Putting out Fires

When I was growing up, my family was always going on camping trips. Its hard to be sure when you’re a kid, but I’m pretty sure we didn’t have that much money so camping was an awesome way to get out of the heat, spend some quality family time together, and it was relatively inexpensive. Once we got beyond the general stress of the packing (sometimes this would lead to some very angry family members and us two kids hiding in the car trying to stay out of the way), we were off and it was fun time! My brother Kevin and I are the best of friends now, and I’m sure its because instead of leaving us to sit in front of the TV all weekend, my parents let us loose on the forest where we built forts, played hide and seek, ran with the dog, and generally just were wild children. We used to do this thing with our canvas hammocks where one of us would lay in it and pull it tight all around us until we were in a cocoon, then the other person would flip us over until we were upside down and we’d try to hook our knees and shoulders and hang just so we wouldn’t fall out on to the ground. I came by my love of books during monsoon seasons when we had to stay cooped up in the tent trailer all day, and I acquired my card shark abilities on nights where it was too cold to be outside by the fire. Oh, and I’m a pro at getting a marshmallow the perfect shade of toasty brown.

For all that camping in the middle of nowhere, I’m a highly spoiled camper. I’m used to: sleeping in a tent trailer, having a porta potty, having a PeePee TeePee (I swear its really called that) to use as a bathroom and as a shower stall (yes, I said shower), we always had electricity from a battery, my mom always cooked gourmet meals, I could go on…

When I met Ryan, he’d never been camping before. For our first big trip together we decided to go to Sequia/Kings Canyon National Park for a long weekend. He was hooked! Since then, we’ve gone camping more than a few times every summer, and occasionally we even go and camp on the beach in Mexico when the weather’s right. Camping is the best because its an opportunity for us to just veg. It is absolutely impossible for me to get Ryan to sit still at home, but if we’re camping I can get him to lay in a hammock with me for hours. So, I may not have any of the frills now (picture me trying to cook on a barely functioning propane stove balanced precariously on a rock), but we still have a blast.

This weekend we’re going camping for the first time this summer and I’m so excited. Just to get out of the valley and be in nature. To hang out with friends with a good beer and a story around the campfire. I’m SURE this is going to get me out of my funk.

Oh, and there is a slight possibility that my little bro will come along too, but I’m betting that there’ll be less fort building and more tequila shoting.