itchy itchy itchy

So, get comfy, this might take a while.

We have been wanting to go camping for a while. We haven't been for a year and we like camping. We're not super extraordinare hike in, dig a hole to pee in, campers. We are all about drive in camping with a tent and nearby toilets that flush. We like to rough it, kind of. So we cleared a weekend and W got off work early and we drove out to Taylor's Falls. It's on the Minnesota-Wisconsin border and it's beautiful there. Rolling hills, trees everywhere, the St. Croix "Rootbeer" River and waterfall. We camp on the Wisconsin side because it's cheaper and that's where we used to go as kids with my grandparents. It's very nostalgic and I feel like a good Manwaring girl when I go there. We haven't been for three years though.

Fast forward to Friday. We knew it was hot. We knew that would make it tough. But it was 95 degrees!!!! That's hot for Minnesota!! A storm was supposed to roll in on Saturday so it was starting to get really humid too. Camping in that kind of heat is tough. I tried so hard to be optimistic but the truth is, in that kind of heat I kind of shut down. W was so sweet though. He recognized that I'd spent all morning preparing to go camping so he basically took over once we got to the campsite.
Meggie in nature
I love this picture with Dad!
Gee, what do you think she was eating???

It was beautiful and we had a beautiful camping area on the edge of a meadow. We love this campground!!!! However, so do the mosquitos! It's the state bird of Minnesota, right? They were EVERYwhere! I was putting on bug spray every fifteen minutes and still getting bites. Not W or M, just me! I hate bugs! I have a bug complex. If I see a bug bite me, I from then on feel like every brush against my skin is a bug biting me and I basically go nuts. It's a bit neurotic. Plus, it was stinkin' hot still! We drove around so we could sit in the air -conditioned car (once again, thanks to my patient hubby) and got back to the campsite. We blew bubbles, played with M, walked around and tried to sit in the shade. It got more and more pleasant as the evening came on and we even started a fire so we could cook dinner.


M went to bed in her play pen in the tent like a pro and we had yummy foil dinners. And then it got very dark and very windy. We started roasting marshmallows and making banana boats, my all-time favorite camping dessert! Halfway through my banana boat, however, the storm scheduled for Saturday, arrived! I ran for the tent while W insisted on finishing his s'more. Therefore, instead of reminiscing by the fire all evening, we went to bed soaked and still very hot around 9pm.

W and M slept fine but hot. I however was sleeping under the center of the tent where the tent got saturated and was dripped on ALL NIGHT LONG! Do you know how hard it is to sleep when you're being dripped on? Plus, it finally cooled down so I was also paranoid about M getting chilled and/or bitten to death as it had been so hot at her bedtime that she was only in a diaper and t-shirt. I was too chicken to wake her up and put her jammies on so I just stressed about it all night. Slept well? not so much! The next morning, it was hot by 6am, M's wake up time, and soooooo humid because of the rain. I insisted on another car ride hoping that the morning would clear up and we could salvage our day and do some hiking to the falls and enjoy the camp. Halfway down the road to nowhere, however, the car started making a horrible noise. Yes, that's right, a piece of the car was dragging on the road.

This is the point in our trip where I started crying and trying not to say bad words and asked if we could just go home! We got back to a gas station by driving 25 mph and duct-taped, yes, duct-taped the piece back to the car. Classy, eh? We went back to the campsite and I single-handedly cleaned up and packed up camp, I was so ready to leave. I slept in the car and tried not to scratch my many souvenirs the mosquitos gave me.

ps-the new Off! family "clean feel" spray? Doesn't work!!!!!!