Dude Man, you heard man, you heard!

So I’m back… back again. Back from camping this weekend in NC. Pilot Mtn to be specific. I’ve got a really relaxed vibe that I’ve brought back with me. It’s only broken up by the programming that I’ve had to do at work today. Which is leaving me with a much more frustrated vibe. So this post is going to flow, flow baby, flow.

So Google maps was way off with it’s 7:15 hr estimate for the drive time from Vienna to the campsite. Even the Mapquest estimate of 5:45 hrs was off. It took 6hrs, and we got stuck in traffic around Gainesville VA and Ate dinner at the intersection of 66 and 81. Not the worst drive I’ve ever been a part of. We watched Family Guy episodes and then Star Wars. Ellen hadn’t seen Star Wars yet, WTF! So just after 11:30 we get to the site, have Brent come get us and transfer our stuff at the gate. ( the park closed at 6pm) Then we proceeded to set up the tent in the dark, which actually wasn’t as difficult as you would expect. There were some rude comments and actions, but I blame that on the fact that I’d been driving for 6 hours. After we were satisfied that we had shelter to cover us we broke out the “warming liquids”. The Rustic Light beer of choice was of course Miller, with a smattering of Yuengling here and there. The conversation was great, ranging from truth or dare, to favorite TV bullshit. Over all a good night. With the temperature dropping rapidly we headed for the tents. Lest our Ton-Ton freeze before we reached the first marker.

The night was brisk… and by brisk I mean cold… and by cold… I mean freezing. Unfortunately my sleeping bag was not rated for these drastic settings. Usually I’m good because of the amount of heat that my body tends to produce when I sleep. But I think I found the limit. I slept till around 6 when the call of nature forced me to get out of the tent. By that time it was too light to just pee anywhere, so I moseyed on down to the bathroom complex. It seems kind of odd that I would meet one of the 3 other campers down there, but as he explained. “This is about the only thing that would get him out of the tent on a morning like this” With my bladder empty I went back to the tent and got another 3 hours of sleep.

After everyone else had started the breakfast activities, I emerged from the tent, bleary eyed and ready for oatmeal. I had a double helping of instant Maple and Brown sugar Oats and hot chocolate mix. It was scrumptious. We waited around for some other people to get there and then we set off on the hike. Which will now be referred to as “walking straight up a long long hill”. Actually I’m being a little harsh on the hike. To spare it’s feelings we’ll just say it was “difficult in parts” It was designed in stages. level walking phases accompanied by vertical quad burning, please make it stop phases. But even the most out of shape of our group made it to the top. Where we were rewarded with great views of the mountains and neato rock formations. Oh, and sandwiches.

Some of the group walked back down the trail, while others drove down the mountain. I bet you can guess which group I was with… well you’d be wrong.. I walked, sucker. We got back to the campsite in record time. But soon we realized how tired we were. In an hour or so It felt like it was either time to sleep or eat. But since it was only about 3:15 we decided that it wasn’t early enough to do either. So we just built a fire and sat around it. Good times were had by all. After a while we made whatever food had been brought for dinner. I would say that my group had the most elaborate setup with hotdogs, corn, potatoes, and steak. MMmMM it’s what’s for dinner! After that the some unusual conversations were had. unfortunate jokes were made at other’s expense. You know… the usual. We half played drinking games, while half having conversations and telling stories. It was a good time.

The next day we packed all of our crap up and headed out. the Masochists of the group decided that they were going to tackle the strenuous trail. The Nova people said “Peace out” and split. We sped back on 81, or deer meat lane as it should be called. Stopped in Roanoke and ate Mexican food. Then back on the road. 2 Star Wars movies later, and we were home. Filthy and happy.

Later!