Camping Trip

Matt, Amanda, Nicole, Rachel, Ali, Wade, James, Ian, Cary, Amber, Blair

On Saturday, November 7th, twelve members of building JJ trekked out into the forests of Maryland for our first ever house camping trip! We started the day early, (8 am, to be precise) and drove out to The Common Market, a community owned co-op in Northern Maryland that carries local and organic produce.

Nicole, Amanda, Ian and Amber trying to decide on groceries (note the reusable shopping bag)

After a little grocery shopping, we continued on to the camp site, where we pitched our tents and ate lunch.

Amanda and Blair, setting up the tent and gathering wood

Amber, Ali, Wade and Ian

Rachel, Amber, Amanda, Nicole, Wade and Ali

Rachel and James

Giving the tree some JJ loving, Rachel, Ali Wade, Amber, Amanda and Blair

Not long after, the group went hiking to a lookout. We met a friendly dog named Bear, who we adopted as our mascot.

Matt, Nicole, Amanda, Rachel, Ali

On the trail

Back row: James, Matt, Ali, Rachel, Blair, Nicole, Amanda

Front Row: Ian, Wade, Amber

Bear & Blair, looking over the Potomac into West Virginia

Matt, Rachel, Ali, Wade and James

Watching the sunset from the lookout, Cary, Ali and Ian

On into the evening we built our fire, cooked some hot dogs and made some 'smores. With an early morning ahead of us, we called it a night around 10:30.

Cary, Blair, Ian, and Ali starting the fire

Just getting the fire going

Matt, Amanda, James, Blair

Wade, James, Ali, Blair, Ian

Quality bonding time, Amanda, James, Blair (with a Sigg water bottle in hand, no plastic here!)

Around 7:00 the next morning we emerged from our tents, slightly chilly but ready to go, and bid farewell to our campsite in order to get brunch at the delicious Cafe-Nola.

The last of the camping trip

Cafe-Nola serves coffee and food, including vegetarian and vegan cuisine! We stopped there on the way back to the city as our last group activity before returning to the wear and tear of Washington, DC.

Cafe-Nola from the outside

Thanks goes out to Amber Hunnicutt for planning this great outing, Ian Goldin for the use of his car and sleeping equipment, Matt Bevilacqua for his tents, GW Trails for supplies, and everyone else who helped make this possible! Hopefully this is an event we will be able to recreate in the future.