Daniel and I took the free weekend as an opportunity to be "at one" (in a very non Thoreau way) with nature and go camping for the first time by ourselves. It was one of those all-grown-up moments as we planned meals, picked a place, and got all of our camping gear together. I couldn't help but think of the countless times that my mom planned camping trips for our family and I would try any excuse to bow out of the event kindly. What changed? Nature certainly hasn't, but maybe my yearning to be away from life has. I've learned to value and want the quiet moments in life, and camping give me a few days of just that. We hiked, biked, talked, ate until we popped, and enjoyed silence.
Nature has the strangest way to drawing you close to God. I don't know if it is the simplicity or the complexity of nature that connects you, but I'm always able to talk, listen, and enjoy God more while surrounded by nature. I suppose that Jesus went into the garden to pray, so maybe something is to be said for that. I'm thankful for the opportunity to meet God this weekend in His creation. I'm especially thankful that he didn't put all the beauty of creation in Colorado, I was worried for a little while that God was unfair to the rest of the world and spent more time in the Rocky Mountains. Good job on Ohio God, I'm impressed.
Now lets talk nitty-gritty. Some might ask, " how does one go camping with a gluten intolerance?" My answer, "simple, just think practical!" Here is what Daniel and I decided to cook up over the fire, and it is sure to leave no trace of gluten (and it won't even taste gluten free!!)
Camper Pies
- You can find these little handy camping tools in the camping section, but basically you can grill a sandwich in the flames of your campfire! Sweet, I know. So Daniel doesn't like good sandwiches, so he had PB&J. I (with more evolved taste buds) had a Reuben. It was fantastic. And that night for dessert, we put blueberry pie filling in between our slices of bread, with one marshmallow, and had ourselves one heck of a blueberry camper pie. You're jealous, I know.
Cheesy Campfire Potatoes
Pre-baked potatoes sliced into bite sized pieces. Put them in a foil pan, chop up some butter, simmer over the fire on a grate. Once they are nice and toasty, add some spices of your choice, some Velveeta (oooohhhhh yeeeah), a smidgen of sour cream, and TA-DA... the way to a man's heart is through his stomach. True statement.
Here is the list of Animals we saw on our trip:
Cardinal
Blue Jay
Freaking huge Daddy Long Leg(s) - They were seriously freaking huge
6 raccoons feasting on our neighbors food
Skunk (also feasting)
House cat (who now apparently lives in the wooded areas of the campground)
Tick (attached to Daniel's leg)
Field Mouse (who burried his head in some leaves after he knew I spotted him. Apparently he didn't realize that I just laughed at his hairy booty and tail sticking up at me)
Yellow Beetle
Water Bugs that did not like to swim alone
Various bugs in our tent which I leaped after to kill
I'll upload pictures later of our journey, our internet is way slow right now. So... although no transcending occurred, and I didn't pop into an all-seeing eyeball, camping with my husband was incredible. We are totally excited for all the camping adventures to come.
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