camping

paul and i chose a weekend, told the rest of the family to come, and the planning started. it is so nice to get away. as we drove up strawberry looking for sites, we came across one that was perfect...yes, it was taken. we turned around and kept driving. finally in desperation we found an empty lot, by the road. it had rained buckets and the ground was mushy and muddy. mom had to give piggy backs to kelsie and abby so their feet didn't get the trailer messy...one word...hilarious... paul and i set up our tent, dad and mom went down to get ransom and emily. we finished setting up camp, moved our fire pit to a less muddy hole, set up the canopy and i got a wicked bug bite. i couldn't believe something that small, made that much pain. i am not sure what it was... it was latched on and painful. at first it looked like a mosquito bite, but as the hours went on, my arm swelled, and itched. it was annoying. i don't know why i am the one who gets the freaky bites...
after we set up camp, there were a few things that paul wanted to do. he told abby, kelsie and i we could do "girl things". i wasn't sure what that would be, but abby didn't miss a beat. her response..."we can like totally gossip now". we started laughing.
the next morning, my arm was getting worse, so dad took me to the little store at daniels summit (i forgot our benedryl spray). we needed more milk anyway because i had honeycomb for dinner while everyone else had chili, and i obviously have no control with milk and cereal (i think i had a better dinner). it was one of the most pathetic stores i have ever been in. no benedryl, but if i had a headache, i had an endless supply of options. i asked the girl working there (who was reading a book, and i obviously interrupted her book time) if all their supplies were out. she answered me in the same moment she turned her head to the book "yes". i so wanted to rub my arm in her face and say..."now do you care", i didn't do that. instead, went back to the burb, put neosporin on it. dad did a really thick layer and would ask every few minutes..."is it doing anything?" finally i looked at him and said "it still itches like crazy, but i don't want to get my fingers all ointmenty...i guess it's making me not itch it...that's a good thing?"
it was nice to be away and enjoy the woods. i took a moment and smelled my very favorite smell...pine. we love camping and can't wait to go again.
-ash