I camped out at Guadalupe River State Park last Friday.  It was the first time I had been out camping in years.  I used to go with my family to trips to Sunrise Beach at Lake Corpus Christi back in the day, and felt it was high time I rediscovered the Great Outdoors.  So I bought a tent, a lamp and a stove and headed off to adventure!  It was a fun trip, but I did notice a few things…

Just like the picture on the box!

1. I contemplated getting a dual-burner stove like the one my folks have, but remembered that I’m not a skilled enough cook to run 2 burners at once.
2. Propane sucks.
3. Its nice that Coleman stoves and lanterns can run off unleaded gas in a pinch, but did they have to stop making them green? 😦
4. Always remember to subtract one ‘man’ from the number of people a tent can supposedly hold.
5. I kept thinking: ‘should I get better stakes?’ ‘should I get better stakes?’ Yeah, I should have bought better stakes for the tent.
6. I don’t know if its because of the heat, but I get powerful thirsty when camping, I should maybe pack some Gatorade next time.
7. According to the map of the park, the river should have been nearby…it was, but the map didn’t mention the 15-foot drop to get to it.
8. Thus, I had to drive to the part of the river that you could swim in…it didn’t feel right somehow.
9. I purchased sunscreen, I took it with me, but did I use it?  Nooooo.
10. I was both happy and sad to get a cell phone signal out there.
11. They also had Wi-Fi.  Sign of the times, I guess.
12. If you go walking around the Guadalupe River with bare feet, you’re going to have a bad time.
13. So much for taking an afternoon nap. When there is no breeze, it’s actually hotter inside the tent
14. Nature is pretty noisy, but when things get really quiet, it feels like you’re in a horror movie.
15. Good to know I can still light a lantern and a camp stove.
16. As night fell, I could hear generators starting as I sat under my lantern…geez, people, for a few bucks more you can stay at a site with electricity.
17. I could have stayed ‘off the grid’ but no, I had to bring my laptop and use my smartphone as a hotspot. /shrug
18. I just had to go Beavis for awhile when the flame from my camp stove shot up a foot in the air after I lit it.  FIRE! FIRE! FIRE!
19. The humidity at night had me tossing and turning, I’m totally not used to it.
20. The animals have not been very active at campsites I’ve been to before, so I was a bit surprised when that raccoon opened my food container at at 2 in the morning and swiped a loaf of bread.
21. I was even MORE surprised when he opened the cooler.  Them’s smart critters.
22. In an unrelated note, instead of scrambled eggs for breakfast at camp, I had McDonald’s on the way home.  Pbbbt.
23. How is there condensation on the BOTTOM of the tent when there is no grass?
24. The tent actually fit back inside of the case it came in -mind blown-
25. Nothing like that ‘am I sunburned or not?’ feeling.
26. Of course, the first time you step into a hot shower…you know for SURE.
27. Can’t wait to do it again!