Girls Day out

Some of my camping buds and I did a little backpacking at Arrowhead State Park this past weekend. You should go there. It's beautiful and unpopulated. Just don't try to find it by a map search- Yahoo and Google are not familiar with this park.

I want to wake up to something like this for the rest of my life. I need to figure out how to convince my employer to move my desk out here.

Breakfast tastes better out in the open.

uh-oh. if you give a moose a muffin it wants another...

 

After breakfast we packed up,

And headed out.

We walked something like 82 miles that day. Or maybe it was between 8 and 2 miles that day.

Fun and friends make me better able to deal with the frenzy.

B, E, me, 'n V.

I think I shall survive for another week.

      Happy Trails, and may your life be packed with adventure!



Another fix for my camping addiction

I just had another fix and a serious intensification of my addiction, all in the same weekend, by the same activity. I got my camping fix, but I am having serious d.t.'s fighting off the travel bug.


I spent the weekend with the gals of Okahoma B.O.W. (Becoming an Outdoors Woman), at the annual Thanksgiving campout. Do I really need to tell you that it included food, some food, some more food, and was topped off with some food?


In just a few hours, the group campsite sprouted abodes like a rainbow of mushrooms.

We swarmed upon Kaw Lake like a hive of bees, swinging dutch ovens, wielding trash cans, sporting leather gloves, and towing kayaks. I don't want to give away too many of the fun details yet...



There was an ugly hat contest. This one won prettiest ugly hat.

There was fire. A LOT of fire. It was one big pyromaniac party. Our queen bee, Vicki, shared her expertise on building a one-match fire. First, clear all the dead leaves. I thought it would have been a lot more interesting if we skipped this step, but I was outranked in this decision.



Then you make an "A". So far so good, I can remember this.

Pile up super tiny tinder, with room to get the match underneath them.

Success, one match fire!!! 

While Vicki and Amelia were playing with petite fire, these gals were going for the mondo flame-maker. Hey lady, do you have a license to drive that saw?

There was a lot of tomfoolery, a lot of cooking, a lot of eating, some more cooking and eating, and some picture taking (duh).

As always, I learned something new from these ladies. Decorate your leather gloves with neon orange, glow-in-the-dark paint so you can find them in the dark after you leave them lying around somewhere.

Grab a free hammock whenever you can.  Don't worry, Elaine's not in pain, she always looks like that. I think it comes from teaching first graders.

I'll share the big feast event tomorrow, after I finish digesting.

10 Things I've learned at BOW* camp

1. Offer a hand whenever you can. 
2. When offered a hand, take it.
3. All the activity makes you really hungry.
4. You never go hungry at BOW camp

5.  It's good to try things that scare you.
6.  You're never too old for camp games.

7.  What you are taught, teach to others.

8.  You're never too old for camp crafts.

9. It takes about 7000 woman-hours to make BOW happen. That translates to about 21000 man hours.

10. There really is an outdoor activity for everyone.

*BOW- Becoming an Outdoor Woman.  Brace yourself.  I'm spending a weekend with 90+ other women in a campground in eastern Oklahoma.  There will be stories.  Lots of stories.  Ohhh, the stories...