The Great Out-of-Doors....

You either love it or hate it. There is absolutely no in between when it comes to camping. Hubby and I have been camping for over twenty years. We bought our first little, tiny pop-up the summer before daughter no. 1 was born. For those of you who do not know, a pop-up is a camper you pull that folds down in to what looks like a flat shoe box. At your chosen site, you pop it up and slide out the two ends which are beds. We have been through several of these over the years. There was one brief era of insanity when we tent camped. After my experience with the lizard, that ended. About four years ago we upgraded to an 18 foot travel trailer with a bathroom, microwave, cable hookup, refrigerator and lots of storage. About a month ago, we upgraded to a 30 foot trailer with a 12 foot slide. This slide is on the side and goes out about 3 feet making a large sitting area and a large dining area. We love it. And this week-end is our second voyage in the Hornet.

We came to a campground in Swannanoa after hearing about it from a stranger in the Wal-Mart parking lot. He came up to hubby enquiring about his truck and asked him what he pulled with it. After their 45 minute conversation while my ice-cream melted and my frozen veggies thawed, he said this was one of the greatest campgrounds he and his wife had ever been to. (Apparently, they don't get out much.) I mean it's ok but I have definitely been to nicer campgrounds.

This morning I was up at 7:30. I slammed truck doors, camper door, called Tobi, loudly, asked hubby and couple questions from outside. Why did I do this? Simply to get back at the people camping beside us. Yes, they kept me awake till the wee hours. They were slamming truck doors, repeatedly, laughing, playing loud music and talking loud. To me 12:00 is the wee hours and every time I just about dosed off, they would slam their door or go in to some fit of laughter or turn up the music. I'm not really sure I bothered them. They did smile at me at one point this afternoon.

After my act of vindication, I headed out for a nice morning stroll. I headed around our area and then ventured across the two bridges that lead me to a beautiful lake area. Two swans were bathing themselves (or it could have been some type mating ritual, who knows) and ucks and geese that numbered about thirty, played in the shallow area apparently in anticipation of a morning meal. I headed on around the lake as people were beginning to stir and the smell of breakfast being prepared out doors wafted in the air around me only to be interrupted by the smell of stale campfires.

I continued around the lake until I came to a gate that was locked. There appeared to be a small community within it's confines so I rounded the cul-de-sac and came back around. To my right there was a rather large path and so, before I started thinking about lions and tigers and bears, I headed down the path. It reminded me of Frost's The Road Less Traveled. It wasn't until I was a 100 yards or so down the path when I heard a noise to my left down an incline. That's when I began to think of lions and tigers and bears, Oh My....I turned around and high tailed it out of there and headed back toward the two bridges. I'm not sure how far I walked but it was better than nothing. I'm guessing 1.5 miles.

I've done pretty good this week and I'm determined to keep it up and get back to where I was in the fall.

Until next time....