Our second trip took us to Panther, West Virginia. Panther Wildlife Management Area has 6, electric-only RV camping spots right next to a creek. Before heading down, the park Superintendent sent me an email and called me a couple times. He was super friendly, but the phone calls had me worried. I finally caught him on the line about the 3rd phone call- he wanted to ask me if I had questions and let me know that they were the most rural state forest. This led me to believe that we would be in the middle of nowhere, which I was looking forward to. And in the middle of nowhere we were, but not in the way I thought.

The drive down south to reach Panther was slow-going. We weaved and turned through the mountains. The closer we got to the park, the more trash and dilapidated houses we saw. Just before we reached the park, we drove through a mud pit that was littered with trash and old cars and we felt like we were encroaching on a space we didn’t belong. Lots of confederate flags. Lots of Trump flags. As a queer/trans couple, we felt a little uneasy. The amount of trash was also not giving the untouched nature vibe we craved. We arrived just after sunset with not even a crack of dusk to help us in maneuvering our set-up. We could hear the creek next to us, but couldn’t really see much of our surroundings. The RV spots are directly off of a county road, so the occasional car drove past at 40mph to remind us we weren’t alone. We sat outside next to a fire until we heard noises in the forest (probably coyotes) just across from our camp and both got scared. We quickly locked ourselves up in the camper. It was cloudy and we couldn’t see any stars. Sterling said they felt like we were being watched from the woods. I kept talking about getting axe-murdered by the fire. The possibility of someone parking a quarter of a mile up the road after seeing us by the fire and sneaking up in the dark on foot to attack us while we were defenseless. We couldn’t shake the uneasy feelings we picked up on the way down. The dogs barked at noises and passing cars for a while before we drifted off to sleep.

Morning at the camp came with the excitement of a very light snow and getting to use our new espresso machine! The machine grinds the beans for us, so, no hand grinding the coffee beans for 45 minutes before we can enjoy the rewards of the labor. The machine worked like a charm! Sterling figured out how to operate it, thankfully, because I threw the directions out with the box without even reading them. It grinds the beans and fills the portafilter, then pops it over automatically into place to pull an espresso shot. Chefs kiss.

I made banana oat, blender pancakes for breakfast and cooked them outside the camper on an electric griddle. I forgot half of the ingredients that I needed for these, but made it work with what we had. I threw two bananas into a single-serve blender (one was REALLY overripe), dumped some old-fashioned oats in that I didn’t measure (because we don’t have any measuring cups in the camper yet), sprinkled some cinnamon and baking powder in there, then topped it off with the pistachio creamer I brought for the coffee. They turned out great! We enjoyed them next to the bonfire Sterling made while I was fixing breakfast. Another chefs kiss.

Arguably the most memorable part of the trip for Sterling was the potato soup I promised to make. We worked together to get this in the crock pot so we could enjoy it later in the day. We sat next to the fire and prepped the soup, without a care in the world that it was only 30 degrees outside. We cooked chopped potatoes over the fire in veggie broth, then added them to the other ingredients in the crock. A healthy amount of sharp white cheddar went into the pot. I spent most of the day in my fuzzy bathrobe and sheep fur slippers. I was cozy and warm and thought I was soooo cute. We are going to revisit this outfit later. Neither of us felt safe leaving the camper sitting there unattended so we could go explore the area, so we made our own entertainment at the campsite. I read a chapter in my book about the color indigo and there were several paragraphs about tattooing. I was so pumped to learn some new things about tattooing in such an unexpected place. The book I was reading is about colors and their histories. I reread part of the chapter to Sterling and they were equally fascinated. We cuddled and took a nap in the afternoon.

As soon as Sterling woke up from our nap, they went to taste test the potato soup! Both of us grabbed spoons and started eating soup directly out of the crock pot like two goblins. Why dirty a bowl? At camp with no running water, nobody is trying to make more dirty dishes. Sterling tinkered around with the fire for hours. I listened to an episode of my favorite true crime podcast that I downloaded before heading out of service. The park Superintendent paid us a visit near dusk. He brought us a map and some firewood and we chatted a bit. This area recently experienced a catastrophic flooding. This explains a lot of trash in the rivers and along the banks. There is trash dangling from trees lining the river. I pointed out a red cooler in the woods on the riverbank across from the campsite. Mr. Park guy said all the trash and kids toys came from one family up river from the park. He said the floods made it look like a bomb went off outside their house. Dump sites in the area have decreased, leaving people in the area less options for waste. We passed a campground on the way that was giving major cult vibes, was obviously damaged by the flood, and we saw an entire refrigerator across the river from the campground on the mountainside. This area feels like it might eventually go ghost mode. The park superintendent said the state forest is a hard sell and doesn’t get many visitors. We were 1 of 3 reservations for the entire off-season this year. We gifted him a delicious Cara Cara orange from the big city we came from and he left us alone for the night.

We spent more time around the fire after baking s’mores cookies. The night sky was clear and the stars were absolutely stunning in their glittering magic. I split my time between being mesmerized by the massive fire Sterling built and watching the stars. At one point the fire popped some embers and I immediately checked my lamb-fur slippers for damage. They were safe. I smelled something burning though, but I just couldn’t find the source. Sterling told me to stand up and check the pockets of the robe I was wearing. They inspected me and swiped around. I sat back down in my camping chair and the weird smell intensified. Ok- WHAT is that smell?! Actually…what is that SENSATION. I felt a burning on my thigh, through my jeans. I stood up again, only to find my cozy, cute, comfy robe ON FIRE near my pocket. The ember burnt a hole clean through my robe and melted into my jeans where it started to burn another hole. Needless to say, you will not catch me fully enrobed in a highly flammable material that close to a camp fire ever again. I don’t care how cute I think I am. Actually, I didn’t die so I will probably do something stupid like this again.

We baked ourselves like two little root vegetables inside of our camper all night with our fake fireplace heater. We woke up and went for a short hike after morning coffee. Our goal was to hike .75 up the mountain to an overlook point and head back, but we got about .25 mile up the trail before we got too cold to carry on. It was a crisp 20something degrees out with a wind that whipped our faces until we turned around. We discovered us in a parallel universe, just two mushrooms in love, nestled in top of a bed of moss.

Until our next adventure!