Every woman has heard it, "Honey let's go camping"…Some women awkwardly laugh like it is a terrible joke, some simply make a small grunting noise and ignore their partner completely and others for some odd reason start excitedly packing the minute they hear it. When my fiancé Chris asked me I personally went through all the stages of grieving. First, I was in denial, he's not really serious is he? He is not really suggesting I spend my weekend in a tent on the ground, in the mud, is he? A tent which is susceptible to bear penetration.
Anger and Bargaining
Ok, so I really didn't get angry. I probably skipped the whole anger stage and went directly into bargaining. Wouldn't you rather go to a comedy show and dinner? How about a big steak dinner? A huge steak dinner…I'll buy. What about we go in a few weeks? It might rain, we should wait to go. Luke Bryan is in town? You love Luke Bryan. We should go see him INSTEAD.
Very soon after my bargaining skills failed I hit stage four….Depression. It's really happening. I'm going camping. How did this happen? Isn't there someone I can call? I feel so trapped and alone. Why? WHY?!
Which eventually led to acceptance, although I did revert to bargaining again just before giving in.
I packed quickly the morning of the trip throwing random stuff from around the house in a bag. I left behind my …gasp...makeup (which I put on everyday whether or not I leave the house because it makes me feel more put together). I left behind my expensive shampoos, my hairspray, lotions, potions and spells, my blowdryer and my sundresses. Sigh…my coffee maker, air conditioning, my vehicle, my dog and cat, my computer and all of the other things that I hold dear to my heart and headed off into the wilderness.
The drive through the county to Parker Dam was beautiful with puffy white clouds hanging like overstuffed pillows over pristine farms and rolling mountains. The clouds looked exactly like the overstuffed pillows that I, ironically, was leaving behind.
We rolled into a pretty little campground full of happy campers doing happy camping things, in their happy camping clothes and I was optimistic. I even began thinking I should have brought my Brownies sash because I would be rolling in new outdoor achievement patches by the end of the weekend.
So, you pay a fee to rent the "area", which consists of a grassy patch that comes with a complimentary fire pit and a picnic table. Amenities also include large jutting rocks and roots, poison ivy, stinging and crawling bugs, wild rabid animals and of course extra mud for the ladies.
The Spot
After setting up it was time to fish! Now, I actually fished quite a bit when I young, so this part was really exciting to me. That was until we had to find "the spot". Now the park was situated adjacent to a very large lake funneled in from a nearby creek, so I thought "the spot" would be rather easy to find. We started by circling the lake and parking by the beach area. "This was not the spot". Then we drove to where the boat ramp area was. "This was not the spot". Then we parked and walked through the woods along the edge of the creek in tall snake filled grass, only to realize this "WAS NOT THE SPOT" and we had to turn around and head back. Walking back out of the woods we determined that the mouth of the lake was also "NOT THE SPOT!!!!!". Finally after two hours, we walked back to the truck and I said there was a trail at the top of the hill and determined "that was the spot" basically because I was not going to look for another one.
Here I am at the "spot", finally
At the spot we set up our fishing zone. We picked up fishing licenses, so I was determined to catch a trout, however all I caught was a bluegill by the eye. I didn't have a picture, so the one below is an exact replica of the fish that I caught.
Yup, totally the same size
After a couple hours of fishing and snagging another bluegill it was time to head back to camp to cook up some yummy food. Chris was sweet enough to bring me healthy veggie and meat shish kabobs because I had been putting so much time and effort into my diet. We mistakenly forgot to bring tongs, so we had to figure out a makeshift way of removing the food from the super-hot flame-licked grill. Now this is where men and women differ. I chose to use a pair of scissors. Easy, simple and effective. Chris, however, decided on two pieces of sliced wood. Was it more effective then the scissors? No, but I saw that he chose it because it made him more of "mountain man". I said nothing and just sat bemused at his primal wilderness tactics.
Literally, the look on his face…
After dinner and a couple drinks, I was able to get him to slow dance under the stars. One of my favorite memories of the night. Afterwards, he brought me to the outdoor amphitheater to stargaze. It was probably no more then a quarter mile into the woods, however he did not want me to use my flashlight because he wanted my eyes to adjust to the darkness to see the stars better.
Here is how I felt at that moment.
Needless to say, I made it safely down the dark woodsy path (after insisting on using my flashlight). He chose this particular campground because it was in one of the darkest spots in Pennsylvania which meant we could see even more stars then normal. We laid a blanket down on the ground and pointed out stars, satellites, planets, jets and constellations. I was also delighted to see four shooting stars. It was truly the most stars I have ever seen in one place. That was definitely my favorite moments of the weekend…that was until he pointed out an odd glowing red light in the woods which he claimed was Sasquatch …yep, time to go back to camp.
I slept fairly well overnight with no crazy bears, raccoons or other rabid animals disturbing my slumber, but I awoke the next morning to this in my face. Now, in reality this darling Daddy Long Legs would do me no harm, however it was magnified because of it's close proximity to my eye causing me to gasp out loud and frantically kick and jump to get away from it. Oh….camping….and all of its perks.
A few hours after the spidey scare I was ready to fish again. Crawling back down to the now designated "spot", we were surprised to see that at 9:30am we were the only ones fishing. Once again this spot, turned out to not be "the spot", so we decided to travel to a new lake altogether, so we packed up and wished Parker Dam a fond farewell. First, we tried Treasure Lake only to find out it was more like a weird Stepford wives private community in the middle of nowhere than a great fishing spot. After that, we tried Kyle Lake, however our GPS continuously told us to turn around while passing the lake on 79 in both directions, so after off-roading on some country path we gave up and decided to drive to the ever-familiar Moraine State Park.
ahhhhhhh…my heaven
Did I mention, I love boats and water! I have no complaints about our three hours on the boat, except when we illegally jumped into the water and I badly bruised my foot trying to get back into the boat sans ladder. It was so hot though it was worth it. I caught two more bluegill, tried once again to catch a trout, practiced using a crank bait, wore flip flops, a bathing suit and got a nice tan, I was in heaven. We finished up with blue Slushies and headed home, but the camping didn't stop there! After watching the U.S. vs Portugal he cooked me Turkey Hot Dogs and made stovetop s'mores! A great end to a pretty great weekend.
Boat time with my beau!
All and all, I …ahem…had a pretty good time, but don't tell him that because then he will want to take me more often then I would like. Would I consider myself a camping fanatic? Absolutely not. Would I go again? Perhaps in a month or…so…. I need to go through the grieving process all over again. The moral of the story it: You gotta do what you gotta do for the one you love…all so you can get a fancy dinner once and awhile.
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