Retreat

People are typically surprised when they ask about my weekend plans and I respond that we're going camping. I'm not sure why people don't think I'm outdoorsy - the right outfit makes anything fun, just kidding. Not related to camping but random thought: my favorite part about the co-ed softball league was my matching knee-highs and shorts. Anyway, I love camping because of exploring new places, nature, slow-paced days, taking the dogs for walks, food, campfires, and walking around 100% of the time with a beer in hand. I especially like camping in areas with no cell phone service because of my husband's obsession with stupid Clash of Clans. I don't know how many times I've threatened to take his phone and throw it in some body of water from which it shall never return.

My first camping experience was at Ionia State Park in Michigan where Justin and I rented a tiny cabin. It was a pretty big shopping trip just to be able to camp in a cabin but it was so much fun. The cabin just had two bunk beds, a small table, two chairs and a wall heater. We couldn't bring Hailey because no dogs are allowed in State Park cabins. We "camped" there in October so the weather required hats and mittens but we were able to go on hikes without being eaten alive by mosquitos and we stayed up all night playing beer pong just the two of us next to the campfire. Redbull played an important role in the late night beer pong and we paid for it the next day.

The following year we went tent camping for my family reunion at Wagener County Park in Harbor Beach, Michigan. We were the only fools there with a tent. It was pouring rain upon arrival but we still decided to "quickly" get the tent up so it would just be done with. Our tent leaked the entire weekend. The worst part about tent camping is sleeping on an air mattress with someone who is close to 75 lbs heavier than you. The entire night I clung for dear life onto my side of the air mattress like hanging on to the side of a cliff. Again no dogs in tents.

After the tent experience we decided to purchase a pop-up camper because it would be awesome to sleep on something that did not require air and we would be able to bring our dogs camping! One of the main points of camping is being able to get away for a weekend without having to pay to send our dogs to Camp Bow Wow or whatever other brilliant pet resort we use (I still want one, venture capitalists??). I scored a pop-up for just $1,800 - I don't know why I thought they would be way more?

It served us well for a year until the cables broke at the family reunion that following year and we turned the lights on inside of it, in the middle of the night, spending about an hour trying to prop it up and open with boards, as I watched thousands of bugs swarm the lights - inside the camper. I think we slept with 5,000 bugs that night inside our pop-up camper and hoped the 2 x 6's holding up the roof stayed-put. The next day I went to my Aunt Doris's place across the street from the campground and borrowed a dirt devil to vacuum those suckers to their deaths. It was gross. 

Oh, but funny story about getting the dirt devil. My mom randomly left full cans of beer in totally random places that weekend - for example on the hitch of my camper underneath a queen size pop-out bed, why would she duck under this huge mattress platform to put down her beer? No clue. Anyways, so she also left a full can of opened beer on the back bumper of Justin's truck, which I drove out of the campground, across traffic, and up a steep driveway to Aunt Doris's. It did not fall off! Wow! I'm still surprised! I knew I was a good driver. 

Then after spending a half hour popping and cranking and pulling and propping and loading and unloading the pop-up camper when we got to campsites around 10 pm Friday nights after work, while everyone else simply pulled in and hooked up made us decide to sell the pop-up and get a travel trailer. I did some online research (found the first one I liked and bought it without seeing it) and two days later Justin went to Dewitt to pick up our 2008 Palamino Gazelle. I LOVE it! I never imagined how nice it would be to have a shower and a toilet in the camper that is so easy to use! Sure beats showering with killer green hoppers and squatting next to the woods all night. I no longer have to convince myself how sanitary pee is. We love being able to drive in, put out our rugs, pull down our awning and be drinking in less than 5 minutes. Waiting an hour to drink before while we popped and cranked was unacceptable according to my fellow campers.