Camping plans

Perhaps Boyfriend Jon and I have an odd relationship. By that i mean instead of going the traditional route for our year and a half....doing things like dinner at a fancy restaurant, dancing, wine on a bear skin rug kind of thing....Nope, our idea of fun and romantic is going camping.

I started camping when I was seven years old. My uncle invited my father to join him at this thing he called a Rhondevous (Ron-day-voo). It was a pioneer day re-enactment. Similar to a Ren-Fair, but in the days of Mountain Men and Indians. We started out with hardly any proper camping gear, and i remember that we had a lightning storm the first night. My mother made us get off of our aluminum cots and sleep on the ground because she was concerned about us getting electrocuted. I still don't understand why she did that. We were in the middle of a forest after all. The tent leaked, our feet turned to prunes, and we spent the second night in my uncle's tent, crammed in with all five of them, plus four of us, and their smelly dog. Since then, I  think i can count the number of times my mother has joined us on one hand.

I'm not sure how, but my father got hooked and so did my brother and I. The group of people that went to these Pioneer days were just plain cool. They told incredulous stories, taught me everything from beading to how to start a fire with flint and steel, and dad let us run basically wild. We caught newts, wandered through the woods, bought things in 'Traders Row". He never had to worry about us. Everyone kept an eye on us. I remember smashing my finger and a random woman that i didn't know at the time, bandaged me up. I even acquired a nickname: Skirts Afire. I'll let you guess how i got that one. It became a second community in my life as i grew up.

Me at the 2003 Women's Rhondy
(skill training weekend)

And quickly, dad purchased proper camping equipment. In later years, when my brother no longer joined us, my dad and I got to the point where we could set up and tear down the camp in a matter of a half hour. Granted, by then, we had a pop up camper.

But eventually i had to grow up. My father would get testy whenever i mentioned wanting to camp on my own, not with him. Especially if I had a boyfriend at the time. After one particular blow up when i was 20, i quit and for five years since, i hadn't gone camping. Our relationship mended and life otherwise went back to normal.

The last attempt Boyfriend Jon and I made at going camping was not well planned out. It was overnight, we were cold, and we ended up eating out instead of making up the food we bought. I kept trying to get into my normal groove and got frustrated by Boyfriend Jon not instinctively know what i needed him to do...the way my father did. I'm very accustomed to doing things a certain way, to always having the proper tools available to me. But living in an apartment doesn't leave much room to store a plethora of camping supplies.

So we borrowed my father's camping gear and additionally i was freaked out about the extremely remote possibility of things getting stolen. We weren't surrounded by the community of Rhondevous people...who have been known to return dropped wallets without a single penny missing. These were strangers! Yes it seems very silly now, but this is how i reacted. And single handedly, I made the trip be rather miserable.

It took me quite a while to realize why i was acting so controlling, but eventually i managed to explain to Boyfriend Jon. We agreed that we would try again, and we would do things very differently, next time.

So the changes changes we're making this time:

1. We're staying two nights, not one. 
2. We're not going in October (another big mistake)
3. We're purchasing our own camp gear. Chairs, possibly our own tent, and we bought foutons, not an air mattress.
4. My dad gave me a coleman grill. Not that i can't cook over an open fire, but just that it's easier to do so over a stove.
5. We're making a menu and sticking to it. 
6. Oh yeah, and I will NOT go freakishly controlling again. 

Here's to hoping for a smoother trip this time. 

Quite frankly, I consider where we're going to be a luxury anyway. Its a state run campground. They have hot showers! Now that's just plain ole FANCY!