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jessbocker
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Name: Jess
State: South Carolina
Birthday: 9/28/1982
Gender: Female
Interests: My husband. Poetry, graphic design and dance -- after about ten years of ballet I was hooked. Of course, I do have a new ambition almost every day...
Expertise: Professional copywriter. Marcom specialist. Previous cake and pastry artist. Restaurant server, cake cutter and some-time bartender.
Occupation: Marketing
Message: message me
Member Since:
2/15/2006
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| I never quite got to the actual story of our camping trip. We experienced a nice snowy mixture of ice, sleet, snow and rain. In between, however, were beautiful starry nights. I think most things in life are somewhat like that -- a mixture of the good things between hard things.
Hard thing: At about 11:30 on Friday night, we reached the Blue Ridge Parkway, only to find the road closed. Luckily a member of our camping group knew several alternative routes we could take, and we were quickly on our way.
Good thing: When we reached the trail the stars were so bright and vivid. The air was cool and crisp. I was immediately motivated and encouraged after a really hard week at work. It was a much-needed break.
Hard thing: We woke up on Saturday and it was raining. I was hungry, and the stoves were giving us major problems. All the wood in sight was soaked, so fire wasn't going to be easy either. Worst of all, I really had to pee but was not feeling very inspired by the cold, wet conditions.
Good thing: The map listed a "shelter" about five miles away. So we all made the decision to pack up and move camp that way for the rest of the day.
Hard thing: When we arrived at the shelter a troop of 14-year old boy scouts had already claimed the sight. I had to pee (again) but was too nervous that one of the little perverts would try to follow me or something. It was sleeting pretty hard, and I was definitely feeling the cold by that point.
Good thing: We decided to leave our boy-scout friends behind and press on. It's amazing how quickly your body warms up when you just start walking. And, after a short while, the ice/rain stopped and the temperature became surprisingly mild.
Hard thing: We took a wrong turn and our trail disappeared. We backtracked about 100 yards and got on the right trail only to find it dead end as well.
Good thing: As soon as we found the right trail, it wasn't long before we found the most amazing camp site. An enormous rock jutted out from a hill, leaving space for six people to sit around a large bon fire. We made soup for dinner, coffee and hot chocolate. The stars came out against a brilliant black sky. It was wonderful.
We pitched our tents beside a small brooke, which made it easy to get water for drinking, cooking and even cleaning our dishes. Although it was cold, I slept well. We awoke on Sunday morning, made breakfast and got ready to leave.
Sunday was a beautiful day. Every tree branch appeared frozen or dusted with snow. When the sun came out, everything glowed.
The hike out was like this most of the way. As we came down the mountain the foliage became thicker and greener. Then, there was the road, the parking lot, the cars.
I think the best part about the trip was the company. Each of the three couples on the trip had differnt personalities and strengths in their relationship. At every point throughout the weekend, at least someone was in a good mood, even on top of the mountain with all those crazy boy scouts. It was redeeming to spend time with other people and just get away from all the normal, routine things you do in a week.
I do hope that our next trip will present a little bit nicer weather overall. If not, I don't think it gets too much worse than what we've already seen. And that's a good thing.
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| Don't worry guys, I haven't been camping this whole time. We returned from our icy adventure on Sunday evening. My husband and I have finally gotten the major items (tent, sleeping bags, backpacks) all aired out and cleaned. All of us had an, overall, very enjoyable time on the trip. We did decide, however, that the next time we agree to go camping in the middle of the winter we'll know what we're really getting into.
Due to the very bad weather report, we actually canceled our trip on Thursday evening. Yet, you may remember the unbelieveably wonderful weather we experienced all day Friday. My husband and I were driving home from work on Friday, both pretty bummed that the trip wasn't going to happen. As soon as we walked in the door, Matt got on the computer and began to challenge the weather report. The chance of rain had gone down from 80% to 60% -- that was simply enough for us. We started to get our things together.
Of course, it wasn't just the two of us who would be going on the trip. Two other couples from our church were joining us. We all met at Wal-Mart, did some last-minute grocery shopping, loaded up and took off. We drove a good ways with the sunroof open and the stars shining brightly -- a perfect evening.
Stay tuned...
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| It's a beautiful Thursday evening in February and over 60 degrees outside. Unfortunately, it's not going to be 60 degrees this weekend. Check out the forecast. In fact, I think this will be the fourth week in a row that has hosted warm, sunny days Monday thru Friday (while I'm stuck in the office) and cold, rainy weekends. BOOO!!!!
And... I'm going camping this weekend! Yup, while the rest of the world is cozied up on the sofa watching the Olympics with hot cocoa or Doritos, I'll be having extra marshmallows in my hopefully hot, hot, hot cocoa and trying my best to stay warm. This plan has been in the works for over a month, and none of the three couples seems prepared to back out at this point, myself included.
My dad used to take my sister and me hiking and camping a lot when we were growing up. My last trip, however, was back in high school when a couple of my girlfriends and I took a boat out to a little lake island. We actually slept in the boat that night (a little unorthodox to true campers, I know). In the middle of the night, it started to pour! We ignored it for a while, but eventually the rain that had collected in areas on the boat cover started to leak. Then they quickly caved in, dumping a bunch of water across the floor of the little ski boat.
I have a terrible feeling that this weekend might put me in a similar situation.
So, think of me when you look out the window and see rain. If you're closer to the mountains, you may even see snow. I'll keep you posted. | | |
| XangaGreetings Xangaland,
I hope you enjoy my Xangablog! | | |
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