What's so great about the great outdoors anyways?

I wasn't back home or even unpacked from my emotionally exhausting whirlwind of travelling when Ricardo suggested we go camping. Apparently I was temporarily possessed by one of my other voices in my head because I said, "That sounds like a great idea, baby!" First of all, I'm not really FOR nature. I mean, it's alright and all, but there's bugs and unchlorinated lake water, stuff like that. Secondly, I was going to have to unpack my duffel bag (yes, I still travel with a duffel bag and I'm 34 years old) only to re-pack it.

I like how we plan things: calling to see if any cabins were available - because I was NOT about to go camping in a tent again since I threw it out after Max barfed in it. We were calling on a Sunday for three days later. So, when they chuckled and told us there were no rooms at the inn, I was pleasantly surprised when some guy tells me there's no cabins, but there's an rv, already hooked up, ready to stay in. Had that been my first phone call, I would have said no thank you. Since I'd been turned down so many time, it'll do was more my philosophy. Sounds good, we don't have to pull it, the kids will have a loftish type area. It'll be a new fun experience. And, I'll get to "rough it" get the whole camping crap out of the way, all while having a bed that's not on the ground, and having doors to shut. Sign me up.

We went to the Lewis & Clarke Lake. It's off a dam on the Missouri River, bordering South Dakota and Nebraska. We stayed on the South Dakota side, so that's one more state to knock off the list of 50 states to take the kids to, just 37 more to go! Hooray!

Since we got there on a Wednesday night, the rv park was full of rv's, but nobody was there. It turns out, this is a popular lake, so rv owners park their rvs and rent the site all summer. Then they come stay at the lake over the weekend. It's its own culture is what I'm sayin. The people on the corner have an assembled backyard complete with rod iron hangers for hanging basked plants. Our menial site has the bare essentials: air conditioning, running water, tv, cable, dvd, wifi, a fire pit, gas grill and a picnic table. These people have yard signs and decorations. I don't decorate this much in my own yard, let alone my summer campground. Do you think they tell others, "We're going to our summer home."?

On Thursday, after a day of exploring, we returned to our site to find our neighbors were there. Yay! But we were not greeted with any glee. As I got to looking around, ALL the other rv's had decor and lovely yards. Ours was not up to neighborhood code I suppose. And I bet when the grumpy well decorated neighbors drove up they said to each other, "OH, the RENTERS are here." He was watering his 8' X 5' patch of grass with a SPRINKLER! To their defense, they did say hello, while we were packing the car to go back home...

So, rv neighborhood culture is certainly a culture I don't fit in, nor do I want to embrace. It was fun, once. "Roughing it" starts to wear on my after all the chocolate for the smores are gone. It's nasty, there's dirt and bugs, even worse is bug spray - because inevitably, you're going to get it on your face or taste it. Ew. I start wondering why I ever agreed to come on this stupid trip.

And then Lucy comes in and says, "Let's go on an exploration, Mom!"

You got it, kid.

This was the first trip we weren't on some tight schedule. No hurried 15 hour road trip, no other people to accomodate agendas with. We just woke up each morning and let the kids set the pace. Most of the time, they just wanted to ride their bikes on the gravel road so they could skid, seeing who could skid the farthest. We actually only floated on the lake for a few hours. Max and Lucy each got to drive their own go-karts at the fun-plex. Max learned out to skip rocks, and Lucy caught a frog.

Roughing it has never been so fun. Neither was the 50-minute shower I took when I got home.

That's how I roll.