Rock the cradle of love

I have been trying since Sunday night to come up with a way to summarize our camping trip, but I cannot seem to do it justice. All I have is the same response I give after enjoying a large Diet Coke or an hour long back rub: "AAAAAAAAH, that was just what I needed."

After much ado, multiple lists, much packing, many trips to get batteries, a few battles over cramming it all in the car, and we were on our way. The weather gods smiled upon us delivering comfortable days and cool nights.

I knew it was going to be a good trip when as we flipped through the radio stations, we found one playing, thankfully, the top 400 songs of the 80s. When we pulled into the camping area, we were both belting out “Cradle of Love” at the top of our lungs. We stopped at that point, hoping that no one actually heard us or saw us mimicking Billy Idol. I had put my hair in pig tails in an attempt to tap into the "happy camper" side of me and I didn't need anything else to draw attention to us. Now that’s the way to start a vacation!

The theme of the trip seemed to be food and fungus and not necessarily in that order. What is it about camping and snacking? Put a tent up and I feel the need to eat Chex Mix nonstop. And, there is nothing better than a burnt marshmallow. I was in pure sugar heaven.

Apparently all of the rain had brought life to spores everywhere as there were lichens, mushrooms, moss and mold all around, much to my delight. When I was a kid, my dad used to always say upon finding mold or something else equally as disgusting, “There’s fungus among us.” And I would giggle in concurrence. I still do.

Earlier scouts has secured a prime spot for our tent, and with much appreciated assistance, we managed to have the tent up in time for dinner and conversation. Generally Cynical and I do this ourselves, but, trust me, couples should not be allowed to assemble tents together. Too much tension. Too much tension.

I woke up on Saturday much earlier than my fellow happy campers, and I took the opportunity to not only walk to the bathhouse in my pajamas, but to journal, read and relax for a bit. The fires from the night before were still smoldering and you could hear others starting to wake up. (Where else can you walk out in the open wearing your pajama pants and a sweatshirt that in no way matches.)

Eventually the camp came alive and I was no longer alone. After breakfast, we finally put on clothes that were more presentable and decided to hike. Prime time for me to test the new camera. Great weather, awesome company and finally being able to master my Canon all added up for a memorable afternoon.

We loafed a while around camp, consumed yet more Chex Mix, witnessed a magic show prepared by one of our younger campers and finally the massive food intake started wearing on us, so we decided to energize the afternoon with a game of miniature golf. Apparently the greenskeeper had been on strike and the course showed it. We persevered and you are now reading the rantings of the second place finisher. I even had not one, not two, but three holes-in-one. Why then did I come in second? I messed up royally at the other holes, that’s why.

Other highlights included an opportunity to converse with another blogger, one that actually kinda got me started. We managed to talk in our own online language and I still think I managed to maintain my cover. Shhhhh!

A night of fierce card playing lead to a later start on Sunday than we had planned. We finally got it in gear and had to, sadly, start disassembling our new little home. But, we'd only just arrived. I hate that part of the trip. It's so sad to tear down what you just finished setting up. I wanted to stay all week, but no one would stay with me and I needed their help in case a snake came by. I love camping, but snakes I hate. Well, snakes and hiking to the restroom.

So, we packed up everything, except the Chex Mix and turned the car toward home.

Sleeping on the ground and staying up much too late caught up with us and soon after we unloaded the car and started on the mounds of laundry, we were ready for a nap. Me, more so than Cynical, it seems.

We had all day Monday to recuperate and I think we were ready when this morning rolled around, all thanks to food, fungus, happy campers and my new camera.

In the first photo, I finally mastered our macro setting and couldn't help but to shoot this one in hopes of having a photo for Christmas cards. The second is just proof that there is fungus among us. The third shows Chez Ragged, our little home away from home for a few days. Obviously not a "hole-in-one" shot, but Cynical did nab a crucial golfing moment. The last photo is of a butterfly that became my pet and followed me around the site for a few minutes.