The Great Campout

A few months ago we said goodbye to one of our good friends, Ross, who was moving to Texas in pursuit of a girl.  I make it sound romantic, and in a way it is.  They’d been dating for three years and living in separate states the whole time; she in Texas, he in Kansas.  Most weekends would find one or the other of them flying back and forth between the states.  

Ross also has ambition to be a helicopter pilot for the Army.  Knowing this, I pushed and pushed until he’d packed his truck and moved to Texas where pursuing his dream was more conducive to his time-line.  Strangely enough, now that he’s moved to Texas I see him more but talk to him less.  We all have such busy lives that it’s almost impossible to get everyone together anymore.  Ross finds out when he’s coming back to town and we mark out our calendar for one of the evenings.  

This past weekend was a little difficult though.  For weeks, Ross has been asking if The Husband and I will go camping with he and his family.  The response from these city slickers was a resounding no.  We don’t do camping unless paid to do so by the United States Military, and clearly, I am not in the military so I see no reason to sleep amongst the bugs.  Ross continued with the pleading, “It’ll be so much fun!  My brother just bought a camper!”  We were expecting something like this…

Which, of course, was parked next to the “Dump Station.”  I’ll let you figure out what that was.  Just imagine National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation… 

The campers (are they called RV’s?) owned by Ross & Pamela’s family are state-of-the-art RV’s that are complete with a kitchen! couches! beds! shower! I was shocked to see such a getup!  I had no idea.

All in all, it was a beautiful day on Saturday.  The sun actually came out to remind us Kansans what it looked like.  We fished… alright, the fishing was done by Ross, his dad and my good friend Pamela (Ross’s sister) with her adorable (almost) 4 year old.  I took pictures while the others hooked worms (ewwwww!) and cast their lines (how do you like that camping lingo!?!?)  

In the evening we grilled over a fire pit and pulled camping chairs and coolers close to the flame as we talked for hours.  It was a magical evening for first time “campers” even if The Husband and I hopped in the car and drove home at bedtime (can you blame us… the state park is practically our back yard!)

Camping isn’t so scary when you have the comfort of home nearby or one of those great RV things to go running for when you see a very scary bug that makes you squeal and run like a girl on fire.  Bugs.  So not an outdoor girl.