The Great Outdoors? Help!
Forever striving to earn the perfect wife and mother award, I say this tongue-in-cheek, I came up with the idea to plan a family trip once a month this summer. One month my husband will choose an activity, the next month I will choose an activity. These activities I thought would be somewhere along the lines of a day hike, the beach or a zoo trip. It is a lovely thought – in theory I’m finding out.
My husband however – like he always does – takes things to a whole new level. His trip consists of being gone for days. My husband loves the outdoors – and so do I – from a certain distance with the right ensemble. I’m all for enjoying nature, hiking, crossing a stream, doing a little fishing, and watching wildlife I don’t normally see from the city limits I live in. However, at the end of the day I want to take a shower and crawl into a nice comfy bed. Is that so wrong?
The camping trips I have been on have always consisted of bugs, dirt, messy cooking, inconvenient cleaning centers, dirty toilets, and uncomfortable sleeping. What about the midnight call to use the bathroom – and then the 20 minute walk to get there - not to mention watching out for small bears and large cats? Ack! According to my husband this is all part of the “experience.” How can I not love this, even sporting the newest shade of Lancome SPF 12 lipstick?
I am stubbornly acquiescing to this trip – mentally dragging my feet the whole way just to avoid “making this trip all about me.” I will not apologize for being a girl who doesn’t like to rough it that appreciates comfortable amenities.
I will lace up my leopard Timberland hiking boots, sit in the car for a 12 hour drive to Mountain Home, Arkansas located near Flippin (no joke a town named Flippin, Arkansas) – where the average July temperature is 90 degrees with 90% humidity. I will pray this is the trip that changes my negative perspective on camping. Meditations of a beautiful riverside resort/spa will get me through..Om…
