It’s that time of the year when we get the camping craze (I guess that happens any time of the year!). We decided to go camping, this time only in Elfie, our little school bus. After much ado, and a lot of scampering about and hurried packing, we were off.

Elfie has a history. Johan converted it to a camper a few years back. Back then, it was the four of us and Rosie, our dog. Not to mention, the girls were little and easy to stow in small beds! We camped in it quite a bit. Then came our gigantic Dory, and Elfie got pushed to a second place in our preferred campers. Dory came after Johan’s mom moved in with us. It has a wheelchair ramp, which helped us with getting mom in and out of the bus easily. Back in 2020, Elfie had a major accident when it skidded off the road and fell over on its side. It was declared as totaled. All the credit to Johan for bringing it from that state to its current shape. We have now camped a couple of times in Elfie, with older girls, two dogs, and this time, along with our chickens! Let me tell you how it went.

We arrived at Bald Eagle State Park on Wednesday afternoon. I took the big red van to help carry our tents, scooters and hammock. It had been raining off and on all day. Luckily the rain tapered off and we were able to set up our campsite. Ever since their great road trip, after which they became the world’s most travelled live chickens, our ladies take travelling in their stride. Out then came from below Elfie’s bed and were set on grass. The dog leashes and runs were put in place and we set up a couple of tents for the night. Tanya set up the hammock and Leena lit the fire. We were good to go!

While the kids went about on their scooters, I made dinner. We enjoyed some bread, soup, strawberries and marshmallows. We played games, read books and enjoyed the campfire.

Thursday was bright, sunny and rain free. After a breakfast of eggs, potatoes and bread, the girls and I went for a hike by the beautiful Bald Eagle lake near the campsite. We spotted a family of fisher cats and Eastern ribbon snakes. Leena, our 11 year old, got very interested in the snakes. She spent every moment that she could trying to track and bother them.

After a simple lunch of wraps, and plenty of relaxing, we decided to take our little paddle boat on the Bald Eagle lake. Tanya, our 16 year old, and I launched off first from point A. Johan and Leena walked Kylo to our rendezvous location, point B. From there, Johan and Leena took a turn around the lake while we waited with the dog. Finally, Johan and I took the boat back to point A. Leena and Tanya walked Kylo back to the bus.

Evening was quiet. We had a dinner of black bean burgers, more strawberries and marshmallow. The next morning was rainy. We stayed in the bus for a big part of the time, reading. Once the sun came out, Leena was back to snake watching. I joined her for a bit. It turned out to be a highlight of the trip, trying to capture images and videos of the shy snakes that slunk off at the slightest noise.

We wrapped up and went to the beach where we had a nice picnic lunch. And then it poured. And poured! That was a good thing, because the messy chickens had pooped everywhere and despite our best efforts, there was still a mess. The rain took care of it for us! It was a nice, quiet and sweet time for us. Over to the animals!

Rosie the dog: Ugh. Once again my humans decided to torture us. Off we went, in this teeny tiny bus which was to be shared between the eight of us. Let me tell you, Kylo Ren, my husband, has a big, fat butt. I don’t fancy being in cramped quarters with him. Luckily, mom had driven the red van and Kylo rode with her. I was with Papa and Leena, my two favorite people! Papa picks me in and out of the camper, so that’s not too bad! We were tied to leashes at the campground. Here we developed the perfect system. Anytime I saw and intruder human or dog passing by, I gave one woof. After that my gallant husband, Kylo Ren took over. He would bark his head off until the humans would yell. Once in a while I would woof for no reason at all, just to get him in trouble. Hee hee. That was the most fun!

On the second night, I slept in the tent with Papa and Leena. I slept right on top of Leena. She is just the right size for me to use as a cushion. Bliss!

The rest of my time at the campground was spent sleeping by the chickens and wondering what on earth was going on. I wonder about that a lot these days. Ok, over to Kylo Ren the great.

Kylo Ren the dog: Hi you all. I am in a hurry so I will keep it short. Why am I in a hurry, you may ask. The answer is, for no reason at all. I am always in a hurry to go from here to there and to be everywhere. There seems to be so much to do. Getting back to the topic of the day. Camping is stressful. I find it exhausting. I have to be constantly on guard against all the intruders. My head hurts by the end of the day. And, get this! On the first night, Tanya and Leena did not sleep in the bus! They actually slept in a tent outside. I was so scared that my hair stood at their end all night! I couldn’t catch a wink of sleep and paced around all over. My lovely wife Rosie was not happy with me at all. But then, she is never happy with me, so I didn’t worry about it! On the second night Tanya slept in the bus with me. That was a lot better.

I got plenty of walks at the campground and I pooped to my heart’s content. That was the highlight of the whole trip! The worst part of the trip was when the humans went on canoes and I was left watching at the sidelines. I was so upset and uncomfortable, it was the worst. Anyway, the trip ended and comfy crate times are back again! Over to Miss… Crazy cookie!

Crazy Cookie the chicken: Off we went again in the yellow bus. But, surprise surprise. The humans were with us in the bus this time. Oh well. We chickens are so camping ready now that we knew just what to do. As soon as we were loaded in the camper, we started working on cleaning and fluffing our feathers in order to show ourselves in the best light. As you may know, we tend to have a fan following wherever we go. We take our stardom very seriously!

Once at the campground, we were set in our little chicken tractor in a grassy patch. We ate every bug, snail, grass piece and tidbits that were available. The humans kept tossing peels and things in our tractor and so we had some friendly competition going on to see who got the most peels.

The next day we were put in the dreaded harnesses and allowed to move more. We stayed close to our tractor, though. We make it crystal clear to our humans that we don’t appreciate the harnesses.

On the second night, our human Papa refused to allow us in the bus. He complained that we pooped too much. Baby was indignant. I found it insulting too. Pooping is our specialty, after all. It makes excellent fertilizer. But no amount of reasoning had any effect on Papa. Psst, I think he doesn’t understand our language. He perched us in front of the van. We proceeded to poop and mess up that entire area. Our humans had a hard time cleaning up. Hmph. Serves them right! Now we are back to our blissful run and have been enjoying the yard. Thanks for reading. It’s roost time.