I missed the internet.
We went camping this last weekend, which was amazing. It took us half a day, but we were able to find a wonderful little spot in the forest, surrounded by trees (which provided such wonderful shade). There was a lake about a mile down the road, which we could easily walk to. And a couple streams that were nearby, which kept a constant flow of deer and animal life hopping around.
We camped for 2 days – arriving Friday, and packing up Sunday. And for the majority of the time, we just sat and enjoyed the quiet. I read two books – well, one and a half anyway. I finished the last half of, 1984, and then read, The Hobbit. I read relatively quickly, in little spurts, but spread out from about 6am to about midnight each night. So I can get through a decent sized book pretty quickly if I really want to. I admit, I'm super picky and often times will abandon a book half way just because I lose interest or don't care anymore. Which is the same for just about anything in my life. I get interested, motivated, get deeply into it, and then just get bored and let it go.
It was very relaxing to be out there. There wasn't any phone signal, so phones were entirely useless. I used it for mapping and watching some YouTube videos I had downloaded about knot tying and some wilderness tips. Otherwise, it was mostly phone free. I can't say screen free because I read on my phone or Kindle, but, you get the idea.
I also did a lot of journaling, which was nice. I like doing mind-dumps, where you just sit and write the constant stream of consciousness that flows out, which is what I mostly do when writing here. I just start typing and flow with whatever comes up, usually everything is entirely unplanned.
Beyond that, we hiked a little (but damn was it hot without the shade), or just sat and enjoyed nature, and its stillness. We watched a lot of birds and their interesting patterns. My older brother joined us, and he had a bird app downloaded on his phone, so we were able to play sounds that matched the birds in the area, and drew quite a crowd and had some interested “conversations” going all the time.
The only thing that sucked on this quickie trip, was the flies and the mosquitos. They were pretty annoying, and even now I feel little itchy bumps all over me from where I was bitten. The bugs aren't fun at all and after a while, it can make my mood pretty sour. I'll still take the forest, and it's bugs, over the desert any day.
The new tent is awesome. I love that thing. I think I'll just dedicate this blog to the love of canvas tents now, as it has made and appearance in most of my recent posts. If you've ever stayed in a luxury tent setup where you had space to stand up, change, stay completely dry and bug free, while it remains pretty cute, you'll understand. It's about as close as you can get to a trailer or renting a cabin as you can get. Tits McGee added some cute little fairy lights all inside that provided just the right amount of soft light, so you could see everything inside, without it being too bright or obnoxious. We even have a solar light outside for the “front porch” area. Plus, I've ordered more that we can put around the campground in the future.
The nights were very cool and very relaxing. There are fire bans everywhere, so we weren't able to light a fire – which would have made everything even more awesome- but, we were fine without. I get tired pretty quickly when the sun goes down, so I wouldn't have lasted long anyway. I preferred to be in the tent, away from the bugs, and just reading and relaxing.
We're already thinking about where to go this coming weekend. The spot we stayed at would work very well again, and may just become a quick go-to for us if we want to get away for the weekend without having to drive too far. I think it was only about an hour and a half away from us, which goes by super quickly.
Next time, I'll be far better prepared for the bugs. Even going out to just meditate in the tent for two days would be worth it, for me anyway.
Also, side note: another latest obsession of mine is paracord. I keep buying more and more of it, in different colors, thickness, strengths – particularly reflective types. I'm kind of a gear nerd sometimes, with obsessive tendencies. When I get interested in something, I go all in and spend money on things, read about it, watch endless videos about it, and just go for it. But, I keep the survival skills on a constant refreshing rotation. You never know if it'll be needed, right? Plus, being able to rig up something on the fly is great too.
Everyone always asks me what I eat when camping, so I'll add a quick blurb on food now. I guess because I'm plant-based (vegan, although I prefer not to use the term that much), they don't understand what there is to eat when you're camping. Most people do meats of some kind, especially the horrifically carcinogenic “food” known as hot dogs. Well, guess what? Plant-based people can have sausages and hot dogs and burgers and all of that as well. They're fake, of course, and I choose not to eat those things, because they're not that great for you, but the option is always there.
The short answer is that we can make just about any meal we want while camping, except for something that requires “baking” in a controlled temperature, as it's a bit hard to do. But overall, anything we want to have, we can make. I've done some pretty cool things over a fire or with a basic stove. We love Mexican food, so rice and beans is always a favorite for us, rolled in tortillas, topped with veggies and whatever sauces we crave. Super quick, cheap, and very easy to make in the forest with a simple stove system (which I have several options on hand). We also do tons of veggies and make a stir-fry, or just to top on any meal. Curry is an easy one too. We even made lettuce wraps for lunch on this last trip with veggies galore, including guacamole, hummus, homemade sauces, seeds, nuts, etc. Pasta is another easy one to do, which we love to top with veggies and avocado. Overall, we try to add as many greens as we can to just about anything we eat, which is very easy to do, even when camping. One medium-sized cooler is plenty for us for a quick two-day trip.
Another favorite is what we call, tin foil dinners, where you cut up a variety of preferred ingredients such as potatoes, meats, veggies galore, seasonings and sauces, and roll them into a few layers of tin foil and throw it over the fire until cooked through. This is one of my favorite meals, for sure.
Overall, things aren't too different when we are camping, as far as food goes. I guess we eat pretty minimal anyway, which makes things super easy.
Well, I need to jet, but I'll write more later.
Cheers.
/mg