Camping, Part II

Oy!

For ease and continuity, I'm going to stick to the term "camping" but really it wasn't so rough. I'm sure it could have been a lot worse. We had a bathroom in the house to use but other than that, we had to stay outside. The house we stayed by was super gorgeous inside and out. The property had been in the family for years.  That made it extra special that both E and I defiled the one bathroom we were using. Only onE of us cloggEd the toilEt though. I won't mEntion any namEs.



The really nice house with the nice bathroom, until we got there. Yes, that is our tent!


The tent went up easily with no problems. The M gave me his official combat tent. Look, if the tent can survive Afghanistan, it can survive me putting it up. E got her sleeping bag all set up. I waited setting up my sleeping bag until later, which FYI was a mistake. By the time I got around to unrolling it and getting it like I wanted, I was so tired I didn't care that I was sleeping on the ground. Let me tell you: after about 2 minutes, I cared. The ground is hard and unyielding much like R when she throws a tantrum. As a matter of fact, after discussions on bears and raccoons and the liklihood of one of them approaching our tent, E says, "I don't like sleeping on the ground in a tent."  Really? I love it. As much as I love period cramps and sticking a sharp stick in my eye.

One of my main concerns was how I would get along with the other moms. I even took a change of clothing so I wouldn't wear the same clothes two days in a row. You must understand - that is a big deal for me since most weekends I don't even like to shower. But anyway, turns out the other moms were alright. I could have saved the trouble of packing the extra clothes. Except my underwear was losing the elastic and falling down so I was glad I had a spare. I kept my tattoos mostly hidden and didn't get in the water so the huge skull on my hip stayed incognito.

But holy christ, I was almost blinded a couple of times by the huge rocks on the fingers. The conversation sometimes turned to topics that I had zero input for, such as equestrian things and travel. I was thisclose to spouting the virtues of my beloved pit bulls during one conversation about dogs, but I kept my trap shut and listened. Most of them (and I would venture to say ALL) have Labs. Typical and really? How cliche. At least get a mutt from the pound.

The food, including the mustard and ketchup, were from Central Market. I could kick myself for not taking a picture of the table with it all set out. Everything was organic. I like to eat organic crap too, but shit, on a camping trip?? There was no Hill Country Fair and Oscar Meyer for these people! Hell by the time we ate, I could have eaten a Wal-Mart wienie. And by the way, that is such a fun word to say in my head. Wienie. Wiener. Wiener wiener chicken diener.  I'll stop now.

The coolers I brought with juice and water. Pretty.

All in all it was a fun time and I enjoyed the bonding with E. She needed some alone time with me. Of course, we really weren't alone and she spent most of the time with her friends. But it makes me feel like a better parent to say that stuff.

E ate her weight in s'mores and caught her marshmellows on fire. Good times.

E says she wants to continue with Brownies/Girl Scouts next year. Maybe I can convince her to start a goth Girl Scout troop instead. We can camp at Casino El Camino on 6th and learn the virtues of rock-n-roll and discuss the many nuances of the color black. Ahhhh......