A Trip Into the Wild

I returned just a couple of hours ago from my epic adventure. I went camping out by the river in the country near Aberdeen. Somehow I found a little area that was perfect for camping. Turns out, I was not the only one who knew. People visited once in a while but never stayed very long. Some just drove down and then back up once they saw me. I would tell you some stories but I need to tell you more about the trip first. Sets it up well.

Lets start where I started. I set up my tent almost immediately (not sure why because I got there near 12pm and I would not be sleeping soon). Unfortunately, a little later, while I was on a walk one of the tent poles snapped. It had been raining pretty hard and I was enjoying it but apparently the tent had not. I took down the tent and left it to dry (since the sun was out again full power). I decided to sleep in my car because there was little choice left. I could have slept out in the open but. . .well, I didn't. A while before I went to bed a vehicle drove in. It was a bunch of teenagers. They asked if I liked to party, offered me a beer, and told me that when they saw my shoes beside the car and the trunk open they thought I was having sex with a girl. . .odd. I explained to them that it was just me and I was reading. They asked if I was "getting away from it all" and I agreed.

Being beside the river, I figured it would be a waste not to jump in. It was pretty darn hot and I needed to cool off. I bathed in the river too. I left my shorts on though. The bathing part mostly came because I shampooed. No one came during those times. I was thinking of swimming across but the current seemed a tad stong.

I did a lot of reading while I was out there. Much of the time while I read I had my feet in the water. I love the feeling. Also the feeling of sand between my toes. When I was on a walk I found some sand bars and they were great.

I was getting a little annoyed with having to re-apply sunscreen after going in the water so I did not put any on after my last time in the water. It was only a little before I left so I figured it was not a big deal. I got sunburn on my back because of it (yes, I was shirtless). I also got sunburn on my feet. I cannot say I have experienced that before. I did not notice my feet were burnt until I had a shower (I do not know why I had a HOT shower).

I had found the website with a daily prayer schedule and I printed out the stuff for the time I was away. I enjoyed that very much. Though I did not like the fact that the wind was trying to take my papers away. Two pages got wet but the sun did well with drying them.

I made fires to cook my food and that went pretty well. I started the first witha lighter but the rest were just started with the remnants of the previous fire. I was surprised when it started smoking when I was putting stuff on it in the morning. I thought I would have to use the lighter again. There was plenty of wood around though. I spent some time gathering wood for the fire.

This is pretty long already so I think that is a pretty good explanation. Overall, most of my time was spent reading.