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mockingbirds,” Carole answered with a laugh. “Those are their scientific names. It’s right here on page twenty-two.”
    “Are you taking those books with you just to show up your dear old dad?” Colonel Hanson chuckled.
    “No. I just wanted to see how many trees and birds I could identify. I know all the ones around Pine Hollow, but I bet we’ll see some new ones up in the mountains.”
    “That’s right.” Colonel Hanson turned onto the highway that would take them to the mountains. “And don’t forget we’ve got that telescope. You can watch birds with it during the day, and at night we can take it up to Mount Stringfellow.”
    Carole looked puzzled. “Mount Stringfellow?”
    “Yes. It’s very famous. On clear days, from the mountaintop, you can see all the way into West Virginia, and at night you can see a billion stars. If the nights are as clear as they’re forecasting, we should be able to see the rings of Saturn.”
    “Really?” Carole said excitedly. She’d seen pictures of Saturn, but never the real thing.
    “You bet.”
    “Wow.” She settled back in the seat while one of her father’s favorite old bebop tunes came on the radio. “The rings of Saturn. This is really going to be a wonderful trip.”
    In the early afternoon, they rolled into the parking lot closest to their campsite. Only a few other cars were parked there, and the thick, surrounding woods made civilization seem like a distant memory.
    “Is our campsite far away?” Carole got out of the car and stretched her legs. She felt as if she’d been traveling for hours.
    “It’s about a mile that way.” Colonel Hanson looked at his map and pointed straight up a mountain.
    “Gosh, that’s pretty far. Are we going to lug all this equipment up there?” Carole watched as her father unlocked the back of the station wagon. The thought of carrying the solar panels and the solar stove and the six different camping chairs up a mile-long hill was bad enough, but after they’d finished hauling all the stuff up there, they’d have to set it up. By then it would probably be time for them to go to bed.
    “Oh, come on, Carole.” Her dad smiled. “Remember? We’re
semper fi
.”
    “I know we can do it, Dad. I guess I’m just a little surprised that you would want to take all this high-tech equipment with you.” She looked at her father. “I mean, you’re a rough, tough Marine colonel. You don’t need all this wimpy stuff.”
    Colonel Hanson laughed. “Well, that’s true. I don’t need all this stuff, and if I were with the troops, I wouldn’t have any of it. But today I’m with my baby girl, and I want to make this the most wonderfullycomfortable camping trip she’s ever been on.” He leaned over and gave Carole a hug. “In fact, honey, if I could spend my whole life making your life easy, I would.”
    “Thanks, Dad.” Carole smiled and hugged him back. Even though lugging all this super-duper camping equipment a mile up a mountain was a little silly, she could go along with it. After all, her dad had planned this weekend just for her, and it was going to be a lot of fun, whether they were in cushy sleeping bags or not.
    She looked at up him and gave a mock salute. “Just show me what you want me to carry, sir.”
    Her dad loaded her up with both backpacks, the sleeping bags, and a duffel bag full of the special camping clothes. He carried all the solar equipment, the tent, and the telescope. After two trips up and down the mountain trail, they stumbled into their campsite, tired and sweating.
    “Gosh,” Carole said, out of breath. “I thought we’d never get here.”
    “I know,” huffed Colonel Hanson, dropping the rolled-up tent on the ground. “I think that map was wrong. I think it was more like three miles instead of one.”
    “It felt like about ten miles, straight up!” laughed Carole.
    “Let’s catch our breath for a minute, and then we’ll set up camp.”
    They sat down on a fallen log bordering the