Nikon D200 + Nikkor 18-200mm f/3.5-5.6 VR @ 200 mm — ¹/1000 sec, f/5.6, ISO 200 — full exif & map — nearby photos
Day 3: Long Day of Play

Day two of my camping adventure with Anthony ended pleasantly, with new friends and a nice sunset.

Day 3, however, started much earlier and much less pleasantly than I would have expected – right at midnight – when some rude family burst into the campground with loud voices and bright lights, searching for a spot to set up their tent, then setting it up.

Inconsiderate people suck.

I barely got a few hours of sleep, and was up at 5:30 or so with Anthony and daybreak. Day three was Saturday of Golden Week, meaning that now the crowds would really start to arrive for the long four-day weekend. By 7am, numerous families had shown up, and good spots were becoming scarce.

We had been invited to camp here by Arthur, the dad of 3-year-old Monet and 5-year-old May, two of Anthony's classmates. (Both were featured on this recent post.) My flexible work schedule allowed me to come a bit early to secure a good spot for both of us, and they would join us this morning.

They arrived at 7:30am (after having left their place at 4am, to beat the traffic), and it was with pride that I showed Arthur the prime spot I had secured. Unfortunately, it was a prime spot only in my world of camping naïveté, so Arthur searched for a more suitable spot, luckily finding among the quickly-dwindling locations a nice, large area right at the edge of a cliff that offered a commanding view of the beach below.

I dreaded the prospects of having to physically move all my stuff from the tent, dismantle the tent, rebuild the tent in the new location, and move all my crap back in, but the whole point of the trip was go camping with friends, so I bite the bullet and moved to the nicer spot.

Nikon D200 + Nikkor 18-200mm f/3.5-5.6 VR @ 29 mm — ¹/160 sec, f/9, ISO 200 — full exif & map — nearby photos
New Camping Home
My tent on the left, Arthur's on the right, and his sun shade in between

Nikon D200 + Nikkor 18-200mm f/3.5-5.6 VR @ 18 mm — ¹/250 sec, f/10, ISO 200 — full exif & map — nearby photos
View From My New Front Door
( zoomed up view is below )

Nikon D200 + Nikkor 18-200mm f/3.5-5.6 VR @ 200 mm — ¹/400 sec, f/9, ISO 200 — full exif & map — nearby photos
Anthony and Friends in the Hot River
Monet and May join Anthony with his new friends from yesterday

Nikon D200 + Nikkor 18-200mm f/3.5-5.6 VR @ 95 mm — ¹/320 sec, f/8, ISO 200 — full exif & map — nearby photos
View from the Beach

( Arthur's tent  ·  my tent )

Nikon D200 + Nikkor 18-200mm f/3.5-5.6 VR @ 82 mm — ¹/400 sec, f/8, ISO 200 — full exif & map — nearby photos
Playing in the Water

Nikon D200 + Nikkor 18-200mm f/3.5-5.6 VR @ 200 mm — ¹/400 sec, f/8, ISO 200 — full exif & map — nearby photos
Fuuta-kun and Anthony

The kids played in this area pretty much all day, with one parent or another keeping an eye on them. Here, the mom of the new friends seems to enjoy little May's company....

Nikon D200 + Nikkor 18-200mm f/3.5-5.6 VR @ 22 mm — ¹/640 sec, f/8, ISO 200 — full exif & map — nearby photos

Nikon D200 + Nikkor 18-200mm f/3.5-5.6 VR @ 200 mm — ¹/400 sec, f/5.6, ISO 200 — full exif & map — nearby photos

Nikon D200 + Nikkor 18-200mm f/3.5-5.6 VR @ 170 mm — ¹/1000 sec, f/5.6, ISO 200 — full exif & map — nearby photos

After hours and hours of play, the kids took a rest, here using the air mattress in Arthur's tent as a jumping house....

Nikon D200 + Nikkor 18-200mm f/3.5-5.6 VR @ 34 mm — ¹/160 sec, f/5.6, ISO 200 — full exif & map — nearby photos
Retiring to the Indoors

The day was extremely hazy, which made for an anemic sunset.

Nikon D200 + Nikkor 18-200mm f/3.5-5.6 VR @ 170 mm — ¹/160 sec, f/5.6, ISO 200 — full exif & map — nearby photos
Whimper of a Sunset

But the kids certainly slept well.