little nylon tent of safety

©bobbi plentovich lewis orange couch series "family portrait # 19" 2019 ink, acrylic, and marker on paper 8 1/2" x 11"

       good afternoon you fabulous campers!!!.....speaking of campers, that has become a big activity now....camping in the great outdoors......sometimes your outdoors is really out your door.....like your backyard......the best things  about camping in your backyard are,.... it's free! ....food can be kept in the fridge, no need for coolers full of ice that are constantly melting.....hot water and the big one.....a toilet that flushes......funny how you don't realize how nice that is till you are without one......you see some years ago...my youngest daughter and i went backpack camping on the appalachian trail with her girl scout troop .......these were high school age girls.......so while i have never backpack camped.....i was all for it....i love to camp so....this is gonna be super fun!!!.....
      so the plan is we get on the AT from amherst va.....there is a figure 8 trail that's about 10 miles long total...remember i only remember bits and pieces of things...trail might have been longer or shorter........so we don't have to backtrack while backpacking....ha ha......anyway.....so we divvy....strange word when spelled out......up the gear so everyone has similar loads....just 40 pounds......no problem......at the beginning...........and off we go....well let me backtrack a bit to the night before....i guess my spidey-sense should have been up when the troop leader says "we're gonna camp here at this campground for the night and then start off in the am"......and she points to an open field......."where is this campground you talk of?" i ask.....she laughs and walks off......right.........
          so back to 40 pounds on my back.....i don't know if anyone saw "wild" the story about the lady who walks the western version of the AT in well, the west.......cause that whole trying to fit everything in your backpack scene and put it on is very true.......you want everything light....didn't know that trail mix and ramen are heavy.....but after 5 miles....everything is heavy....you're trying to shove everything in a backpack that only fits half of that stuff.......it's like trying to get an inflatable unicorn raft back in the box it came in after being inflated.......it just doesn't happen......so after much wrangling with the pack....it's like a wildcat attacking it's prey....rolling around, punching, prodding, standing on it, screaming and yelling......other hikers we're shielding their kids from us and getting back in their cars and locking them, saying things like....."mommy i'm scared"...."just look away dear, it'll be ok"............... then try standing up after putting on your pack....yes, you do fall over backwards...we had alot of webbles that wobble and do fall down....reference to an old tv commercial...webbles wobble but they don't fall down...ha ha....anyway.....we had to put their packs on them and then the last one had to prop against a car to wiggle in theirs.......and that was just the first 3 hours.........so off we go up hill, in the snow, barefoot.....no , that would of been really bad.....but i definitely would have missed the trail head if the leader had not pointed it out......it was this tiny opening between trees......more previews of things to come...... so uphill over rocks and boulders we go.......
        the AT is really beautiful....well the scenery, the actual trail, i feel, needs a little more obvious marking.......some places it does look like a trail, others are just packed grass, and some it's a random color randomly placed......it's like those little towns that people say, don't blink or you'll miss it....well don't blink or you'll miss the color and off the trail you go.........so fast forward to our "campground"....i say that lightly cause once again the leader says "here's our campground" pointing to a direction of nowhere........supposedly the boy scouts made this campground.....obviously it was a boy scout who didn't really want to make a campground so he just stomped around a bit and said "yeah i made a campground".........so the big plus for this "campground" was it has running water!!!!  yea!!!   show me where..............................a stream.........................."and i gather the toliet is???" .....i got handed a shovel.........actually a garden trowel....must think light, remember?!..............
          other fun things we did.........not taking our flashlights with us to go see the "view" at sunset.....trying to find our way back to the "campsite" after dark with no lights...yeah, it's really dark up there........tying up our food so the bears don't get it....yes and like in  "wild", i had already read the numerous ways bears can kill you.....just to be prepared......very reassuring.....rescuing me from the tree as i went up instead of the food............sleeping in our little nylon tent of safety...surely no bears can get through that.....listening to the numerous bears outside our little nylon tent of safety eating the food.......eating ramen for breakfast, lunch, and dinner.....i gather bears don't like ramen...siphoning water for drinking....a little mud isn't that bad...right??!......
           so this was my first primitive camping experience......and considering all the craziness of the trip, it was pretty fun.....i just need to keep my camping expectations to a minimum and all will be well...well.....basic....as in basically nothing for your comfort.....of course i could just fill a backpack full of stuff...walk around the neighborhood and then camp in the backyard.....i could name my campground "camp of running water, flushing potty, and no bears"......be groovy!

©bobbi plentovich lewis "little nylon tent of safety" 2020 pen and ink and prismacolor on paper 8 1/2" x 11"