Camping!

*NOTE* This is one of those post from a while ago that never got finished.

So a few weeks back New Dude and I went camping.

I've been camping before. I've been to Yellowstone, I've went camping last year with my Friends A. and V. We went to Amish country in Pennsylvania. You know, you pay a few bucks, you get a flattish patch to put your tent, water you have to go to a pump to get, bathrooms a few yards away,  electrical outlets now for a lot of spots, showers, you know half camping. Still outside and cooking and coolers, but comfy.

Well, I don't think New Dude has ever done that kind camping before. When I asked  him where we were going. He was like in the woods. I was like where, he was like across a swinging bridge up a small hill.

Was there anyone else going to be there?

Probably not.

Okay.

So this adventure started off a little bit late. It was my fault, I was in no real hurry. New Dude hadn't gotten everything together, we got distracted the next thing we know, the car is packed up, we're hungry, with 3 stops to make an hour and half drive out to the camp site and it is already getting dark.

At one point, we're sitting in the parking lot of a Wal-Mart, we had just finished a great dinner of loaded potatoes from Wendy's. We had to make the decision. Are we really going to do this? I mean the car is packed, we now have everything, but again, it's about 8:30 pm, now dark, and still have an hour and half away from where we're going.

The answer, yes, we said we would and we will go.

We took a ride out to where ever it is we were going. We arrived around 10 pm. The place kind of had a sign that said no camping, but apparently New Dude had camped there before so that's where we were going tonight.

We gather up some, not all of the gear for the night. We didn't need the dinner we packed because we were still full from dinner. So sleeping bags, bag of clothes and stuff, pillows, tent and camping chairs. we loaded up like pack mules and started into the woods.

Now, at this point, as I struggle over the bridge and trying to follow the long strides of New Dude up some little path/hill to some unknown location, in some unknown woods, in some unknown county I realize I must either be really stupid or trust this guy to go wandering blindly into the woods at this hour. I'm going to hash it up to trust.

After only a short 10-12 minute hike we were there. In this little clearing where other people had created a fire circle before. So we set about making camp. Putting the tent up, unrolling the sleeping bags, putting up the camping chairs, gathering some fire wood and starting a fire.

We tried two methods. One was a tampon soaked in lighter fluid. It works quite well. We also did chips, like Frito's I think. Just to try out different methods of fire starting.

The fire was going nicely, we were snuggled up in our camping chairs and I pulled out two beers. New Dude had forgotten about them and he was like you are the best.

We sat under the stars for a while talking and enjoying the fire until we became sleepy and had to call it a night.

Sleeping on the ground only makes for alright sleep. About 2 in the morning I wake up because I have to pee. It isn't a slight it can wait pee, it is the hard to breath kind of need to pee.

As I started to shuffled around and gather the nessary items and made my way out of the tent. In the process I woke up New Dude. It ended up being a good thing because I had to have him help me with the flash light. I couldn't hold the TP, and my clothes out of the way and kind of squat and pee all at the same time. The brightest flashlight we had was attached to a hand gun so while I'm trying not to pee on myself, New Dude is laying in the tent sweeping the area for me. It might be love when someone holds the flashlight while you squat to pee.

Trying to go back to sleep was a little rough only because now all the noises that I had been sleeping through are magnified. What was that noise? Are those coyotes? Are they going to eat us? Would they attack? Was that an animal or a branch? After tossing and turning for a while. I eventually fell asleep again.

The next morning New Dude was moving a little slow. Sleeping on the ground had caused him to toss and turn all night long because it was hurting everything.

We packed up the tent, and sleeping bags, brought it all back to the car and then started the fire again. We were going to enjoy your dinner for breakfast.

We had brought a hobo stew. Basically just meat, veggies, and some seasoning all wrapped up in in foil. You take these packets and just put them in/around the fire until everything is cooked and yummy.

The things we learned about this was that 1. Rocks make great plates. When the liquid was dripping out of the packets it runs on the rocks an not burning into your lap. 2. A machete makes a great spatula. I had brought one, but the thin blade was longer to reach into the fire and readily available.

So we stuffed ourselves with food, put out the fire, made sure we didn't leave a mark and headed out. It was defiantly an experience that we shall try again, but hopefully get to the site before dark. Marking camp in the dark is very, very scary. Or at least for me.

Does anyone else have any fun camping stories? If so leave a comment below!