Camping Crusaders

A couple weeks ago I got an email from my BFF, Charlotte, asking if Ben and I would like to join her and her husband camping and rock climbing in southern Illinois.  We didn’t really think about the camping side of it, rather, it was an opportunity to see them so we immediately said yes.  They live in Boston so we don’t get to see them very often.

If you know me well, you know that the thought of bugs, dirt, mud, no showers, and going to the bathroom in the woods is not something I cherish but, like I said before, it was an opportunity to see Mike and Char and we weren’t about to pass that up.  We are also always up for trying something new and love adventures so we were excited.

We quickly realized we have NOTHING when it comes to camping gear or rock climbing equipment.  We’ve done both before but have always mooched off of people… so why not continue to mooch.  I called up my wild wilderness dad and asked if we could raid his stash.  He frequents Alaska for hunting trips so I knew he would have some pretty hardcore stuff.  He gave us a tent (an awesome tent), sleeping bags, thermarests, campfire gear, camo leatherman tool, and a slew of other exciting things. 

We then realized we needed rock climbing gear since the last time we tried to mooch that we ended up completelty obliterating a pair of rock climbing shoes.  Ben and I went on the search for the cheapest pair of rock climbing shoes in history.  In the process of buying Ben’s shoes we met one of Charlotte and Mike’s climbing friends who would be joining us on the trip.  He actually sold us the shoes.  Did I mention that Char and Mike live in Boston and we are in Chicago?  Random.

Anyway, we had our gear and were mentally prepared and ready to go.  Then I got the call from Charlotte telling me the hellish travel issues they had getting to Chicago.  We were suppose to arrive in SoIL early am on Saturday but didn’t actually get there until 4pm (it’s a 5-6 hour drive for us).

Upon arrival, we immedialty jumped out of the car and found the nearest rock to climb.  Ben and I have climbed exactly 4 times in our life and we were with a group who do it pretty much 4 times a week…we were pretty funny looking.

Anyway here are some highlights from the trip:

I never knew there was such beautiful scenery in southern IL!  I felt like I was in a mysterious lost wilderness somewhere and couldn’t possibly be in the land of flat lands and corn fields.

Charlie went with us and was the happiest dog in the world.  We almost lost him in a waterfall, though…my heart stopped as I saw him sliding on the water soaked rocks about 5 feet from a 20ft drop off…all I could do was scream BEN!! BEN!!  Charlie was able to get a grip and saved himself.  Both Ben and I were ready to plow into the water and over the cliff to save him.

We set up camp in the pitch dark.  Ben is quite the tent-putter-upper.  He managed to do it by himself without one of the fancy headlights that everyone else had.  Charlotte failed to add it to our list of things to bring and to mention that to be a cool camper you need a head lamp.  We survived with our MagLight and mini LED flashlight.

I succeeded in achieving one of my main goals in life, which is to eat s’mores each and every time I am near a campfire.

I managed to get up a MASSIVE wall with the assistance of Benjamin.  It was the hardest thing I have ever climbed but it was pretty amazing.  I fell a few times so I definitley didn’t master it but I made it to the top.  Charlotte did it after me and said it was really hard, which made me feel great.  It didn’t change the fact that my forearms were throbbing for the next couple day, though.

Ben found his traditional Man-Stick.

We slept in a tent and survived.  I still had myself freaked out pretty much the entire night, though.  At one point I thought we were going to be run over by a car.  Then there was a wild animal sniffing the perimeter of our tent, which I later found out was a dog.  My feet almost froze off but thanks to Charlie laying on top of me the majority of the night I stayed warm enough.  I also managed to have myself convinced that I was covered in ticks and would probably die of Lyme disease soon.

We pulled 5 ticks off of Charlie on the ride home and three once we got home…we also pulled three off of me!  Eww!

We saw some of the most amazing stars I have ever seen in my life.

And finally, we got to spend some quality time with some of our best friends who always manage to take us on our favorite adventures.

A man, his dog, and his Man-Stick 

 

Spider Lady: That’s me!

The land of corn fields?

A happy, happy Charles

The End.