Back within the grasp of reality

Waking up in the morning to the sound of the river, rolling along the rocks, just fifteen feet away from our tent was so calming. It was just what we needed. It's good to be home, though.

The first day consisted mostly of setting up the campsite the way we wanted it, and gathering firewood.  Brett made a pretty impressive woodpile to get us through the week, and we were lucky to have his dad's chainsaw to make things go quicker than trying to cut up six dead trees with just an axe.

We took Belle with us, which we had never done before.  Don't ask me how we have gotten through seven years of owning a dog without taking her camping, because I have no idea.  Usually when we go, it's just for one night, so we find someone to watch her for us.  Needless to say, we were a bit worried about how well she'd do.  She is such a princess.  I mean, we are talking about a dog who cannot sleep without a pillow under her head, or at least a blanket.

She surprised us the first night by investigating the wilderness surrounding our campsite.  Though she never strays too far from sight, she got a lot more brave than I expected that she would. She was off into the stream, traipsing through the weeds, and even laying in the dirt despite the fact that we had a blanket on the ground for her just ten feet away.  She seemed like she was loving it, and was born to be outside, so the next morning we decided we were going to take her on a hike.  She loved every minute of it!  Towards the end of the hike, we came across a water trough that had been placed just off of the trail for the people who rode through on their horses.  Belle was in heaven.

After we got back to camp though, she decided that she was ready for a nap in the comfort of the front seat of the Jeep.

The next morning, she was not a happy camper.  After we woke up, she was walking like her feet were bothering her, and she was sick.  We decided that it would probably be best if we took her home. She was clearly not having fun anymore, and I worried that maybe she had eaten a plant or bug that had made her sick.  She looked and acted miserable. We took the short twenty minute drive down the canyon to drop her off at home.  Brett lifted her up out of the back of the Jeep and set her on the grass, and it was as if someone had flipped a switch.  She was no longer walking like her feet hurt, and she acted like she was just fine.  I am convinced that she was just trying to manipulate us so that we would feel guilty and take her home.  We totally fell for it.

One thing that we learned during our week of roughing it, is that we are totally not cut out for long term camping for a few reasons.  There were two times that we came back into town after we brought the dog home, to get ice or other things that we had forgotten.  We also rely too heavily on technology.  We took a generator with us so that during the hot times of the day we could sit under the shade of the canopy and watch movies or play Pac Man on the laptop.  We also used said generator to run a fan to cool us off and charge our phones when they were losing battery power.  Who the hell knows how we would ever survive without electricity.  I guess that's why we decided to only camp twenty minutes up the canyon from where we live.

Some other things we learned on this camping trip:

• Mosquito's are not repelled by mosquito repellent or citronella.
• Flies are a pain in the ass, however, they are repelled by smoke from the campfire.
• Dogs should not eat whole corn cobs, so don't throw them in the fire pit or on the ground.
• Two humans can consume $150.00 worth of cheap liquor in five days.
• Hiking in the blistering hot sun is only fun for the first 5 miles.

All in all, the camping trip was exactly what we needed, and we had a ton of fun!  I think that we are going to try and make it a tradition that we go camping for a week each summer.  I love spending time with my husband in nature.