March 16, 2007

Oh, a'camping we will go...

Well, time for another one. Camping out with the Scouts again this weekend, and I was under the impression that I might be able to miss this one. I was quickly disabused of this notion by Boy, who noted that he'd already told his Scoutmaster I was going.

I guess I'm going, then.

This time it's over to Camp Sequoyah, which from the write-up on the website sounds more like a resort than a campground.

As usual, I have little information about what he's supposed to bring or do or anything, and it does no good to ask since he usually just shrugs his shoulders or says "someone" is "supposed to call him" with more "information."

Which obviously never happens.

Anyway, best I can tell they're supposed to be clearing underbrush and/or overgrowth from trails. I hope to sit in a chair and read. I'm also hoping it gets a shade warmer than it is now, too. The early part of this week was absolutely wonderful, but with the cold-front-induced rain we had yesterday, things have turned off chilly again, and as you all know, I don't like being cold. Or being in the wind. Or being eaten by wildlife.

Additions to the camping kit have been sparse since last trip. I went ahead and got Jonathan his own tent. They can't sleep in the same tent with an adult, even if it's their own parent (thanks, pedophiles!) and he didn't like having to share a tent with one of the other campers the last time, so we got him one of these. Reasonably priced and about the right size, although something of a Rubik's Cube to put together. Also got him a new sleeping bag, since the one he has looks more like a little girl sleepover-type bag than a real manly man wilderness bag. I wish now I'd gotten one like it because it comes with its own compression sack and it's rated down to 0 degrees Fahrenheit. Which means it would be warm, which is what I want to be. Which is why I got myself one of these, in the 2 1/2 inch thickness. I've been carrying a big inflatable queen size air mattress, but it's something of a pain in the butt and is a little too big and wallowy. The one good thing is that it gets you up off the floor so you're not as cold. Which is what I want to be--not as cold.

Anyway, once I get home tonight it's time to pack up the gear and make ready for a couple of days of lounging about in the woods and not doing laundry.

OH--one good thing about the cold weather? Not nearly so many chiggers.

Posted by Terry Oglesby at March 16, 2007 04:00 PM
Comments

Not chiggers!

I lived with lines of those buggers around my parts when I was growing up. Just miserable.

Posted by: Janis Gore at March 16, 2007 04:31 PM

I know I would hate to have lines of chiggers anywhere NEAR my parts.

Posted by: Terry Oglesby at March 16, 2007 04:51 PM

They would gather around the elastic holding my undies together.

Posted by: Janis Gore at March 16, 2007 05:16 PM

When I read things like this, I'm glad I didn't grow up in the South. Of course, we had scorpions and black widows in Arizona.

Posted by: Jordana at March 16, 2007 06:28 PM

We had scorpions in Texas, too. I was just a little girl when I flushed one out of the siding on our front porch with a water hose.

He was some mad, and attached himself to my little toe.

Posted by: Janis Gore at March 16, 2007 07:26 PM

It looks like you'll both be comfy. I must admit now that my knees are so shot sleeping low to the ground is out. I got a cot/pad from Cabelas both long enough and wide enough for comfort and it doesn't kill me to stand up in the morning. I'm still going to keep the winter emergency gear in the car till April, we never know just when the last snow will hit till at least July. Fun, eh?

Posted by: Chef Tony at March 16, 2007 09:02 PM

I don't like the sound of chiggers. I prefer my critters to be visible; mosquitoes, redback spiders, brown snakes, kangaroos, etc.

Posted by: kitchen hand at March 18, 2007 07:26 PM

The wildlife around here is a little different - Nekkid Cowboys, sidewalk evangelists, squeegee guys. They don't bite as much, near as I can tell.

Posted by: skinnydan at March 18, 2007 08:42 PM

Jordana, we have black widows and scorpions here, too. I think the scorpions rode on the backs of armadillos to get here. But the spiders have been here forever, along with brown recluse spiders.

Tony, Jonathan was comfortable, but I wasn't, since I was not used to the immobility of a mummy-style sleeping bag. Back to the ol' reliable next trip.

Kitchen Hand, thank goodness chiggers don't make any noise or it would be even worse. They're tiny little redbugs that infest the woods. They make you itch, although not nearly so as when you get a kangaroo stuck on you.

Or a Naked Cowboy.

Posted by: Terry Oglesby at March 19, 2007 07:55 AM