My Humorous Camping Story

Years ago, my husband and I decided to go on a camping trip. We gathered up some basic supplies - a tent, sleeping bags, food, etc. and headed off to an area lake for some outdoor fun.

When we set off, we didn't have a specific destination in mind. So, we drove around and around and around looking for a camping area for folks utilizing tents. Late in the afternoon, we finally found a suitable spot and began setting up our campsite. My husband was a pro at getting the tent up and ready. I gathered some firewood as we prepared for the night ahead.

Then my allergies kicked in. I sneezed, and sneezed and sneezed and sneezed until I thought I couldn't sneeze any more. It was awful.

I was determined to stay the night because of the comments my mom and friends had made about me not being cut out for camping. So, I just kept blowing my nose between sneezes.

We had a nice dinner of roasted hot dogs and s'mores. And then it got dark. Really, really dark. And that's when things went from bad to worse.

I was still sneezing when we crawled into the tent - hoping that we could doze off and then the morning would arrive and we could pack up and go home. When we climbed in our sleeping bags, we discovered that our tent had been placed on some really rocky, and uncomfortable, ground.

I tried valiantly to sleep - but between my runny nose, the uncomfortable ground and all of the weird animal noises I heard, it was next to impossible. I would doze off for a little while and then would startle awake. Around 2 a.m., a loud noise rustling and grunting outside our tent jolted me awake. I whispered loudly, "It's back," to my husband as I shook him. He dismissed my concern and kept sleeping. I stared at the ceiling of the tent until it was finally light enough to get up.

We tried making pancakes over the campfire, but they burned on the outside and stayed gooey on the inside. My husband finally declared that our camping trip was finally complete. I was proud that I had endured the entire excursion - and thrilled beyond belief that we were going home.

As we packed up the car, we saw a sign that warned about the wild animals in the area - including bears and skunks. It said that if you are bitten by one to cut off its head and send it off to the Wildlife Commission to study it for rabies. That freaked me out as I remembered the weird rustling and grunting right outside the tent in the middle of the night.

I have never gone camping again - and don't intend to. I love hiking and enjoying being outdoors - but when it comes to sleeping - I want a nice bed in a cabin, condo, hotel or house.