a-camping we did go.

First of all, I'd just like to say that Jeffrey and I made caramel apples on Friday night. My baking game is back on (even though caramel apples don't actually require any baking skill whatsoever, it still totally counts). Camping was a success! We left Saturday around 2:30 once we [thought] we were prepared, we loaded up Jeffrey's bus, and drove 20 minutes out to our campsite. Our site was pretty cute (and we saw two other buses while we were there!), we set up real quick, went to the library to try to find some book I need to read for class (the library ended up being closed), went back to our campsite so I could change my shirt (spilled root beer all over the other one. Real bright.) and decided to grab our bikes to go for a ride. Just as we were getting ready to leave, my parents walked up with Andy! They totally surprised us. Since they didn't have bikes we decided to go on a hike where we saw the most amazing dilapidated house (this sounds weird written down, but I promise it was awesome), walked through sand that looked like snow (which made me feel special), and made our way through a huge, tangly spider web (scary).

Jeffrey and I had originally intended to make hobo meals (veggies wrapped in tin foil and placed over the fire), but our camping preparedness was unsatisfactory, so we ended up ordering a pizza, and eating it with my parents before they left. Hey, we'll be more prepared next time. (We also forgot water if that tells you anything about how "prepared" we were. We did remember root beer, though. Clearly we have our priorities in order.) We also carved this super awesome jack-o-lantern. He's scary, right? I know. I think it was one of the first scary jack-o-lanterns I've ever made. We usually make nice, happy ones. He's awesome, though. (We also didn't have any tealight candles so we used birthday ones. Resourceful thinking, I tell ya.)

We did make s'mores, but we each only had one because there is nothing worse than having a super full stomach while lying on the cold ground. Then we sat by the campfire and talked about all sorts of different things. It was so nice to be together without any inclination to do schoolwork (because we couldn't since we were in the middle of nowhere!). We played Uno in our tent with a flashlight (we also forgot lanterns), and then called it a night. I couldn't sleep, of course, because earlier in the day I had caught a creepy glimpse of some murderer from the 50s (The picture was in one of Jeffrey's roommate's photography books.) and I couldn't get his image out of my head. Search Dick Hickock if you want to be creeped out for life. He's been dead for over 40 years, but of course that didn't matter in the dead of night. After finally falling asleep, I woke up at 1:30 with the urge to pee (It would happen that way. Once, I had to pee 4 times in the middle of the night when we were camping. True story.) and of course I couldn't go by myself because Dick Hickock was totally waiting by the girl's bathroom for me, right? So I woke Jeffrey up and we walked to the bathroom. It was freezing out and Jeffrey was totally incoherent, which would have been funny if it wasn't 1:30 am. After that I wrapped myself in my blanket, curled up in a little ball, and tried to think of things like cotton candy so that Dick Hickock wouldn't come crawling back into my brain. Apparently it worked because I woke up at 8:30 to the sound of singing birds, and our neighbors' crackling fires. Yay!

We ate cinnamon rolls for breakfast, which our neighbor totally scoffed at, but hey, we were wrapped in our cozy blankets while he tried cracking open eggs over his skillet while his fingers were freezing cold. So who's the smart one now, buddy? We packed up, went for a beautiful bike ride, and called it a day! I'm always amazed at how much camping restores my love for Florida. Sometimes I get caught up in thinking of all the different states I could eventually live in, but Florida's pretty awesome, and I'm glad I live here! I hope you had a fabulous Halloween! Jeffrey and I roasted pumpkin seeds and did schoolwork. We could have been more festive, but that's what we get for totally shirking all responsibility the day before. It was worth it. xo, R.