Until a couple of weekends ago, I hadn’t slept in a tent for years.  During our early years of marriage, Bill and I enjoyed seeing our beautiful country on a couple of different cross-country camping trips and then another tour of the Pacific Northwest, south to San Francisco, and back to Utah. 

DebYosemiteCampground

Circa 1982

 

After our final trip, I told Bill I was done with camping unless our tent had air conditioning, a working shower, and a hair dryer.  So imagine Bill’s surprise when I told him that I wanted to run a Ragnar Trail Relay and camp in the great outdoors again. 

Running trumps camping, so I joined a team.  Before I knew it, I was headed to the mountains of West Virginia to camp overnight with a great group of women. To get an idea of what camping and running over the course of two days is like, check out this amazing video my husband Bill made!

 

During my 24-hours of camping, running, and washing off mud; I learned the following:

1.  Mosquitoes apparently don’t like mud either.

2.  I really can go two days without a shower, blow dryer, and flat iron.

2.  Mud washes out of clothes more easily than the crevices around toenails.

3.  It really is possible for nine women to to spend twenty-four plus hours together and get along great.

4.  Nothing tastes better than cold sweet potato fries at 12:30 AM after a night run.

5.  Those rain boots I see every spring at Costco don’t seem so silly now.

6.  Earplugs might help block out the sound of a squeaky ceiling fan, but not people talking all night long.

7.   Critters running along the trail at midnight want to pass without being seen just as much as humans do.

8.  As long as no one showers, no one appears to smell badly; until you walk in the door at home and your husband says, “You stink!”

9.   Always take toilet paper with you whether going in the woods, or to a porta potty.

10.  Running brings out the best in everyone.

 

  • Questions:
  • Do you enjoy camping?
  • When and where did you camp last?
  • Do you have vacation plans this summer?