Nature, it's all over me! Get it off!

I'm now officially a "pro" at this camping thing!

I never went camping as a kid. My mom doesn't think that life is worth living if you can't soak in a tub of warm bathwater before you crawl between the sheets. She also isn't much of one for sleeping on the ground, even if there's a blow-up mattress between you and the gravel! Her idea of "laying down" must first involve the process of "climbing up" onto the bed!

I love my mom, she's just not what you would call, "outdoorsy"! Which makes my parents an odd pair, because my dad grew up sleeping in a hammock under the stars in the jungles of Brazil. They prove the theory that opposites attract!

So anyways, like I said, I didn't grow up experiencing the "family camping trips" that many of my friends enjoyed. But during college I began endeavoring on it a few times with friends! Unfortunately, I do have some of my mother's tendencies, I discovered. While I tend to enjoy the morning shower over the night-time bath on most occasions, it was very hard for me to not have access to the morning shower at first. I like to be clean, and to smell nice. I'm girly that way. There's something blissfully wonderful about feeling fresh each and every morning!

However, I've come to love the camping experience, as long as it doesn't encompass more than two days. I've gone two nights once, and nearly came out of my skin the third day, I felt so gross! Anyways, I do love the campfire experience - talking, laughing, toasting marshmallows/S'mores or hotdogs. I love, absolutely love, the smell of campfire on my blanket and sweatshirt when I get home. It's sort of hard to wash them, because the smell will go away. I'm weird, I know. And now that I'm a proud owner of an inflatable mattress, with both electric and battery-operated air pumps, as well as a brand new cozy sleeping bag, I even enjoy sleeping on the ground! I just need a tent, and a lantern and I'll look like I know what I'm doing! Well, maybe!

So anyways. Some of my college students went camping this weekend, and we had a blast! So much so that a Texas Ranger had to come enforce "quiet hours" when a few rounds of "Apples to Apples" became a little too rowdy and exciting! Who goes into the wilderness on a Friday night to get a good night's sleep anyways? C'mon! (Oh, and by the way, "the eyes of the Ranger" really are upon you! And I need to start looking behind me more, because that's where he was - just like the song says! *Theme song from Walker, Texas Ranger for those who didn't get my little attempt at humor!)

So that was my last 24 hours! Fun times! I hope we plan some more camping trips before fall is over - of course, in Texas, I don't have to get too concerned about winter feeling much different from fall! And now it's time to go shower up! Cause I have a lot of cleaning to do - and I'll start with my grungy self, first!! That's the downer to camping, everything is dirty when you get home! As fun as it is, it sure is a lot of work in the end!