Camping last weekend

I went camping this weekend for the first time without a man! Well there were guys there with me, but happily married ones who were there with their wives. I was a little worried at first, wondering if I could do it all by myself. I am having to re-program my brain that has always told me I'm not an independent person.
I actually thoroughly enjoyed the whole process. By process I mean shopping, packing, preparing food..setting of the smoke alarm in my apartment at 11pm while trying to toast almonds for cabbage salad. HeHeHeHe! I took as long as I needed to to shop. I made my own list with only the necessary items, NO EXTRAVAGANT got-to-have items. The only thing I needed help with was getting the packed cooler down the 17 stairs outside my apartment. And I didn't have a seperate drink cooler!! It's a miracle I tell you!!!! Granted I was only there for four days, but STILL!
Our group which consisted of my friends April and Noah, Erin and Jeremy (and Felix their child, I mean boxer)Eve, Annica and her daughter Faye, her friend Sheyanne and Bella and I, set off for Sullivan Lake which is only a few miles from the Canandian border. I had the pleasure of listening to kid songs the whole two hour drive up which made me feel like I was driving to church camp, but Bella was having a great time.
It was HOT when we got there! Setting up camp in that weather was pretty miserable. I will say though, not one bad word was muttered as I put up the tent. Amazing, I AM capable of putting up a tent, who would have thought?
We cooked dinner, my night for dinner. I admit, I put Jeremy in charge of the grill. I was busy making the salad! After that everyone went for a swim in the beautiful lake. Well except I decided it had cooled down too much to swim, and hey, I had all weekend right!
That night Bella was so exhausted she went to sleep no problem. The rest of us hung out around the fire and enjoying talking about Ranger Rick and his "Class A" motorhome. He had come to camp earlier to let us know we hadn't paid the extra parking fee within the 30 minute time limit. Oops... Oh he also mentioned it being bear country so we had to put all food in the cars at night. THANKS for mentioning that in front of my 3 year old!
So I awoke sometime around 3:30 to a bright flash. WHAT WAS THAT??? And then the boom. And I mean ground shaking boom... Ahhh nothing like a thunderstorm in a tent in the middle of the woods. As I was contemplating running to my car with Bella who was still sleeping soundly, I heard what sounded like clanking of trash..what I would imagine a bear going through trash would sound like. Ok, so now's about the time I would have loved a man or a gun. There would be no running to the car. THANKFULLY April was in the tent next to me and started talking. THANK YOU GOD! There was something about knowing that someone else was awake that made me feel better. You know, if the bear came, at least I could talk to her about it! The storm lasted at least three hours. The last thunder I heard was just seconds from the lightning. I prayed that it wouldn't hit any trees near me and never heard a sound after that.
Unfortunently, the storm brought in cooler weather. It was in the low 70's for the rest of the weekend. And of course I had "promised" I would swim with Bella..luckily she was just as cold as I was and got out quickly! The storm had churned up the water so much that it was pretty nasty.
The fireworks show in Metaline Falls was great. It was not crowded at all, it was a beautiful spot, and they had free ice cream. Bella couldn't be happier. There were enough mosquitos to carry her away, but neither her nor I had one bite. The show went on and on. There were long pauses so we would think they were done, and then it would start again. We finally left. You know about 15 minutes and you've seen it all.
I had enough fun that after I came into town to drop Bella off on Saturday with her dad, I drove back up there. It was so strange being in town after being in the woods for three days. I knew I wasn't ready for civilization yet!
It took me twice as long to pack everything up as it used to when all was done, but I did it. AND I carried the cooler upstairs by myself when I got home. I unpacked, and did laundry as soon as I got home. And shortly after I crashed into hours of hours of peaceful lack of bears and storms sleep. Can't wait for next time!