What a weekend
Posted by Rebecca Mon, 08 Dec 2008 15:47:00 GMT
So, I went camping this weekend with Marci. Yes, I had a paper to finish. Yes, it was gonna be cold. Yes, I am that crazy.
We went to Lost Maples State Natural Area, and despite the fact that a lot of trees had already dropped their leaves, it was beautiful. Many tress still had color ranging from yellow to deep red.
The sky Friday night was incredible. It’s been a couple of years since I’ve seen a sky that dark and clear. It was cold and dry so the atmosphere was still, allowing the stars and planets to shine with perfect clarity. It was heaven on earth for us astronomers. It would have been the same Saturday night if Marci and I could have stayed awake long enough for the moon to set, but by 9:30, we were ready to crash.
It was really cold though. And somehow neither of us managed to get Marci’s sleeping bag into the car, so she braved the 25 degree weather with a couple of blankets and every article of clothing she owned.
The first night was rough for both of us, but Marci had it worse for sure. Somehow, I started out warm, then my butt got cold and it just spread from there. I have no clue how in the world that happened. It was really odd.
The second night, however, I think we were exhausted enough that it didn’t matter. Marci spent the first half of the night sleeping by the fire, then came into the tent and slept some more.
We had a lot of yummy food in the course of the weekend - fajitas, s’mores, hotdogs, migas, oooey gooey banana-chocolatey-marshmallowy goodness, fried potatoes and onions, and a random assortment of snack food. Oh yeah, and Marci taught me how to make monkey bread which we cooked in my cast-iron dutch oven. Oh my goodness. It was incredible.
On Saturday Marci went for a hike while I worked on my paper. I was the only moron out there with a laptop. I sat by the fire and typed away. It was great. I focused really well and plowed through the rest of my paper, finishing it up in about three hours. I was done by about 2:30 and had the rest of the weekend to enjoy the outdoors.
Yesterday morning we packed up after breakfast and went for a 5 mile hike on the western trail. It was perfect hiking weather - about 60 degrees with full sun, so you never really got sweaty, but you also weren’t cold. The landscape was gorgeous. Near the bottom of the hill we scaled, I could have sworn I was in the eastern united states somewhere. Then we got up the hill, and the top looked like regular Texas scrubby landscape - and you could see all the surrounding hills and valleys which were rich(for Texas) with fall color. It was really lovely.
While I mostly went to keep Marci company, this trip was exactly what I didn’t realize I needed so badly. The outdoors always recharge me. Somehow nature washes my stress, worries, and fears away. I can tell that I’m doing better today, and I slept like a rock last night for the first time since I can remember. It was great.
My paper is turned in and the semester is over. I’m looking forward to six weeks of freedom and this trip was an excellent beginning to that.