Almost Camp David...

After Gettysburg, we drove a mere thirty minutes down the road to a place out in the woods.  An oasis of peace and quiet nestled in the forest.  Perhaps you have heard of Camp David?  Yes...THE Camp David...as in the President of the United States' Camp David.  Well, we didn't go there (duh), but we were about as close as you could get.  We went to a place called Catoctin Mountain Park...which is Camp David's neighbor.  Seriously!  Right next door!  I thought it was pretty cool, anyway ;)...

Catoctin Mtn. Park is managed by the National Park Service...so that meant Jr. Ranger time!  This park was a fun one for the kids.  The main activities were to take a hike and write about it (love), make some leaf rubbings (also love), and...that's all I can remember right now.  The kids had so much fun tromping through the forest, looking for the "perfect" fallen leaf to add to their pages.

not a leaf...but a really BIG acorn!

Our favorite trail was the Charcoal Trail.  This was a short little trail, but full of great information.  All along the path were various boards and structures that taught us about the charcoal making that went on in those woods many years ago.  Something I had honestly never thought of (which made it even more fun to learn about)!

My little leader...we followed her lead (which made her quite happy)...

She did really well, too!  In places the trail was hard to follow because of the fallen leaves, everything pretty much looked the same...

...I saw her take her foot and brush away the leaves to make sure that we were still on the right path (there was a little bit of gravel here and there on the path).  That's my girl :).

We finished up our visit back at the Visitor Center... 

The Ranger was very friendly, we spent a long time just chatting with her and a student volunteer.  They gave us quite the education on deer herd management and the signs of a healthy population vs. well, the opposite.  The park had in the past had problems with maintaining their resident herd.  The logging that took place (making that charcoal...) had simply wiped out the food supply for these animals.  Now that the forest is thriving, the population has gotten out of hand.  They told us that they actually hire snipers (their words) that come in at night and shoot deer.  The meat is donated to local food banks to feed those that can't afford to feed themselves and the deer that remain in the park are healthier than ever because they are able to get enough to eat, too.  Excellent!

One other thing that kind of took me by surprise...when the Ranger was going over the kids books she commented on their handwriting.  The kids all know how to write in cursive and this really impressed her.  She said that public schools aren't teaching that anymore...  Really?  If that is true, then it's a shame.  Do any of ya'll teach your kids to write in cursive?  I hope so...