Maria and I landed in a great relationship together. We rented an apartment and then proceeded to get a mortgage and bought our first house in 1994. We evolved in our relationship, grew closer and a new foundation had begun. We had a tiger cat, Scrumpy and a Walker Hound named, Barney, we enjoyed our pets, our house and the idea of camping came to us that Christmas.
Barney a cute shelter pup with chewed up ears grew into a large hound. Scrumpy was bought from a pet shop in Clinton Township. He was a miserable pent-up cat who liked to bite, pee through the filter on top of his lidded litter box, and scratch us. He settled down in the new house when he grew into his larger confines and became loveable.
Our first Christmas in our first house my parents threw us into a world that was alien to Maria and familiar to me, camping. They bought us a grill, two tents, a large one and a smaller one for supplies and an air mattress (often joking that it could be used for Barney). Maria uncertain about the entire process was a good sport.
Our first camping trip was going to be in the summer of 1995. This was the start of an annual family camp that still occurs today, some traditions never die. Maria survived with me, her sister, and a large smelly Barney in our tent. We learned that tents attract sand, even if you’re not around sand, and that they are near impossible to keep clean. She also survived tubing down the Rifle River, campfires and my hangover when the weekend came to an end on Sunday.
Broken in for the camp life we proceeded every summer from then on with our yearly camp tradition with family, food, great adult beverages and tales that flowed freely out of my mouth and Maria’s sister's. Laughs good times, and the smell of woods mixed with the smokey fingers of a campfire still lingers in my head today and will probably always be engrained in my olfactory.
Do we evolve from the sand to a new plan? Find out next Wednesday on this BLOG!
Thanks so much for reading...
…remember, next weeks blog post will be on Thursday, August 25th. Thanks...
Tim Eagle
Find out where RV travel, exploring, DIY and writing is prevalent on video at the Dark Nest Travels YouTube channel here: Dark Nest Travels.
Tim Eagle is an author of the novellas Stolen Seed and Krae, among other books. He lives full time, on the road, with his wife, Maria and their dog, Cocoa. He grew up in Michigan and is inspired by the dysfunction, insanity, and nepotism of rural America. His books are available on Amazon, godless and Kindle Unlimited. Thanks for reading, tune in next week for the next chapter...
