Camping Trip #2: Hot as Hades
Do you ever have something that you REALLY love that you feel like you need to savor? Like when you have really cool stickers and don’t want to put them on something, or a favorite perfume you want to ration? That’s how I feel about the things I create. This blog for example, I just want to share EVERYTHING, but I’m worried I’ll over do it. Like I’ll embarrass myself or burn myself out, or even that the world will get tired of my crazy life and adventures.
I had to combat that feeling this week. The idea of what other people think is ‘right’ or what is more accepted and normal. From my lifestyle, to various beliefs and hatred I hear online, I had to ask myself… why the hell do you care? No one can live your life but you and I remind myself of this at least 2x a week. Do what makes you happy, what brings a SPARK. Get curious. And for me? Create.
So I wrote poems, and doodled, and planned my next haircut. I read manga and watched studio ghibli and did all the things that make me feel like ME. And you know what? I never regret doing that and encourage you to do the same.
Which has inspired me to get back to our regularly scheduled programming, and post my newest blog post. Let’s talk about my second trip in Gertrude. *Cue * cool music (I’m not the only one that has made a playlist/soundtrack for their life right?)
This past weekend I met one of my zoo friends, Carla, out at Melvern Lake for camping. (When I say zoo friend - we have a group of gals that travel to the zoo every year. We call it the Zoo Girls and our Zoo Trip. We usually go to the Omaha Zoo which is SO fun and usually involves dancing, wine, and taking silly pictures. Elizabeth, Hannah, Carla and I all have a blastttt when we go. Carla, Hannah, and I all worked at Starbucks together ages ago (that was my first job ever) and that is how we met!)
So Carla - She braved the mid July heat and was staying for two weeks. I just went out for the weekend because I had a busy week ahead of friends birthdays and my new remote job. I went out Friday to get set up and I brought moose with me this time. Carla came out Saturday with her friends and family. Here’s what I learned:
What I listened to:
(Things that passed the time)
This trip I listened to more music than my spooky podcast, The Magnus Archives, I talked about last blog post. I talk a little bit below about bringing my record player on this trip. It was something I wanted to test out.
I also listened to this book The Familiar by Leigh Bardugo. I've been enjoying having audiobooks for my drives. I've been in a big mythology phase. Specifically Asian mythology. (Think greek mythology gods and goddesses, but of various regions in Asia). But I took a break and I'm listening to this. She is also the author of Shadow and Bone, and Six of Crows, which was super popular the past couple years.
This book is about: In a shabby house, on a shabby street, in the new capital of Madrid, Luzia Cotado uses scraps of magic to get through her days of endless toil as a scullion. But when her scheming mistress discovers the lump of a servant cowering in the kitchen is actually hiding a talent for little miracles, she demands Luzia use those gifts to improve the family's social position. (read more on Goodreads or amazon)
What I read:
Potions and Perils ✨ I got this downloaded on my Kindle paperwhite just in time to hit the road. I was actually so excited to get this because I had met some of the authors from this small publishing group at Pride where I had my last craft fair. 🏳️🌈 I had a booth set up there but naturally I had to do some shopping. One of my students took me over to the booth because there were books (they know me so well.) The author saw me looking at Potions and Perils and asked if I had read the book Legends and Lattes, a cozy fantasy story that I absolutely love. This is definitely my favorite genre to become popular over the past few years, it's laid-back simple beach reads, but it takes place in a fantasy land with fantasy type characters. Easy read, good storyline but not crazy intense. Anyway, I signed up for one of their newsletters because I am also in the process of writing my own story and wanted to be part of the community. They sent something out recently that you could get an early copy of this book in exchange for a review and giving feedback. Obviously I'm not going to turn that opportunity down! So I applied to get an early copy and that's what I took on this trip. So far it has witches, magic, magical creatures, a brewing enemies to lovers romance… what's not to love? Check it out here.
You’re joking right:
(Things that went awry). The first one that comes to mind here was the impromptu game of whack-a-mole that I played inside my camper. So I get to the campsite, I back in which was kind of nerve-racking because the whole campsite was pretty full and people were out and about. It's only the second time I've backed it up into a site, but the first time I've done it by myself. Not to mention Moose’s anxiety sensing MY anxiety…it was all a bad combination. So by the time I got it backed in I was ready to get Gertrude set up and relax. After getting the leg down and the jacks on my camper set, it was about 10pm.
By this point I had just turned on the outside light, which I was excited to use because I haven’t really needed it much. I also turned the inside light on so it would be ready when I came inside. The outside light had attracted like approximately 1 million little gnat type bugs, which I didn’t pay much mind as I set up my canopy outside.
However, I opened my camper door to let moose and myself in, inadvertently letting in all the little bugs that went from the outside light directly to the inside light. I closed the door so no more of them could get in. Now I'm not really afraid of bugs, but there were probably 50 of them bouncing around on my ceiling and there was no way I was going to sleep with that. So as they start to settle and sit on my ceiling around the light I did what normal person would do and started whacking the ceiling to kill them. I murdered at least 30 of them before my arms got tired. I honestly didn't think it would be that effective, but I just waited for them to settle on the lights and I patted around hoping I would get them with my paper towel. It worked pretty good. It was surprisingly effective for a silly mishap.
Small wins:
(I don’t want to jinx anything BUT we have to celebrate the little things I learn along the way. And maybe you’ll learn something too!)
My back survived! The number one small win of this trip was that my back didn't feel like it was going to break when I woke up in the morning. Now if you know me, you might know that I've had pretty bad back pain for the last couple years. It's pretty chronic at this point (something I’m trying to get figured out) and can hinder how I walk on bad days. It all started with a weightlifting injury, and has been bad ever since. The first trip I woke up and my back was so achy. Now I plan to put a mattress topper in there. Since I'm moving anyway I'm just going to take the one off my queen bed and cut it to fit the size of my camper. But I still have a couple months until I need to do that so I decided to pile my bed with blankets and a sleeping bag. Thankfully that worked and I woke up in about the same condition I did as I went to sleep. Woohoo!
I did not get burnt. I don't feel like this is typically a problem, but I cannot stress you how FREAKING HOT it was this weekend. It was humid and hot. Plus something I didn't realize until after I got my tattoos which I have on most of my upper left arm, and most of the forearm on my right arm, is that the ink gets really hot in the sun. All of my tattoos are in black and I started noticing that when I would drive in my car when I wore sleeveless shirts. Skin would warm up faster which was pretty interesting. Not that I'm too sad, it just makes sure that I put on sunscreen and take better care of my skin.
Hitch- HOOKED: I had no issues hooking up the hitch to my car. It went smoothly!
Record player: I took my record player and some favorite vinyl and played them in my camper. I wanted to see how the layout would work and if I could transport them safely. And I did! Is this crucial to successful camping trips? No. But is this something I like to spend my time and makes me happy? Yes. Therefore it was an important trial run I wanted to take place on this trip. I listened to everything from Japanese Breakfast to Jack Johnson to Lofi to The Lumineers and more.
I deserve to be embarrassed by this:
Things that feel obvious after the fact, that required me to smack my forehead and say ‘oh, duh.’
OK hear me out. These early trips are about trial runs. Trying new things, seeing what works, how to organize stuff. But things are hard when you're really really tired. Moose and I went to bed pretty late because I was reading the awesome book Potions and Perils. I hoped this would make him tired and we would sleep in. However, the wind decided to have a moment and blow around the canopy I had set up the night before. Now this canopy tent is a 10 x 10 tailgating type of tent. I use it for my craft fairs and figured I already own this so I'll just use it for camping. I was very proud that I had set it up the night before so I could enjoy it in the hot morning the next day.
The wind had other plans.
I put it really close to my camper in case it rained which did provide a little bit of coverage, but also meant the wind was banging the metal arms against Gertrude at a very early time in the morning. Which naturally woke up Moose, which then means I also have to be awake. So I go out just to double check that it's not going to blow away. I staked it into the ground with a hammer the night before, and it seemed pretty sturdy, and someone else had one up like that so I thought surely it would be fine.
So I went back to sleep.
It continues to bang against the camper, but I left it because now mother nature had decided to thunderstorm. Moose is very afraid of thunderstorms. Luckily this was only about half an hour, we make it through, and then I go back outside and tie a towel around the area that's banging into the camper. It provided a cushion that worked. Note: I didn't move the canopy because it was staked into the ground. We go back to sleep once again, but to no avail.
It is now 7:30 AM at this point, which is early for me. I am not a morning person at all.
Moose is stressed so I decide we're going to go on a walk and have his breakfast and then I could just read and lay in bed. The canopy had stayed for a few hours at this point so I figured we were good to go.
We walk around the campsite down near the lake and I look over to see part of my canopy starting to fly in the wind. Moose and I ran back. I hang onto the side that has come unstaked, but the wind is so strong at this point it's nearly taking all of my body weight to hold it. Now people were probably getting a free show at this point, but I sort of monkey bar my way back-and-forth on the structured part of the canopy, trying to lower each of the legs. Mind you, there are three settings so I went to each of the legs three times and lowered them, and then slowly walked it towards the center until it collapsed. Only one arm sort of bent, which I'm hoping can be fixed pretty easily. By this point, I'm sweating to death and I decide it's time for a nap. Which if you know me, I don't take naps. Luckily moose was okay with us and we rested.
WEW. We did it.
Side quests:
Breaks I took, things I saw, people I met up with, little adventures! Because that’s what Gertrude is all about right?
Carla was my sidequest! I didn't even fully unhook my car because I didn't plan to go anywhere except the campsite. And why would I when camper extraordinaire Carla was joining on Saturday! After she came in the evening and they all got set up we enjoyed tacos and got to go kayaking and saw the sunset, which was BEAUTIFUL. Sometimes I roll my eyes when people say they are sunrise or sunset people. But when I looked at it going down over the water and I just got to sit in a kayak as it happened? I kind of understood. I'm hoping to have more moments like that on my trips where I'm truly thankful for a beautiful earth. it's really easy to forget those moments when people, society, news, events, try and steal the spotlight. Now those things are important, but sitting with a friend and watching the colors of the sky change as it dipped behind a row of trees? There's something healing about that.
Also, I have to make note of Carla's impressive coffee bar the following morning. She had a whole set up with cream, coffee, cups with sleeves. The whole shebang.
Other notes:
Random thoughts, poems, pictures of Moose or Poe, anything miscellaneous.
I can see it! Even though this was only the second trip, I was able to envision what this will be like for me when I do it for long periods this fall and next year. I drove at a time of night where there weren't a lot of people, so the drive wasn't as stressful. I listened to an audiobook, saw some lightning bugs, and even got into a routine of filling up my water and dealing with food in a cooler. (I haven’t decided yet how often I’ll rely on the mini fridge since I might not always have electrical hookups).
BLEH HEAT: I am very excited to travel when it's not 1,000,000,000° and humid
Poetry: I posted some poetry to Tumblr and Pinterest. Have you ever tried writing a poem? I found that when I'm feeling a particularly strong emotion or I'm really thinking through something that it's kind of helpful to write it as a piece of poetry. In the sense that I can get creative with the words and think of it from a different perspective. If you haven't tried it, I would highly suggest it, I posted some on the blog as well.
Moooooose: Moose a ball of anxiety, but enjoyed spending time with me. I felt bad because it was pretty hot for the poor little dude. But I enjoyed moose cuddles while I read my book in Gertrude.
That about wraps up the good, the bad, and the mildly embarrassing for this trip. I have some camper fixes coming up I’ll share about, as well as a fun saga about my car. The clock is ticking, I leave in 1 month and head to Colorado.
Byeeeeeeee!
Shelby
