The Wilderness Adventure

I am one of those people, who believe it or not, is known for their personality. (Yes, I am one of THOSE people...) and so I thought by starting my blogspot, I would try to bring some smiles to the lives of everyone around me. I've had this blog for what now - about a month and a half and I have TWO blogs? That's pathetic. I blame Heidi for my even starting the blog, because hers is so hilariously funny that I thought - "Okay Becca, you are funny... write something funny like Heidi does and make your friends laugh!" I used to write blogs, when myspace was cool, and I would always get comments back raving about my humor. I don't know what has happened, but I have hit an absolute brain freeze. I had the pleasure of spending some "non-work" time with Heidi last night while she was in town, and explained that my blogs topics that are currently floating around my life are just not funny! I mean, I could sit here and give you story as to why my digestive system hates me, or the million positions at work we are trying to fill that is making me sprout some early gray hairs, but - bottom line: that's not funny! I am going to try this again, and I am going to give you my best efforts on bringing a smile to your face. If it's funny - tell me, and I will continue to keep trying!

2009 has been an absoultely fun year - and we're only half done! It started with my close group of friends surprising me with a birthday trip to see a Psychic in the deep heart of scary Columbus (twice). Each reading was very different, but we all took away different elements... more so from the first lady who wasn't higher than a kite and stumbling all over the place. (If you haven't heard this story before - I'll fill you in later!) With that - the birthday surprises between our group has been pretty fun this year! It is really something we haven't done before - which fits my New Years Resolution to a T. "Do more fun and new things." Perfect. For Amy's bday we surprised her with a trip of crossing the Canadian Border into Niagara Falls and seeing the ultimate US/Canadian Tourist place... of course we also gambled away money at the slots which is always a blast! Courtney's bday is in July and she doesn't know where we are going, but I know she'll have a great time! For Mary's bday - Mary is a big fan of camping, so we thought - why not as a group, let's go camping! This is something I can honestly say I have not done in I would say close to 15 years. I don't own a sleeping bag, I don't own a latern, and lord only knows the only thing that fits my air mattress are my Pottery Barn sheets... but yet, I wanted to give this a whirl and again, try something new!

We spent a Saturday night in Hocking Hills, which for all of you who are not familiar with Ohio - it is a very picture perfect trail (Old Man's Cave) and always good for a beautiful walk. Courtney found a camp ground which was only miles from the cave, and thought it would be perfect for the night. Of course, she calls me in a panic before we leave and says she forgot the address to the campground back in Cleveland and all she could remember was that the webpage had a picture of a caveman on it... oh great! I search, and thankfully find it without too much searching. The campsite for our tent was only $25, this may be the cheapest lodging I'll ever (willingly) pay for. The girl at the shack tells us we can pick any site we want within a certain row of numbers - so we go on the hunt for the perfect site. We find a spot, decide to pitch our tent (while it's daylight and we're 3 girls who really let's be honest - don't "rough it" often. Courtney had purchased the Cadillac of tents - and literally it took up almost the entire site. With our three air mattresses in it - we all three could have rolled around and never touched anyone! It was HUGE! Mary and I were very impressed with her purchase, to say the least! My job was to pretty much unpack the car while the two other girls pitched the tent. Once it was up and perfect, we set off to find the outhouses. We were camping, so we were well aware that we were really going to be roughing it with outhouses. To our delight, we found an actual BATHROOM WITH RUNNING WATER! Granted, it wasn't the prettiest or cleanest - but it wasn't an outhouse, so we really didn't care. Included: two shower stalls! None of us brought shower things, so forget that! But, we were pretty impressed that we had the option if need be! Our site is set, and it's time to hike...

We head to the hills to do some exploring, walking and picture taking. I decide not to take my normal tennis shoes - rather my Pumas which are cute and match my outfit. That might have been the dumbest move in all my life. You tell me that if you're by waterfalls - and going down steep rocks... are shoes w/ no real grooves good for walking? NO! I nearly fell once, but thanks to Courtney's quick reflexes - she grabbed my camera bag and saved me. (Thanks, Snot!) We had a fabulous walk - it was just as beautiful as I remembered. The sun was shining through the trees - and it was a perfect day!

After a few hours of hiking, we decide it's time for going back to the camp ground and attempt to start a fire in our pit. Mary brought logs, Courtney brought news paper, I brought a box of 100 matches - we should be golden. We start a little fire (I mean - the flame was little), and it goes out. So - we try again - throw in some more paper, throw a match in... andddd it goes away yet again. Literally - we do this for roughly an hour and a half... match in... gone. Paper in, paper on fire, logs not staying lit... and gone! At this point, I'll admit it - I just wanted a hotdog and toasted marshmallows! Exhausted from running around the campsite looking for logs, we thought it would be wise to go down to the little store just down the road and buy some sort of lighter fluid. (We had been to the store right before we started working on the fire, and we even saw the lighter fluid - but we totally thought we would be able to do it on our own. Dumb!) Mary and I make the journey to the store, buy some lighter fluid (and ice cream cones!) and head back to the campsite. Ladies & Gentlemen: After nearly 2 hours of working on the fire - the lighter fluid was key! We had a fire, we had cooked hot dogs, and we had toasted marshmallows! Ironically, before we went camping - Courtney and I had talked about how we were worried we would look like fools trying to start a fire. We talked ourselves into, we are 3 smart people and it should be NO issue. (Again, dumb!)

There is our fire - finally! It's hard to tell - but I promise that it was lit and it was working!

End of the day - did I enjoy my "roughing it" in Hocking Hills? I LOVED IT! I never knew how nice it really could be to sit in the middle of the wilderness, no cell phone service and just relax. I didn't think of work, I didn't think of life's troubles and I didn't worry about what was to come in the upcoming week. Instead, I sat there all weekend and enjoyed myself and bonded with nature and had a great time and would absolutely do it again in the snap of two fingers. The next time we will be a little more prepared. We will have: Nature-Friendly shoes, lighter fluid, and a sleeping bag that I didn't have to borrow from my pal, Mindy. I am looking forward to my next "Wilderness Adventure" and cannot wait to sleep under the stars once again!