Thursday, June 4, 2009

Over the Hills and Through the Woods


































Ok, the second weekend of marriage for most newlyweds is probably spent sleeping late, watching TV, maybe taking a few gifts back, and really just basking in the glory of not having to plan a wedding. Not the Wells Family. Jeremie and I decided about a week ago that we needed a new hobby. Since we both love the outdoors, we quickly decided it should be camping. The next day Jeremie bought a tent, and we used some of our Wedding Wal-Mart Gift Cards for all things camping. We got lanterns, cooking supplies, bocce ball set, fan, hatchet, citronella candles, and the list goes on and on. We booked our trip at a state park about an hour away, called Torreya State Park. It appealed to us for its "majestic views" over the "mountains of Florida". (The mountains of Florida ended up kicking our butts during our 4 mile hike. Great pic, Jeremie.)

Friday after work we pulled out of my office parking lot so quick I think the tires squealed. We got to the camp and was greeted by "Ranger Howard", who told us to "look out for these little jokers" as he pointed to a picture of a Copperhead snake. I gave him a death stare, and he assured us if we stayed on the main path we should be okay. Jeremie and I quickly set up camp, with J's focus being on setting up the tent and using his new mini hatchet to make a fire, and my focus on how to make it "pretty" and when we were going to eat. I decorated with MSU tablecloths as Jeremie lit up the grill. We had sausage dogs, smores, and hit the hay. Or should I say the grass. Sleeping bags were not as cozy and romantic as I envisioned. I woke up in the middle of the night needed to go to the ladies room, which was a good 300 yard walk from the tent. As soon as I got settled back in, I felt something crawling on me and I went to swatting, hitting, and throwing my sleeping bag around. I probably smacked Jeremie in the process, and when he finally fumbled to the flashlight, we discovered there was a wasp on my pillow. Ranger Howard did not warn me about those........

The next day, we decided to take a "nice little hike" which turned into 4 miles of the steepest terrain I've ever seen. And I've hiked in Colorado. What the heck? We are in Florida. We should be at sea level right? We should have know better when the website boasted the "mountains of Florida". After we recovered from the nauseau of a tough workout (you can tell we're such athletes) we took a tour of an old plantation house in the park. Ofcourse, our friend Ranger Howard was the guide and kept using my height (or lack thereof) as an example of how short the plantation owner was. "Why were the windows so low?" "Why were the stairs so short folks?"
"Why was the desk so small?" "He was only 5'1" folks! Just like Katie!!!! hehehe" OK-WE GET IT! I'm starting to dislike Ranger Howard at this point. (He made it up to us later by giving us a jar of Tupelo honey.) We enjoyed the piece of history and moved on to other important things: Ribs, baked beans, sausage, grilled pinapple, and corn on the cobb. We Wells don't go hungry. Sleeping that night was fairly painless, mainly because we were exhausted from playing Moses that day.
The next day we packed it up and headed back to Tally. We had a great time, but I was glad to go home to our soft bed, air conditioned home, hot shower, and absence of insects.

1 comment:

  1. Sounds like a fun trip and great new hobby! Bart and I love to go camping, but we don't do it nearly enough and never seem to find the time when he's home. We'll have to plan a trip sometime. It would be fun to find some camping buddies. :)

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