Is This What a Stay-cation Is Supposed To Look Like?

I have fond memories of camping a lot while growing up.  My memories may actually be a bit too fond.  I’m pretty sure my camping memories are more  the stuff dreams are made of than the stuff of reality.  My mom seems to remember that is was a lot of work.  I remember it as actually being fun to set up the tent, sleep in it, and then take it down, pack up, drive a great many miles, unpack, and set the tent back up, repeatedly, all in the name(s) of vacation, rest, & relaxation.

My husband has fond memories of camping as well.  I have a sneaking suspicion that his mom might acknowledge the amount of work involved, if asked.

I still wanted to go camping.  Real camping.  Not in my parents’ yard, no matter how many acres they have… it’s still cheating.  It just is.

It wasn’t meant to be.  We didn’t get our rears in gear in time to reserve a State Park spot, and we almost called about a local private campground, but, well,  it just didn’t happen. 

So the backyard it was.  Which kind of worked out.

Baby J was not thrilled with the idea of actually sleeping in the tent.  He loves to play in tents all the live-long-day, but that is, apparently, quite another thing.  There was crying, and sobbing, and then all-out freaked-out shrieking, and it occurred to me that, as much as I had wanted to do some “real” camping, I was really glad in the end that we were only annoying the rest of our children, and maybe our dogs, but not the poor innocent fellow campers who just wanted to get a good night’s sleep in the great outdoors.

I brought him in.  He immediately stopped crying once he laid down, sighed a sweet sigh of thank-God-it’s-my-own-sweet-bed relief, and was asleep before I could make it out of the room.  Apparently crying that long and hard is tiring…

We may need a few more “fake” campouts before that young man is ready for the real thing.

We did head out for a day trip (in an effort to make it a bit more like real camping) to a sort of randomly chosen State Park neither of us had ever been to.  It was hot and sunny and a long drive, which made for some nice knitting progress on my current Lacy Baktus.  There was a day when I might have taken the nice little portable project with me on the walk through the woods, but it wasn’t this day.  On this day, the yarn stayed in the van, and my hands were free to hold little hands, and, of course, to take their pictures.

After the long and hot drive home, with storms in the forecast, we called it a vacation and went back into the air-conditioning for some relaxing sit-around-and-do-much-of-nothing-ness.

And then it was time to get back to the daily grind.

And now we can say that we’ve done that.

In Other News-
There was a Lyme Disease scare, involving Baby J… we’re much less scared now, but still keeping a close eye on him.
Also, I’ve been enjoying a LOT of my new favorite salad, if black beans, rice, and cilantro do anything for you, you should give this recipe a try.  You just might thank me, well, if you have any manners.

Happy knitting-
ali