Hello all,

I have got to tell you two things:

1. Hawk Mountain was awesome!

2. I died and went to Cabela's Heaven!

We left Friday night at 6pm in a caravan of 7 vehicles which is always grueling because you can't make any kind of time since you have to stop every other light to let the other vehicles catchup. We finally made it to the Hawk Mountain Scout Reservation around 8:30 and go to our campsite around 9pm. There were 26 of us total and so you would think it took awhile to get everything setup…you would be wrong!

The leaders told us Webelos to take care of setting our own sites up and when we were done we could help out the Boy Scouts. By the time my son and I got our tent setup and all of our personal gear in the tent and arranged not only did the Boy Scouts already have 10 tents setup but they also had already finished setting up the kitchen and common areas. The site was pretty cool, it had platforms for all the tents, an outhouse and a covered pavilion for a common area. We had a snack and some hot cocoa and hung out till about 11. As we had prepared well for the cold weather (3 sleeping bags, a moving pad, 2 extra blankets and sweatpants/sweatshirts and wool socks) we weren't cold at all either night.

We were up about 6:30 the next morning, cooked eggs in a baggie for breakfast, made sandwiches for lunch, cleaned up the site and were on the road to Hawk Mountain Bird Sanctuary by 9am. Hawk mountain was very cool as they had lots of trails and outlooks and information about local fauna, flora and animals. We hiked up to the North outlook and talked with the local spotters and counter for awhile but unfortunately due to the overcast skies we didn't see a single bird. We ended up heading back down the mountain and having some lunch while we waited for the 2pm "Raptors" presentation. The gentleman doing the presentation was very, ver knowledgeable about birds in general and raptors specifically. He actually had a red-tailed Hawk and a Great Horned Owl with him for us to see. Both birds are non-releaseable as they have permanent wing injuries and are unable to fly. We spent well over an hour with him and loved every minute of it. We did the obligatory gift shop tour and headed back to the site.

We got back around 5pm and the boys started dinner. We had foil packs with chicken breast, new potatoes, green beans, corn and spices cooked over the campfire with vanilla or chocolate pudding for desert. We spent a couple of hours hanging around the campfire just getting to know each other and having some fun. We were both pretty beat from the long day and ended up in our sleeping bags well before 10pm.

Up about the same time on Sunday with cold cereal and pop tarts for breakfast followed by the breaking down of the camp and ending with inspection around 9am. Headed down the road and were in front of Cabela's by 10am.

If you have never trekked out Cabela's you absolutely MUST, MUST, MUST go there and take your family with you!!!

They have a live aquarium, 2 koy ponds and at least 100 different animals stuffed and mounted throughout the store including 2 separate "mountains" each of which were at least 50 feet tall. This doesnt' even include the 100 or so deer heads mounted on the walls.

They have a camping gear section that is easily as big as the women's clothing section of a major department store. There had to be at least 1,000 different kinds of guns on display and for purchase. They have a custom gun room where all the guns are behind glass and cost anywhere from $1,500 to over $30,000 each!

Their fishing section is larger the most Wal-marts and that doesnt' include a 20 x 2 ft. room that entiredly dedicated to fly-fishing. They had more clothes their than any J.C. Penney's I have ever seen. Outdoor vehicles, canoes, kayaks, air guns, bb guns, pellet guns, video games, books, magazines, food, shelters, bows, arrows, and I can't even tell you what else!

Please be advised that they are not a discount store, you will pay full price for your purchases but at the same time you can will find good value as they only carry quality name brands and you will find bargains there as well.

I have already told my wife that we will be taking a family trip to Hawk Mountain and Cabela's in the spring.

‘Till Next Time…Remember “There Ain’t No Better Camping Then New Jersey Camping!” Eric

Tags: Camping, hawk mountain sanctuary