For the love of the outdoors

When I was a kid we never camped. We didn't hike. We didn't really do much outdoorsy at all. See, my dad worked (and still does work) in the hotel industry so we weren't really ever looking for a place to stay. My mom's idea of "camping" was being in a hotel room that wasn't right next to the ice machine. Okay, maybe an exaggeration, but you get the idea.

I didn't camp until the summer after my junior year of high school. And that trip I don't really count for numerous reasons that may (or may not) have something to do with a cooler full of Icehouse (eeew, I really drank that stuff??) and my best friend's cousin being so high she smoked a tampon because she thought it was a joint. Not lying. I have pictures. Somewhere.

When I met Glenn that all changed. There was the night he took me out to look at the stars and I was deathly afraid of all the noises. I mean, frogs are scary. Wait, are there even frogs in the mountains?? Whatever, it was scary. He introduced me to hiking, to camping, to kayaking (the waves on the local lake are HUGE just in case you didn't know), to cooking over a campfire and sleeping in a tent. And now I'm an outdoor junkie. I love it all, although I'm still not too fond of peeing in the bushes. The outdoors are fun. I sort of feel like I really missed out as a kid.

Beanie loves the outdoors. She loves to get dirty, to tromp through the woods, to roast hot dogs and marshahohos (although she has started calling them marshmallows now). I'm glad we can share the outdoors and instill a love of nature in her. We'll see where it takes her.