There's No Place Like My Own Bed

I'm back from camping. It was a great week. Here's a daily synopsis:

Monday - There's always a hubbub packing for a camping trip. I get the bedding, first aid, and toiletries, my husband packs the lanterns, camp stoves, and tents. We both work on the food and kitchen items.(We forgot the frying pan.) The back of the suburban was filled to the roof, especially after adding our son's and his wife's things, plus two kayaks on top.
We were happily surprised to find that my husband's brother and his family could get a few days off to join us. We set up two tents and a screen house over the picnic table and made the beds. That's when I discovered a small rip in my canvas cot. That night everytime I rolled over, I heard a "rip, rip!" We giggled over the sound and the thought of my mattress looking like a hotdog roll or taco in the morning.

Tuesday - A big wind and rain storm came through during the night and lasted until noon. Also, we could hear a train rush past in the wee hours of the morning, it's whistle wailing in the night. We were glad that the bathrooms were only about 50 ft. away. We spent the morning in the rec hall, playing ping pong, foozeball, and PIT.
The campfire felt good as we huddled around it, laughing, talking, and roasting marshmallows. That night we put the foam mattresses right on the floor of the tent, but I could feel every bump and lump. I woke to an aching back.

Wednesday - In the afternoon, we went to Lincoln, a nearby town, to check out a few stores and eat in a restaurant...GOOD FOOD! We visited Chester Baptist Church (Pastor Wayne Perry) for prayer meeting. It was basically just one room and only 12 attenders, but they were praying for many of the same missionaries and pastors that were back at home. It was wonderful to have sweet fellowship with other believers.
This night, Randy duct taped the ripped cot and he slept on it...but it didn't hold. So, more "rip,rips" and more giggles.

Thursday - All of us were enjoying the quiet relaxation and were mostly sitting around reading books (I was able to write 10 pages of my Fernando missionary story...but I missed my 'cut-n-paste' of my computer. There were lots of scratch out and arrows throughout my words.) I wanted to hike sometime, so we picked a trail and set out for the unknown territories.
The trails hadn't been maintained in years and often the signposts could be found lying on the ground. Dozens of trees were fallen across the path and after awhile, it got very hard to crawl over them. Because of our wet summer, there were many colorful and interesting toadstools. I was able to take many pictures. (Sorry, I don't know how to get them on the blog, yet.)
Later, my son and his wife kayaked in the river, and we sat down there watching the sunset and the stars come out until the mosquitoes drove us back to the screened tents...to the ripping cots, that tipped over if you leaned over the edge to kiss each other goodnight.

Friday - This is the part of camping I DON"T like...packing up and going home..to more cleaning and unpacking. But, it was so good to sleep in my own bed. I'm still scratching mosquito bites, but it was a wonderful restful week.