Last weekend we made our first trip with our new camper. I took a half-day on Friday and we were on the road shortly after two. Rather than being sensible and choosing a nearby campground for our first venture, we drove all the way to the Poconos to camp where my parents have parked their camper for the season.
It was roughly a three-hour drive. Given our rocky start with this camper, I was obviously prepared for the worst but, remarkably, it went rather smoothly. We arrived just after five and setting everything up took less time than I expected. Our site was a mere sixty feet away from my parents' at the very back of the campground. It was the perfect spot, both quiet and convenient. My sister arrived shortly after us with her kids and the new guy in her life. By seven, we were enjoying a great dinner and chatting around the campfire.
Fueled by the fresh, mountain air and open spaces, the kids were running around like maniacs. We took a walk around the campground to check it all out and, of course, we had to stop at the tiny playground at the bottom of the hill. One glance at Punky and it was clear we'd spend a great deal of time there over the next few days. She was in her glory; her love of playgrounds runs deep.
I was up at the crack of dawn on Saturday and it was just as I remembered it from my childhood. Cool, crisp, morning air. The smell of percolated coffee stirring my senses. The sounds of nature playing like soft background music in my ears. I dressed as quickly and quietly as I could, and then headed out for some quality 'me' time.
I was well aware of the menu planned for the weekend. I knew I was facing some serious calorie intake and my only shot at not gaining five pounds was to be as active as possible. There was no way in hell I was skipping out on any of that great camping food. Steaks done on the fire, baked potatoes, bacon and eggs, toasted marshmallows, wine coolers... I wanted to enjoy it all, and that meant working for it.
After some stretching outside of the camper, I started to walk the loop around the campground. I used my Fitbit to clock the distance Friday night. It was just under three quarters of a mile round trip. Knowing that intermittent cardio bursts would make all the difference, I alternated between walking and jogging. As I made my way around, the rhythmic sound of my feet on the stones below made me feel so relaxed yet energized at the same time. I wished life could afford me this luxury every morning. When I reached the top of the loop, I stopped at my parents' site and my mom and sister joined me for a few more trips. It was a great way to start the morning, especially since I ate non-stop the rest of the day.
The campground hosted a pinewood derby race on Saturday evening, so the kids (and guys) spent a lot of the afternoon turning their hunks of wood into cars, complete with messy, custom paint jobs. They each got to race twice, but none of them ended up the big winner. Punky's dad relied on the knowledge he gained from the boy scout pinewood derby races with his son, but we didn't know there were absolutely no rules in place for the campground race. And it was open to anyone, not just children. People had all kinds of objects glued to the top of their cars to make them heavier and faster, like beer bottles, hammers, and cans of soda. The kids' cars didn't stand much of a chance, but they seemed to have fun anyway.
For reasons I'll get into in another post, my parents headed home Saturday afternoon and my sister left on Sunday. We stayed another night, just the three of us, and finally left the campground around noon on Monday. After a quick trip to a local Wal-Mart on Sunday so I could attempt to find a bathing suit that fit, we had the opportunity to check out the campground pool. It was the highlight of the weekend for Punky and we had the whole pool to ourselves, which was especially nice given the fact that the only suit I could find at the store ended up being way too big and I had a few incidents of indecent exposure while swimming.
All in all, it was a very nice escape from reality for a few days. Punky's dad and I had a bit of a fight early on Sunday which dampened the mood a bit, and we found a tick on Punky on Saturday night which freaked me out and turned me into a lunatic with my can of bug repellent, and Punky had so many falls on the stones that her tiny body was virtually covered in black and blue marks including one the size of a quarter on her right butt cheek, and I suffered the pains of constipation as my body struggled to process the mounds of fat it's no longer accustomed to digesting, but even with all of that crap it was awesome to be in the woods and away from the daily bump and grind. I'm looking forward to trip number two, whenever that may be.
And my active approach seemed to work. I only gained half a pound.
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