Sunday, January 4, 2009

Roughin' it

We've spent the last couple of days out in the wind, rain, fog and mist on Lake Murray. Not exceptional camping and cooking out weather, but a lot of fun all the same. It was sort of a last-minute thing, a family gathering to see his dad and (new) stepmom who were up from Florida for a few days. It was a nice way to spend my last few days of freedom (sniff) before heading back to the reality of broken alarm clocks, annoying traffic, crazy co-workers and work itself. Seriously, I need to buy a new alarm clock today. No. Heather's tip: use alarm on cell phone. A much better alternative than to deal with something so annoying as going to a store today.

I come from a camping family, so last night's cook-out was fun for me. A lot of other people who were there were NOT used to a camp site, including the very overweight uncle who sat in his chair the whole time directing everyone on what to do and getting pissed every time someone had the nerve to differ on his opinion on how the campfire was to be maintained, the cousin who showed up in flip flops despite the 40 degree weather (when I asked if her toes were cold she said "No ma'am." THE HELL!), and the aunt who brought un-camp-like food which was difficult to cook. But other than that things were enjoyable. I made the worst potato salad I've ever made. I think I got a little heavy handed on the vinegar, damn it. Which totally sucks, because one of his aunts who was there is KNOWN for her potato salad and I could tell she was just being polite about mine. It was nasty. On the plus side, I figured out how to make a smore without using marshmellows, because marshmellows can kiss my ass. (Lori, you may remember our unfortunate marshmellow/taffy incident of 1979.)

Anyway, I took some pictures.

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Here's some cousins and to the far right Brian's very in-shape stepmom. The woman is 54 and looks the same as she did twelve years ago, which is better than me. Always. You can see on the table the silver bowl of death, aka my tater salad, sitting there just waiting to suck.

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Wouldn't it be cool if that was snow? It wasn't. It WAS however, very WET and COLD all DAY and NIGHT. I was glad to have the foresight to wear hooded coat, thick hiking boots and socks and mittens. I always congratulate myself on appropriate dress.

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They had this cool wire thing that cooked burgers over the fire. Even though I don't know when I'd use one, I want one. Unfortunately in handing over the burgers to get ready to eat them, they were dropped onto the ground. Big Uncle John sighed dramatically, but the burgers were saved. I commended Brian's dad on not losing his shit. I'm pretty sure that was thanks to Canadian Club and Coke.

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This picture is color, which shows how gray of a day it was. Cool view from our campsite though.

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The same view, at dusk. I saw this and thought, "Wow, we spent the day at Camp Crystal Lake yesterday; I wonder if Jason Vorhees was there?"

It was a fun but long day. We were all happy to walk into the warm bright house last night. Some of us were more worn out than others.
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9 comments:

diana said...

ok, so now i'm going to leave you a comment through my stupid blogger account that messed up my entire life, because i need you to know that your comments made me laugh until tears came forth.

i so get you on that "excitement in inappropriate ways" thing. home improvements! yes!

my brother actually wrote a song for/about me and my home improvement obsession.
it's called "home improvements at 3 a.m.," and those are the lyrics, as well.
all of them.

what the hell am I talking about?!?!

xoxo

Anonymous said...

I just want to give the Yellow Man a nuzzle and a belly rub! What a cutie face.

I, too, would like one of those burger baskets! It would come in handy on when I grill. I must be an overzealous flipper. There is always at least one burger between the grill spaces casualty.

I'm glad you had a good time, sorry about the tater salad though! :/

Kim said...

Diana - I would pay good money to hear that song. And ME make YOU laugh? Consider that payback for months of entertaining me to no end!

Heather - the hamburger thingie was AWESOME! I was picturing doing grilled cheese in it too.

Anonymous said...

My wife is not a camper, but she says she is. I know differently. Camping for her is in a cabin with a kitchen and running water.

Camping for me is in a tent.

I will not EVER do my version fo camping with her....EVER!!!!!

Camping with non-campers can be a horrible experience!

Kim said...

And the fact that you, my friend, are smart enough to know the difference, will save you much heartache.

Anonymous said...

Camping is in a tent for me too. :) I can't wait to take the kids, but think I will wait until they are out of diapers! We used to wild camp on the beach every summer (too freaking cold any other time of the year) and it was amazing. I can't wait to do it again. Looks like you had a great time!

Kim said...

I guess I'm not hardcore. I did the tent thing a few times and didn't like it near as much as a camper! But it doesn't matter - I love camping no matter what.

eljay said...

Oh yes, the taffy incident. I had smores at my neighbors house the other day. They used Hershey Kisses, which seemed like a good idea, but they don't melt!

Kim said...

Hershey kisses don't melt? That's pretty disturbing.