Saturday, July 2, 2011

Camping memories

It's not the 'going' to a place that makes a vacation. It's the 'doing' of that place that makes memories, especially if it is done wrong!


After half a day of hunting, gathering, borrowing and packing, I headed out on my one-night camping adventure with my son, daughter, and their spouses. (Please insert the circus music here.) After a full hour, Amber and I had the van and car unpacked, the camping chairs situated and the table set. They guys were still pondering over a tent with either extra parts or missing parts.

After another half an hour of laughing, the girls who had mocked for the last hour were told to set up the &#$&$$ tent themselves. We measured and grouped poles, pulled together pieces, and neatly laid everything out. Sure enough--there were missing pieces! Well, who wants to lose face in front of the guys? Not us. So we fiddled and daddled around but in the end, almost 3 hours into our trip, the guys had to go back to another friends and get a different tent and ride the 30 minutes back and get it set up before it got dark. Let the memory-making begin!

I was delighted when my husband called to let me know he was coming camping with us, even though he doesn't like it. While waiting for him, I plugged up the inverter I had gotten for a steal and tried to blow up my air mattress. After putting and dying, putting and dying, I realized the air pump was dead. I must have an air mattress. I'm sleeping in the back of the work van. Gotta have a mattress. Kati to the rescue! She had a pump and with a little improv, we got it to work. Meanwhile, the others were busy blowing up their mattress, fixing up their tents and waiting for Kati to make her first fire with twigs and a sparker while our bellies began growling. By the time I finished painting and hanging curtains, Kati had the fire started. Hallelujah! Maybe we wouldn't die of starvation after all.

While the wood fire flamed, I attempted to start the gas grill, twisting the knob...then a bit more...a bit more. "Hey, my grill aint working guys. Oh, never mind. I forgot to hit the red starter." The words had no sooner left my mouth, me still standing over the grill, than Zach hit the button and a ball of flame nearly consumed me. I hear CVS carries stick-on eyebrows.

It was a long time coming, but supper in the woods was a feast. Hamburgers done to juicy perfection and hot dogs charred just like we all like them. A watermelon fruit bowl. Icy cold drinks and soda. Chips, dip, cucumbers, grilled squash kabobs, cheesy bread, doughnuts and danish. Whether it is Florida at the beach, in the woods with the stars overhead, or at mom's house, there is nothing better than gathering with family over a meal. Coty done an excellent job on the cooking. After dinner it was charades, in which Kati done an impersonation of Forrest Gump running that looked amazingly like Amber's waddling. It was an easy mistake.

Although they were calling for terribly hot weather, it was very mild right by the lake and we had a fan in the van. Frank and I changed out the air mattress (a twin-size) for two folding mats. We were very comfortable, except for that incline we parked on. I had all of the sheets during the night and I found myself several times slid up under the front seat. I would crawl back up, reposition, and go back to sleep. Frank, who had no sheet at all, stuck like a fly on flypaper to his spot.

Morning found my inverter not strong enough to run a coffee pot, but my sweet son ran to the bathroom, plugged the pot in over the mirror and stood, holding the percolator until I had hot coffee. See why he's the favorite? Frank even got into the whole experience, poking the fire and making sausage and eggs while the guys fished. Later, we broke camp to go swimming and head home, but not before I had tucked away a pocketful of memories for a later day.





4 comments:

-you don't know me. said...

Not to mention her daughter is almost 8 months pregnant! What a time! Enjoyed reading!

Anonymous said...

All that for one night!!! Not me..

Anonymous said...

LOL!!! I can see it all as I read it! Does seem like a lot of work for 1 night but at the end of it I was sure glad you went so I could share in your memories! Nothing like those beautiful memories! Frank sticking like a fly on flypaper and ya'll sleeping on that incline. LOL The fake eyebrows from CVS. LOL The whole story was great! Love you!

DEE said...

Hilarious, you're a nut. I loved the fake eyebrows, I fell off the edge. Just for one night of camping, and all those memories. My hats off to you. Keep 'em coming. Hey and what's this with the anonymous, leave your names.