On Thursday of last week, we braved the wild outdoors and camped for the first time. Neither Nate or I had done more than back yard camping growing up so we decided to do a test run of sorts at a state park that is fairly close by,
Nerstrand-Big Woods. Our campsite was right across from the bathroom/shower facility, so we eased into the wilderness on tiptoe.
We arrived in the afternoon and set up the '4 room' tent we bought at a garage sale last year.
After the tent was up, we did a little bit of hiking. We took the trail to the Hidden Falls.
The Hidden Falls turned out to be a few drops of water trickling over this swath of limestone. Oh, well. It was kind of neat anyway.
We hiked back and made an emergency run to the blink-and-you'll-miss-it town of Nerstrand, where we picked up contact solution & a lens case, which yours truly forgot to pack. Ah, the glories of civilization, even the one-horse town type. On returning we lit the campfire and had (what else?) hot dogs for supper.
And s'mores! Nicky the walking dictionary said they looked delectable, and of course they were.
Unsure of what the sam hill to do next, we sat around the fire a little more and then hit the sack. All night we listened to the sounds of nature. The gentle rain that fell intermittently at night, Adrienne snoring, and Michael grinding his teeth. In the morning we had cold cereal for breakfast. Just as we got the dishes put away, the heavy rain started. We decided to spend some time milling around Faribault while waiting for the deluge to subside. It never really did, so we (and when I say we, I mean Nate) took down the tent in the rain and went home, closing the chapter on our exciting inaugural camping adventure.
Happy 8th birthday to Adrienne! Where do you suppose she wanted to spend her special day? In that most unholy place of parental torment, Chuck E. Cheese, of course. It had been several years since we braved an outing there, and I hope not to darken their doorway in several more. Now, I suppose some adults thrive in a crazed atmosphere where children run wild like ruthless barbarians, and more power to 'em, but...egads. Laughing, screaming, and crying rugrats everywhere. Hopelessly trying to maneuver my way between kids who darted every which way while blinded by the blinking lights and deafened by the blaring arcade games...it's not for me. But, Adrienne kept saying it was her best birthday ever, so it was worth a few hours of insanity.
