Yesterday evening I got a bug up my butt to go camping. Sometimes it just hits me like that and on the spur of the moment I bolt into action. I was sitting here in front of the computer bored, hot, and listless and decided to get out for the evening. I have completely run out of interesting things on the web to read and do.
I packed up my car and headed out to the country near Waverly. It was a long but comforting drive. I had all my windows rolled down and the smell and feel of the country air was invigorating. The winding country roads were also a joy to drive.
I finally hit the dirt back roads and made my way to my favorite camping spot. I arrived at the millpond only a few miles from camp to find the bridge almost flooded. What was normally a small creek was a raging river. Water was roaring over the stone dam and the water was almost up to the level of the roadway on the bridge. This bridge has been condemned several times over the years due to flooding. I debated over trying to cross. It would be a ten mile detour around the other way. I finally got up the courage to try my luck and slowly crept over the bridge. I made it over without any incident but it was scary to say the least. I had visions of me and my prized vehicle being washed off the bridge into the raging waters below me.
I continued to drive on up to the land my family owns. I pulled up into the meadow and started to unpack my gear. I noticed that someone had started building a deer tree stand for hunting in one of the big pines near where I camp. No one in my family hunts so I knew it was an interloper. I pulled a hammer out of the toolbox in the back of my car and pulled it apart and off the tree. I will have to keep an eye out for their return. It kind of disturbed me that a stranger was coming up here to such a deserted spot in the middle of nowhere. This is my secret place and I felt it had been violated.
I then pitched my tent and rolled out my sleeping bag. Once I was satisfied that everything was set up for the evening, I proceeded to get my fire going. I had brought several nice large logs of oak from home that I had split with my axe. This is perfect wood for a long lasting and burning fire. I have pretty much exhausted my supply of fallen dead wood around the area. Within minutes I had a nice fire going and was pleased with my ever increasing skill when doing this endeavor. I have got fire building down to a fine art.
For supper, I ate two tins of sardines on saltine crackers with a liberal dash of hot sauce. I didn’t feel like preparing any elaborate meals last night and that simple supper sufficed. For desert I ate some cinnamon apple crisp bars and drank a pint of milk I had in the cooler. I cleaned up after my meal and got settled down for the night.
Even thought the sun had set and it had grown dark, it was still incredibly hot. I looked at my thermometer and it read 81 degrees. Not the best of sleeping weather as your sleeping bag quickly turns into a sweaty mess. I decided to lie on top of my bag and hopefully would finally drift off to sleep. As I lay there, I could the mournful and lonesome call of a far off whip-o-will. It brought back flash backs of my homeless days. I finally fell to sleep lamenting all the wrong turns I had taken in life.
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