4/2/07. Monday. "My First Night Camping"
Damn air mattress had another leak...told myself, that's it...and went about 10 miles out to a Wal-Mart and bought a new one for about 60 bucks. The new one is a Coleman, is queen size like the other one but doesn't stand quite as tall and doesn't have the raised back to it. It is good enough for what I need and stays inflated (big selling point!). It is also about a 1/3rd of the size packed up as the other one so I'll have some space savings as well. This new one stands 18" while the other was about 25" tall.
Made up my bed with a quilt and several blankets, got dress in my sweat pants and a sweat shirt and got into bed. That was around 9:30 pm . I was quite tired from the day's drive and setting up camp and quickly fell asleep.. Woke up at 2 am shivering my butt off! Figured it was the need to go to the bathroom as well as the electrical box has a short in it someplace and every once in a while it just shuts off! So my little space heater shuts off sometime between 9:30 and 2 am. I get up, stumble around and figured out what the problem was (the box). Got smart and got my sleeping bag out, got into it, and put on the insulated booties that came with the bag and kept me toasty. Fell asleep again and woke up a few minutes ago around 6:30.
Since then the power has gone off twice on me. Some one, I guess at the camp here, had taken piece of a 2x4 and anchored it between the elec box and the pole it's mounted on. I figured out the drill now. I just take my hammer and hit the 2x4 until the lights come on again! Quick fix. I go up this morning and tell them about the problem and see what they say.
Made my morning coffee. I'll figure out how to get cleaned up around here and head off for a breakfast. Still need another day to get my cooking routine figured out and restock my groceries.
More later...wanted to "capture the moment" as they say!
But, it was a beautiful day and night weather wise and they are forecasting 30% chance of T-Storms between 4-7 on Weds. I figure today will be quite pleasant here in the Ozarks.
More later!
Bill
Bill's Excellent Adventure" documents the travels of its author as he traveled the country between Feb 2007 and October 2008, a total of 20 months. This blog is meant for friends and family and documented the journey through narrative. A new site is under development that will document the trip through some of over 6000 pictures.
Grand Teton
Sinset on Lake Jackson 9/2008
Current Temp for Raleigh, NC
4 comments:
Well, I can't say I'm surprised about the mattress. If it sprung leaks in your living room, you knew it had a chance to leak 'in the field'! I think what happens with those is the vinyl weakens at the folds.
The first night camping always brings surprises, eh? Hopefully, it'll smooth out.
My first time capming, I was 27 (no, Dad and I didn't do much bonding when I was a kid). My friend Dan and I went up to Ithica, NY. We bought cheap air mattresses to put our bags on. I woke up with back pain about 4:00am, air mattress had gone flat and I had assorted insect bites. So I moved the bad outside the tent onto a lounge chair. Sleep okay but something cold and wet on my face woke me up. The "neighbor's" German Shephard went off-leash and nosed me on the cheek!
Each night, went into town to, as Dan called it, "drink our weight in beer." (I'd never seen so many beutiful college women in one place in my life, still haven't. All those hills keep people in shape! I invented a code: When I'd spot one, I'd say honnnnk, like Harpo Marx's squeeze horn, and Dan knew to look!)
But the mornings were a bit rough. The hangover walk to the restroom was a good five minute walk, hoping my bladder would hold out, and I looked like Reverend Jim from Taxi.
Anyway, have fun in the Ozarks, today, and a smoother night sleeping.
Good story Rick! The maintenance guys came down and fixed the outlet box. Had a challenge with WiFi though for the morning. Between 9-12 every Monday, I found out, their web guy resets the WiFi access code. I kept getting this message that was nt allowing me access. I just had to wait until after noon to get bak on again.
Went to McD's for a lovely breakfast and took a drive around the area to get my bearings. Cool looking historical area with lots of small shops and cafe's. Looks like a nice place to just hang out.
More in a new blog on today's travels although I plan to stay close in today and rest up some.
hey! I think I got in to this at ricks comment- I am having a terrible time with doing this. Hey! Maybe by the time you come home ,Bill I will know what I am doing;LOL!! I looked at all of the pic's and read all the stuff so I am up to date on you. We are getting ready to fight the yard beast! Norm is coming home early to help!
I spent a lot of my life cxamping sober and drunk. Not much to talk about but we did look for drowned people several times. I liked doing that but was always glad my feet did not touch any bodys! Yuck!
I like to fish and hunt when I camp.
Bill do pics on the Ozarks so I can see where I am coming to. I am ready for the rest! Room service for me is camping out in my motel room. The pics were great,Bill. Remeber to take some girly stuff,too.
What happened with the mining for rocks or diamonds or gold? Did you not say that was a thing you were going to do?
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