Shared by Guest Blogger Mark Burrell, as Guest Blogger.

It seemed easy enough. Spend two nights camping with my girlfriend and our dog in False Cape State Park. However, nothing worthwhile is ever really that easy.

Land ahoy!

A little slice of heaven

Generally the only way into False Cape State Park from Hampton Roads is through Back Bay Wildlife Refuge. Pets are allowed in False Cape State Park, but not in Back Bay Wildlife Refuge. Therefore, if wanted to trek in with our dog, we had to figure out how. Luckily, my girlfriend has a mind for solving these issues.

Here was the plan: canoe through Back Bay and land at Sandy Point on the north end of False Cape State Park. Then hike east on Barbour Hill trail, hit the beach and walk south until we hit campsite eight.

We had read that the campsites were very primitive. So we packed all our food, water, sleeping gear, dog toys, etc. It was easy packing them in the canoe, but more difficult carrying the canoe to the water. We unpacked everything to make the 100-meter walk to the water from our car.

As soon as we got into the water, it was difficult to figure out where we were. The map we had was pretty primitive and once out into the water in Back Bay, we didn’t get a great signal on our phones. Things were looking a little dicey with about a 5-mile-canoe ride.

It didn’t help that our 90-pound boxer/chocolate lab mix wanted to jump after every fish he saw. Most of the time paddling consisted of yelling at our dog to not tip our canoe over into the water about one mile out from shore.

We finally arrived, stowed our canoe in the brush and hiked to our campsite. We watched a beautiful sunset being reflected off the Atlantic Ocean. The pinks, blues and yellows reflected off the water rolling up the sand. We were congratulating ourselves on how well we planned it. Then the last lights faded and everything was dark.

We cursed ourselves while trying to set up our tent in the dark. Our flashlights held between our teeth were the only lights around.

Next morning, a beautiful sunrise filled our tents as the an orange globe pushed out of the Atlantic Ocean.

That day we hiked around the sand dunes, enjoyed the solitude of the pristine beach, and relaxed.

Then we packed our gear up and walked back along the beach toward Barbour Hill trail to catch the sunset into Back Bay Wildlife Refuge. It was an amazing experience to watch the sunrise and sunset in one day on two bodies of water.

After another night sleeping in a new place where the ground just wasn’t as soft as I remembered as a kid, we started our journey back.

This time, the canoe trip that took about 2 hours took us about 3 hours. We paddled straight into a head wind with choppy waters. We were at our wits end and the snide comments were flying back and forth like the water flinging from our paddles.

A little sore, tired and dirty we survived the trip. And our dog loved it.

Here were a few final lessons on learned during this trip:

1) Dogs aren't great on canoes.

2) Setting up a tent in pitch-black isn't very practical.

3) Sand is more comfortable to sit on than sleep on.

4) Walking on the sand isn't as comfortable as sitting on sand.

5) Camping on sand means you're probably going to be eating mostly sand.

6) Bring more water and less wine.

7) Bring more wine.

8) Canoeing into a head wind for 3 hours after two-nights of hardly sleeping makes me wonder why people still use canoes.

It seemed easy enough. Spend two nights camping with my girlfriend and our dog in False Cape State Park. However, nothing worthwhile is ever really that easy.

Paddling while making sure Diesel doesn't jump in after fish

Mooring our canoe

Diesel scurrying along

Our first camping spot on the beach

This is what we woke up to

Sunrise from our front door

Half a shell

Lonely beach

The sun falling into Back Bay

The dreaded canoe launch signaled the end of our journey

Thank you Mark for sharing not only your brilliant sentiment and sense of humor, but amazing photos of your trip! We also want to take this opportunity to say we appreciate your service to our country, you are one of the good guys. Mark invites you see more of his photos on his flickr page here.