The Theory of Camping (Part 1)
Well I hope everybody had a good Fourth of July -- or at least a good “after-Fourth-of-July-weekend” since the whole world lately is one big inconvenience and SOMEone thought it would be a splendid idea to design a calendar by which holidays would be observed on particularly useless-for-celebration workdays.
I had a rough couple of days, or, to put it another way, a couple of days in the rough.
Let me start by sharing my views that camping is typically only a good idea “in theory.” Or maybe that’s just a general guideline for multiple components of my life right now. Either way I am a person of order, preparation, and scheduling and I don’t cope well when things deviate from my plan. I’ve gotten much better about this, but the relative fun factor of camping in the great outdoors is sketchy to begin with, so unless there’s a good plan, I’m a bit hesitant. When I was younger and lived by the coast, we always used to bring dirt bikes and quads to huge events in the Oregon dunes such as “Sandfest.” “Hiking” and “fishing” are not concepts that entertain me, so events like these always ensured I had something to do and it was always exciting to meet the masses of people that flocked to the sand during these weekends.
That said, Vegas only provides a limited amount of options if you plan to camp somewhere in the general vicinity. For the “after-Fourth-of-July-weekend” my boyfriend’s family decided on staying at an actual “campground” which somewhat negates the purpose of camping in the first place, but whatever. It wasn’t until a couple days before we were set to leave and the entire female percentage of the camping trip dropped out that I started to become unnerved by the deviation. After careful consideration, Chad and I decided we were still in and early Friday afternoon we got ready to head out. After three unexpected hours still at the house I headed to the garage to see why we hadn’t left yet.
“My tent is broke!” exclaims Chad.
“What?”
“My tent is broke! I have to re-string the thread through the poles that hold the tent up.”
“If we don’t leave within the next hour I’m not going.”
“OK, I’m almost done.”
- ONE HOUR LATER -
“I thought you were almost done.”
“I am, but this little piece is broken too. I’ll just have to stop at the store to get some duct tape.”
“So … we still have to go to the library … (don’t forget I approximate $100/month in late book overages) …we have to stop by your sister’s, get gas, AND go to the store?”
We’re only about four hours behind schedule at this point and I my blood pressure is heading north. I think it’s because I’ve been packed for the last four hours and have nothing left to do but sit here.
Precocious entrepreneur, workaholic and a rabid perfectionist Crystal Starlight knows a thing or two about getting ahead at a young age. Email her at [email protected]