Going Camping

There are certain things in our lives, which despite our best intentions and strong desire, never seem to actually happen. One of these is camping. Another is eating fondue, but that will have to be covered in another post.

This week we were supposed to go camping in Virginia and meet friends at the campsite over the weekend. Unfortunately the weather in the blue ridge was not in our favor. Plus Jon was worried about getting ready for his interview on Monday, for which he will be leaving on Sunday evening. Then there was the problem of finding a regulator for our stove, which is from the UK, where apparently they don't use propane in the same way. The campsite we found in warmer climes also had tent pads that were 2.6ft too narrow for our giant tent. However we had come up with a menu that circumvented any stove requirement. Virginia state parks also provide electrical hook ups so we could just bring our kettle for hot morning tea. And we figured we could just hang a bedroom off the edge of the tent pad.

We were ready to camp by the seat of out pants, so to speak.

But then, just as Jon was putting on his jeans this morning he fell suddenly to the floor. I thought he had twisted his ankle or something. But, when the pain subsided enough for him to speak, he managed to let me know that something in his lower back had suddenly gone and could I please just leave him to cry in peace.

Actually he wasn't really crying, but as Jude noted upon walking in, he really really wanted to.

After about 30 mins on the freezing floor he managed (with Bradley pain management techniques, showing that you just never know when reading all those natural childbirth books will finally come in handy) to get himself into the bed.

An hour or so later and he could stand and wander ever so little. Now several hours later he can squat to reach something on the floor with barely noticeable hissing.

Needless to say, we did not pack the car this morning, and we are still in NJ.

However, we decided that it was sad to let all that camping prep go to waste. So we popped open our 2 person tent in the living room and roasted hotdogs and s'mores in the fireplace and the kids are now trying to pretend that really they will (cross their dear little hearts) eventually fall asleep in the tent.

It all went surprisingly well. Simon has decided that S'mores are really REALLLY good. When I asked him if he wanted 's'more' I thought his head might get dislocated he was nodding so vehemently. I would have taken a picture, but there was already a small mountain of marshmallow goo and melted chocolate sinking into the carpet (hooray for that carpet cleaner stuff from Target!) and Simon was ready to crawl into the fireplace to get more of anything. And Jon obviously wasn't in any condition to jump up and grab the camera, so I will have to leave the vision of Simon covered in s'more innards to your imagination.

Tomorrow we are heading out in the wee hours to spend about 48 hours in North Carolina. I am going to drive and we are hoping Jon will make it with plenty of back stops because we could really use some time with friends.

So here's hoping that our first outdoor camping experience will be as much fun as our latest indoor camping experience. And that the universe will actually let us go outdoor camping. Should we make it, I think I will have to serve fondue in celebration.