Succor for Camping

When you get married you promise to love someone and support them. When I married Mr. Bird I promised him I would try out things he liked to do, and in return he would try out things I like to do. Well a few weeks ago, I fulfilled my promise.  As many of you know, I retired from hiking after my 50 mile hike through the White Cloud Mountains. It was a traumatic experience that left me rolling down a the mountain side, stuck and couldn’t get up because my pack was so heavy, and I was covered in scrapes and scratches from head to toe. In my mind, I fell gracefully… Everyone else, especially my brother who was filming it, suggested I was flailing helplessly like a turtle stuck on it’s back. After those “glory days” my fascination with the outdoors began to diminish. I pictured my future taking weekend vacations at spa’s, cabins, or even a full on hotel. There have been very few times I have pictured myself camping… However, when I said yes to Mr. Bird on our wedding day, I said yes to camping. It was about three weeks ago, when he approached me about camping. He said it would be fun, and he said there would be a bathroom. Only one of those things were true… As we drove to the Succor Creek camping ground in Oregon, it rained. It wasn’t the kind of rain that reassured you it will be gone in just a few minutes, but the kind that is obnoxiously obedient in following Mother Natures directions to “pour.” I was determined though to come out on top of camping just like Phyllis did, a housewife gone troop leader in Troop Beverly Hills (great film).  When we got to the campground we were stunned, it was full! It was like some R.V family reunion or redneck convention,  I am sure. I don’t know why so many people decided “Hey let’s go camping, it will be fun in the rain!” So we decided to continue searching for a place… We found one about 2 miles down the road. It was pretty, and green! I would say almost as green as Ireland, but I’ve never been. We pulled over and started to set up camp. One of the two promises Mr. Bird gave me was that there would be a bathroom. Well, that promise was broken… I became a wilderness survivor doing my “business” in the woods. It wasn’t the end of the world though. We set up my tent that I had received as a gift about 4 years ago and had never used. BUCKET LIST! Mr. Bird was a wonderful husband and began to dig a small trench around the tent so that water wouldn’t seep under the tent. The rain cleared up for a while and so we played some Spikeball, roasted smore’s, and then hit up our friends car tent and played phase ten with dice. It turned out to be a pleasant night! Mr. Bird and I retired to our tent, and that is when things took a turn for the worse (total Oregon Trail reference). It was freezing, I was in my down sleeping bag with a quilt and a husband and I was still cold. It was a long night on the cold hard ground, but it made me grateful for the bed I do have! The next morning we made breakfast burritos and then decided it was time to explore. Even though it included some mild hiking, it was fun. We were in such a beautiful place that it would have been a sin to not explore. We climbed to the top of the mountain side next to camp (okay, most people would say hill, but it’s my story). The view was breathtaking, and worth the little energy I exerted that reminded me how out of shape I am. After messing around for a while, we made it back to camp and headed back into civilization. I was exhausted, but I had fun. It was fun to see my husband in his element, to know with a surety we would survive the zombie apocalypse with his mad skills. Would I go camping again? Yes I would, I only had a few demands after that trip and they were a better sleeping pad and good weather. The sleeping pad has been purchased and we are planning to go next when it isn’t raining 🙂 Marriage has taught me to try new things and to step out of my comfort zone. It is important to share interests and with a positive attitude, I may have used some sarcasm in this post, but I did enjoy camping…and will enjoy it more when it’s warm.

(C)LVB-2014