Our First Camping Trip (A Lion Tamer Likes Our Dogs)
So... this happened... we got a new car which means one thing; road trip! Ashley's been wanting to go camping for a few weeks now so we hopped on the computer to search for water front parks that were pet friendly and had tent sites available for this weekend. Ashley stumbled upon Black River State Park.
We threw our new tent in the trunk, loaded up the girls and headed to the panhandle, home of Florida Black Bears, numerous springs and the Central Time Zone. It was hot. Dreadfully hot. We set up the tent in 100+ temperatures. The pups were so patient with us as we threw our base camp home as quickly as we could. We didn't worry about it being straight, or even weather proof for that matter, we just wanted it up.
As soon as our tent was set up we headed for the river to let the girls take a swim. Even Parker, who doesn't necessarily love the water, had a blast swimming around.
After we cooled off in the water, we went back to the camp site to prepare dinner. Our neighbor, a modern-day hippie camping out of her Honda Odyssey mini-van covered with bumper stickers and the words "And You Loved Brad" scrawled on her driver side door, came over to ask if we had seen the weather report. Apparently a beast of a storm was heading our way. Yay :( While she was over she kept saying how well behaved Lady Belle and Parker were and how impressed she was with them. Normally, this wouldn't mean much to us but this chick was a freakin' Lion Tamer. She's obviously an expert on the matter. A Lion Tamer likes our dogs!
After dinner we went back to the river for an evening swim before the storm rolled in. And what a storm it was.
Lightening flashed and thunder boomed all around us. Rather than playing corn hole or sitting around the camp fire we were confined to our tent. There was no Farkle Flip or Kumbaya. It wasn't the evening we planned but it was relaxing, we were safe and we stayed dry. That's really all that matters.
The storm lasted all night and went well into the morning. Parker was the only one who was really able to get any sleep so we decided it was best to scrap our canoeing trip and head back home a few hours early. Our trip was short and sweet, but it was a great way to see if the girls (and us!) could handle a longer trip in the future.
Ashley will leave you will these words of wisdom, "Camping in the summer isn't for fat people."
