Update a.k.a. Rachel is making me look bad.

I keep reading all of Rachel and Kacey's updates and realized, yet again, I've been slacking on the blog. So here goes.

A couple of weeks ago Mark and I went to Tsali - a park in North Carolina. We had finally scoured the general area (3 states!) for a pop-up camper and found an EXCELLENT deal 2 weeks before. Mark had never been riding in Tsali ( a big mountain biking area) and I always love to tag along wherever for any random adventure.

The leaves were right smack in the middle of changing, so it was gorgeous. It was also FREEZING at night. We thought we would have power for the camper since we were staying in a park. Turns out they have everything except electricity...

(My camp version of brick oven pizza)

The following week we went to Pisgah - another park in North Carolina. But we knew it would be cold and primitive, so I packed more bedding! AND on top of it, Mr. Prince discovered that we could, in fact, run the heater off of the camper's battery, so we were warm and toasty while most people were Popsicles each morning. Were we really camping, you ask? With A/C, heat, stove, fridge... Yes. Yes we were. If I have to hike off for a potty break or skip a shower for 3 days - Yes. I am camping. And it was fabulous! I hiked off on my own during each trip. Waterfalls are everywhere in the area, so there's always something just around each bend in the trail.

I think I'll save the other updates for the next post. ;) See you soon, I promise.

Sunday June 14th - welcome to Medieval Times!

Sunday, Mark and I headed to Weil-am-Rhine - just across the border in Germany. They had a weekend-long Medieval festival that we wanted to check out. Now we'd never been to a medieval festival before, so what better place to check one out than Germany! We missed the first day, as we were hanging out at the castle in France, but managed to make it to the park around lunch-time on Sunday.

Here are a couple of the more elaborate costumes on display/for sale:

There was live music - sometimes on the stage, and sometimes just randomly in the park. They were actually really good:

Sunday was family day, and here's a shot of a guy demonstrating blacksmithing techniques to the kids - in between turning around to smoke his cigarette:

Must have the occassional damsel in the stockade. And apparently, she must beg you for your ice cream/water/beer as you walk by...:

The day was hot and sunny - not exactly typical here, and it was gorgeous. We had some meat on a stick, grilled sausage, kraut with bacon and some German noodles, and Mark had a cherry flavored beer. And of course we had ice cream. It was a good day of just hanging out in the sun and people watching. And lots of walking. We finally made it home for dinner, watched a movie, and crashed after the crazy weekend!