Where Ponies Fear to Tread

Really, truly, I had a great time camping.

Unfortunately, I think everyone else on the trip thinks I’m lying when I say that.

I think this because:

-As we were packing up to go Mark asked “Did you have a good time at all this weekend?” which maybe means I wasn’t smiling.
-Jen apologized for the weather three times on our last day there.
-Susan hugged me and said she was deeply sorry for telling stories about the possible maniacal killer well into the evening on our last night there and promised me she would never do it again.

On the contrary! All of these things only made the trip MORE memorable!

It’s true. Camping does not come naturally to me. Mostly because I never did it. Not growing up, not in college, and not since becoming an adult. I spent one night in a tent my first year at NCSA and it was a MISERABLE EXPERIENCE for several reasons including 30 degree temperatures, a lack of preparation, and an over-abundance of pot (this was a long time ago mom, don’t worry). We didn’t camp when I was growing up because family trips were very much about DOING THINGS and rarely about DOING NOTHING. I am not always so good at DOING NOTHING. But I am learning. I am learning to appreciate a lazy afternoon in the sun with a book and a beer (don’t worry about the beer either, mom.)

And sun tan lotion.

I’ll post my couple of pony pictures in the next couple of days. As promised, ponies roam wild on Assateaugue and it is both very cool and slightly disarming the first time you encounter them. Our first morning there just as we were waking up one came moseying up near our tent, then nosed around at our site mates’ tent, finally settling down on the ground slightly downhill of the two tents and promptly falling asleep.

Like a cat. Only it was a pony.

Things we did on Assateague Island:

1. Set up a tent. And an air mattress. This still counts as roughing it as far as I am concerned.
2. Went a long time without showers. Like two days. Sticky.
3. Ate marshmallows around a campfire.
4. Drank beer around said campfire.
5. Played games where we came up with funny answers having to do with sex and poop. But not together.
6. Digested a lot of sand.
7. Survived a wind storm. Seriously. Considerably high winds Monday night—the rangers came around and warned everybody. All night I wondered whether the tent would blow away and what would happen if it did.
8. Saw furry and feathered wildlife: deer, rabbits, ponies, birds and Mark Rhea.
9. Wondered how our scenario would work for a low-budget horror flick. Susan made it all sound quite possible, which was fabulous for my over-active imagination.
10. Ate ridiculous amounts of food: fajitas, grilled burgers, smores, cookies, chips, dips—veggie options as well.

Seriously, I had a great time. And I have a very pink nose to show for it. I almost didn’t want to come home. Almost.