Afternoon View - Tranquility Base

We had a relatively quick exit from Manhattan this morning on our way to Hillside Campground in the Poconos Mountains of eastern Pennsylvania, where today I begin my tenth consecutive summer of Hillside weekends. After our traditional lunch at the fab Jefferson Diner in northern New Jersey, we arrived more than an hour earlier than usual. No traffic, no thunderstorms, for once! Aaron and Chris are fussing with the tent and shortly after set-up we'll be down at the rec hall for the nightly bonfire party. Ah...Hillside.

Evening View - Tranquility Base

Aaron, Chris and I got a later start than normal this morning, so we're just now setting up camp in the twilight. It's "Illuminations" weekend at Hillside, the time when everybody decorates their sites with strings of lights and many, many, many tea candles. Gay. The entire camp is mobbed this weekend, with more tents per site than I've ever seen. Should be a blast, I haven't been here for Illuminations in several years.

Tranquility Base

After congratulating ourselves for such a great job of packing the rental car, we arrived in the mountains to realize that we'd forgotten our largest item - the campsite canopy - forcing Chris to get a little inventive with a giant tarp. It poured most of last night, but the rain let up for the few hours of the bonfire party down at the rec hall, where we ran into half of NYC. At the moment, Aaron is off under the trees with a book and a cup of coffee and Chris is making us breakfast over the fire pit. And I'm on a picnic bench reading the zillion items that came in on my RSS feed during yesterday's day off. The birds are singing, the dappled sunlight is starting to warm things up, and off in the distance, very faintly, I'm quite certain I can hear the first track of Color Me Barbra. Ah, Hillside.

Afternoon View - Hillside Rec Hall Party

Morning View - Hillside Campground

Isn't it funny that we have wi-fi out here in the boonies? It poured all the way here (screw you Weather.com) and it poured most of last night. But things let up around 10PM and we were treated to spectacular skies as we gathered around the rec hall bonfire. I had forgotten about stars. There's a lot of 'em. It's cold today, a little too cold, but I can hear disco pumping up the mountain and parties beckon. Here's a story I wrote about Hillside a couple of years ago.