I'm Pretty Much Bear Grylls.

I have officially survived camping!

I had a pink folding char.

I had lots of s'mores and gooey campfire treats.

I became one with nature... if becoming one with nature means freezing your ass off, because i definitely did that!!!!

In hindsight, maybe i shouldn't have based my new sleeping bag purchase on which one was the cheapest and prettiest. i freaking froze my ass off. Sleeping on the cold, hard ground sucks. it sucks!

[Sidenote: Mom and Dad, I don't understand how you guys did it when we were kids! I mean, i am in my twenties and haven't had to birth children, and after one night i was done. d.o.n.e.! My back was killing me. My nose was stuffed. and I wanted my mommy (and an extremely hot cup of cocoa). Am i remembering it incorrectly? did you guys use an air mattress? and if not, how (or more importantly, why) did you guys take us camping for extended periods of time...willingly!??]

So after the initial hell that was freezing my ass off, and cursing mother nature, my friends, and anyone else i could think to blame for being outside at that moment, I made the prudent decision to buy an air mattress. Best.purchase.ever.

Seriously, i probably would have paid any amount they wanted. Fortunately, i didn't have to sell my soul for it. and for a very reasonable $27, my opinion of camping increased tenfold.

On Saturday we went to Devil's Lake. Now, i've been told it's probably the best state park in the state. But it's the only one i've been to, so I can't verify that. I can tell you, that it was gorgeous.

I, however, was not. Seems like if i'm going to decide to not shower for a weekend, I also need to decide to not pose for picture. yeesh.

but i will tell you that i was one of the fastest hikers of the group. haha! all those treadmill hours logged are paying off. (and now we need to have a moment of silence in memory of my gym membership. because like all good things, it came to an end. sniff. sniff)

There were lots of indulgent meals to eat. Gorgeous campfires to sit by. drinks to be consumed.* and sleeping bags to snuggle under.

Utimately, I really enjoyed the trip! and now that i've worked out all the kinks and my rookie-mistakes, i look forward to doing it again a couple more times before summer is over.

[And here's my other rant: the burden of an suv owner is, when it's time to travel somewhere, you're automatically drafted due to your cargo space. i understand that's my burden of having an awesome car, and i accept it. Miracle of miracles, we were able to fit 4 people and all our gear in. The complaint is that, when you're done dropping everyone off at the end of the weekend, there's no one left to help you unload your crap out of the car. (waaah. waaah. waaah.) but that's ok. I got it done, right before i collapsed into an unintentional nap (aren't those the best??)]

And when i came home today, i took the hottest shower i could tolerate and turned on every electronic device i own. Not because i needed to, just because i could!

*but not that many actually. my cooler's still about 1/2 full. which made it all the more fun to carry it back upstairs to my apartment :(