go camping

finally went camping with my friends last weekend! we stayed at this campsite called “paradise campground” in the santa barbara area. my friend’s an avid camper so she provided us with most of the provisions: a tent big enough for the 5 of us to sleep comfortably in, and cookware. everyone else contributed to things like toilet paper, napkins, etc.

my phone received no reception. we discovered that there were no showers, and there was only one spigot in the middle of the campsite (another one was located next to the bathrooms, a good walk away), so we had to lug our bucket of water to and from the spigot to wash our dishes. it felt good to be cut off from civilization. breakfast took one hour to cook, because we had to get the stove working. in the evening, we built a fire and made pouch dinners, roasted smart dogs and made s’mores. the stars shown brilliantly above us as we sipped our pumpkin ales. i even caught a glimpse of the milky way. everything was beautiful and perfect.

i think i’m more of a winter camper. the weather wasn’t too bad for early november. it got cold at night, but i only wore three layers and sometimes a scarf. my gloves weren’t even necessary, and i wore thick tights or leggings during the entire trip. i think i’ll be a more finicky camper come summertime, where bugs make their presence known. in the cold weather, we only got a few moths.

definitely looking forward to our next trip! it was only a simple weekend getaway, but it was what i needed. i dreaded the thought of going home, of facing the onslaught of reality.

til next time, nature. til next time.

going 5 December!

When I was in gradeschool and high school camping was a regular activity. I would camp with the Girl Scouts at least twice a year. The farthest I’ve gone is on a mountain in Chiba Japan wherein I participated in a Girl Scout exchange program. I’d like to try camping again now that I’m in my twenties. This time perhaps with friends, family or a special someone. =) Nothing beats the great outdoors!

Another summer over. The nearest I got was putting my tent up in the living room to show Paperfaerie how it fitted together. Oh well, maybe next year…

I won’t go until next summer, but I plan on getting something each month. I ordered a tent that should be here this week. Next month – a good sleeping bag.

Every summer up on the Island of Bois Blanc, there is Harmonfest, a celebration of family, friends and good beer. It is a week of campfire folk songs, yard games and exploring the outside wilderness of Michigan all around the Fourth of July. At night you can hear Lake Huron and Lake Michigan meet each other on the shore as you drift slowly into Sleepland in your tent, right after you listen to Paul’s dad sing his Sixties protest songs (and his remixes of them) around the campfire.

I love this time.

I’m going on a field camp for uni (Biodiversity and Conservation course) in 4 weeks :D
We’re camping just outside of this kind of open range zoo for four nights and five days, with NO SHOWERS – yes this is real camping :S hehe lucky they have toilets :D
We’re suppose to be surveying species diversity of the land around to zoo because I think they’re going to be regenrating the land which has been used for sheep grazing.
Even though this is for a major part of our grade, as we have to do a written and oral report on it, I’m really looking forward to it! Our class is fairly small… about 20 people going, and we all get along so its nice :D but we will all smell bad at the end!

I’ve been camping before but only for festivals, and also went on a family holiday in a static caravan, but I have never done real out in the wilderness in a tent for a week kind of camping. Would love to do this sometime and see a bit more of the countryside.

Yay! So….age 26 I finally got round to doing this….!

As a scout leader and if I’m going to travel the world then I think this is something I’m going to have to get used to!