showers have liquid soap like the dispensers that are near restroom sinks.

Wildwood does not have soap and so I bought the cheapest bar that I could find in the travel section.

The wash cloth is just something I forgot to bring. That one is my fault.

The most important thing was the jacket, but I instead went with a thermal shirt. I can wear it over another shirt and it’s warm enough for this weather.

It will be more useful to me than to own another hoodie or jacket.

The charging cord.

I didn’t think I’d use my air pods as much as I have.

I brought multiple battery packs with me, but the winner is the big USB-C style charger.

I have a magnetic charger that is very convenient, but it is a slow charge and it only fills up about half of the battery.

My big block charger has filled the phone a couple of times, the watch and now the air pods and still has about half of a charge.

I’ll charge this again in the bathroom.

I am told it is okay to leave items unattended in there.

Beaver?

No, they have big tails and would be near streams.

What is this?

A woodchuck, maybe?

Y’know what? I don’t smell so bad.

The shower can wait a day. 😉

I’m on vacation.

While writing this I am using the physical notes that I took in a Field Notes booklet.

I have several in a leather case that I attach a pencil to and keep in my back pocket.

The “back pocket” thing, it turns out, is not a good idea.

I sat on this thing too many times and now the pencil is broken.

I have a spare in my backpack and I go to transfer the lead and there is only one partial stick in the pencil!

This pencil has done its duty to write all the way until the lead is nearly finished and until my butt has sat upon it too many times.

Thank you for your service, pencil.

A.D.D. moment: Wait. Maybe it’s a ground hog.

Are groundhog’s that big?

Note: I have checked my body for ticks several times.

In Texas my biggest concern was wild hogs, here it’s ticks.

Well, and bears, but there are no bears on Long Island, so I am only worried about ticks on this camping trip.

Time for breakfast.

I only have the one burner, so let’s get the coffee started first and then we can try the dollar store dehydrated hashbrowns.

Both are a success, but I did not bring nearly enough creamer.

I think I mentioned this yesterday.

I should have added creamer to my shopping list.

They probably sell coffee at one of the two food places here.

Back to breakfast.

There’s not much room to fry the potatoes after rehydrating them, so I’m frying and eating the hashbrowns in small batches.

Lucking these are seasoned well because I did not bring any salt with me.

This is a good breakfast.

There is a nice restaurant-style kitchen double-sink by the women’s restroom here.

An easy clean up.

I did boil some water in the cooking tin to get the hard bits loosened up first.

Lesson’s learned about cooking:

More creamer.
Instant hashbrowns are good, but the small cooker is a bit rough to fry them in.
I should have made sandwiches like I usually do.
Peanut butter and jelly sandwiches would have been great for a quick bite.

Time to wander the park again.

This tree.

Are these Woodpecker holes?

Let’s wander the hiking trails for a bit.

I will, sign.

It’s one of the few plants that I am good at spotting.

See that little gnome entrance at the bottom there?

Probably something Blair witchy happened here.

This path doesn’t appear to be taken very often.

I’ll take it and see where it goes.

Either a tree or a pokemon:

“Ahhhhhh!”

Slowly leaning forward to take a nibble out of that plant.

They have lint rollers out here along the walking trails.

I wonder where here is on a map?

Oh good.

They labeled it for me.

This unmarked trail, which is marked on the physical map, but not on online maps leads back to the road.

Dogs are allowed along most of the trails.

I don’t think they’re allowed in the park anywhere, though.

It’s very confusing.

See this tree?

It has a butt hole.

Ew.

Okay, back to the beauty of nature.

There’s another lint roller.

What are these for?

Oh! I bet it’s for ticks!

I’ll give one a quick use.

I love to meander and look at nature.

Check out this fungus!

White thorns?

I’ve never seen this before.

There are so many plants and trees that are new to me here.

Ferns!? Awesome!

I think that’s paint on this rock.

Oh, a bench.

Sitting time.

It’s been a nice walk, but I shouldn’t use up all of my energy so early in the day.

I have seen a good portion of the hiking trail, let’s relax in the tent for a bit.

Hell. I lost the second pencil (and my physical notes switch to pen).

I’m hungry again.

I could go down to the beach for a meal and write some postcards to folks.

I’m so tired, though.

And I’m not reading that Scott Sigler book, I should return that.

Let’s put on another application of sunscreen and head down to the beach.

There’s a new guy working at the register.

He’s having a rough time.

We’ve all been there, right?

The other guy has to show him a few things, but my order is in and the line is short.

Hell yeah.

Burger, fries, Pepsi, beach.

I don’t have any cell phone reception down here.

I take another wander around the building this time and I find the bathrooms.

Thinking back there are probably showers in there for washing off the salt water.

Man. Wouldn’t that be the life.

Just flipping burgers for the occasional customer and looking out onto the ocean all day.

I imagine it’s not the most financially lucrative, but I bet it’s fulfilling.

Back in my tent I fall asleep.

Between the trip to the city, the hike and the rough night’s sleep, my body knows what it needs and when it needs it.

It is a good nap.

About an hour and a half.

As the day is getting later I can tell that I’m adjusting to these Northern temperatures.

I take off the new sweatshirt now that the temperature is in the upper fifties (fourteen to fifteen degrees in Celsius).

It’s later in the afternoon on this Sunday and the other campers still have tents up.

I figured folks would be clearing out by now and that I’m one of the few staying until Monday.

I’m a bit sore after that nap.

Oh, there’s another lesson from this camping trip.

I need a sleeping pad.

I meant to buy one, but I’m so stingy.

It felt like a waste of money and so I kept putting it off.

I will be splurging before the next trip.

I think I’ll go check out the bathroom to the East side of the camp.

I haven’t looked over here very much.

Oh, they have a nice bathroom with individual shower stalls rather than curtained stalls.

Maybe it’s good that I skipped that shower this morning.

I’ll try out these showers instead of the ones near me.

Also noting that there are significantly less campers by this restroom.

So let that be a tip for you if you ever come to camp at Wildwood state park on Long Island.

Rent a campsite along the Eastern section of the park near the nice bathroom.

Less neighbors.

Here’s a few more plants and insects that I spot along the walk.

Um. Arachnophobia warning. The fifth picture is a spider.

Oh! They have water pipes at some of the camp spots!

I didn’t think they had these!

I would have rented one of these campsites if I had realized this.

Another tree hole thing.

Oh, and horseshoes!

I wish I had asked if I could borrow some horseshoes.

It’s a game where being close still counts, I’m told.

(Is that idiom common?)

I looked it up. Horseshoes does have a scoring system that includes landing near the pole. Source: https://www.horseshoeamerica.com/coaches-corner/scoring/

Back to wandering!

The RVs spots are still full, but this makes more sense than the tent spots.

RV folks live out here rather than spending weekends in the park.

I am alerted by a child that there is a turkey in the woods.

I go to take a picture and another child sneaks into the shot.

The one by me says “Hey! He was trying to take a picture!”

This is okay.

I have seen wild turkeys in Nebraska many times.

I chat with the parents of these two for a bit and they give me advice on great places to camp and RV topics.

This trip has been a test to see what camping is like now that I don’t have a car.

Next time I go camping I will rent a car.

I realize when I look back and my favorite solo-camping trips that the camping part is primarily for keeping the costs down while I road trip.

I like this type of vacation more.

I’m having a good time, but I’m a little bit annoyed that I was forced to rent the campsite for two days.

To my understanding this is common in New York. Campsites tend to be for one night, two or three.

I don’t believe it’s a consumer friendly feature to have a requirement for longer rental times.

It’s not a big deal, and I could just leave if I wanted to.

Am I bad at keeping myself entertained at a state park?

I think it’s just different than what I’m used to.

I was annoyed with Texas state parks when I moved there, too.

Have to learn the new systems and make some adjustments.

Oh, a bird egg!

Okay, back to my campsite.

The day is getting long and it is time for more TVP Sloppy Joes.

Oh, this is that shirt that I bought.

Now that the tummy is full and the day is growing long there are two more things to do.

Get drunk
Make a weird stone circle

Cleaning up my campsite a bit while I’m at it.

Leaving this place cleaner than I found it.

People are just putting nails into trees at this park for their stuff.

Maybe I am being judgemental.

Maybe this is normal/necessary for this area.

I’m stripping off the bits of rope that are left behind, though.

Back to drinking.

Last night my mixed drink didn’t do much.

Today I will take shots.

Yuck!

I hate the taste of alcohol.

Oh, there’s Jason’s tent behind me.

Wash down that nasty taste with a chaser.

Jesus this is so much sugar.

The shots worked.

I am now nice and toasty.

Time to collect rocks.

Use some sticks to make a weird little door.

Place some rocks around it and hope it looks a little bit spooky.

There!

Wait.

That looks like a heart shape.

And I have leftover rocks.

Um. How about this?

Now it just looks like a necklace.

I’m out of here!

Time for that nice shower.

I have one of those tiny shower rooms all to myself.

Nope nope nope nope.

The rooms are nice, but the water get’s lightly warmed.

Cold cold cold.

No thank you.

I should have used the showers in MY bathroom (which looks glorious in the dark, by the way).

During this drunken wander, I called my little brother and apologized for being a shit-head growing up and I told him about all of the things I know about our family that I wish people had told me sooner.

I don’t drink very often.

But it is now time to sleep.

Good night.

…

Monday June 2nd, 2025

Good morning!

I slept like crap.