COMPLETED CAMPING: PART 2

THE TENT

Leading up to the trip, I was very skeptical about the tent. I had no idea what to expect and that usually causes a stir in me. When Brian first pulled it out of the car he said I had the most terrified look on my face. I’m sure this is true despite my efforts to keep a smile on my face and hide my concerns. I wanted to be a trooper, not a baby.

My first thought upon seeing the folded tent was “Now what?” I had no idea what to do with that heap of fabric lying in the dirt. I told Brian that I would do my best and to just give me a job. After 15 minutes we had a tent!! My first thoughts when I saw my new home was…I like its color scheme and “now what?”.

 “Now what?” was a constant thought during my camping trip. The other refrain was “This is some backwoods shit.” No matter what was happening I would refer to it as “backwoods shit”. Brian hated it when I would say it. He informed me that nothing about my situation was “backwoods shit”  because we had  hot water to shower in and a flushing toilet house. He also didn’t think it was a very “PC” thing to say. In the attempt to not offend, I ended up whispering it to myself every five minutes. I couldn’t help it because I saw some crazy shit.

Ok, so back to the tent. Once the tent was set up I actually thought it was pretty cute and I loved the fact that Brian and I had worked as a team to build it. At that moment, I was happy. I LOVED camping. The tent and I shared a good 4 hours of love before it all changed. I quickly learned that tents are pretty awesome until you have to sleep in them. I spent the first night cold, fighting for blankets, rolling off my mattress pad, listening to the wind blow and contemplating my existence. At that moment I HATED camping.

The last straw came at 4 am when I felt the urge to pee. Let me set the scene for you. It was dark..It was cold and the bathroom was far away. I almost started crying. I tried to will myself back to sleep and ignore the feeling but, no luck. Then I remembered that earlier that day Brian had offered to walk me to the bathroom in the middle of the night if I needed him to but, only because it was my first time camping. I rolled over and looked at him. He was sound asleep and looked incredibly peaceful despite the conditions. Because he was sweet enough to make me a “French Camping CD”, I decided to not disturb him. Remember I am a trooper, not a baby.

So I pulled myself together and pulled on my Uggs boots to brave it alone. Trying to get in and out of a tent in the dark proved to be quite difficult for me. Who knew tents had zippers for windows too? After a minute,  I finally made it out. Walking in the dark to the bathrooms also proved to be quite difficult for me. Who knew it could be that dark? I couldn’t even see my hand. Surprisingly, I completed both tasks with only a few curse words.

I LOVED that tent because Brian and I built it together. I HATED that tent because I had to sleep in and didn’t have a bathroom.

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

Tags: Big Sur, camping, Hated, Kate McClafferty, Loved