in which i return from camping, and think of life and love

well, first things first: i think we've told the big news to everyone in immediate family and friends... scott and i are engaged! yippee! he proposed on our beach camping trip over the weekend, on one knee in the sandy dunes at sunset. it was very sweet and romantic, as is my new sparkly ring. which, i'll tell you, is distracting! i haven't worn rings in years, so i find myself staring at it. a lot. especially when i am sitting at traffic lights. i've become that lady that people honk at.

i have pictures to upload, but i am being lazy. so bear with me, people. i've got a lot on my mind. :)

the camping trip was GREAT, engagement and all other happiness aside. the weather was terrific, the ponies left our shit alone, we even saw the cutest baby pony you've ever seen:

Thursday, prep for trip:

actually, prep began much earlier in the week. but thursday night we packed most everything into the backpacks. mine is so heavy that i can hardly get it off the ground if i lift it with my arms. worrisome, indeed. especially since my job requires that i am able to dead-lift 45 pounds of archival materials. however, if i sit next to the pack and put on the shoulder straps and waist belt... i am somehow able to carry it without too much trouble.

Friday, Day1:

we got up at 4:15am - AM! - to get on the road by 5:00. and we actually made it pretty close to on-time. i think we pulled away from the house at 5:05. a minor miracle. that put us out to assateague island just before 8:30? and by the time we filled out the paperwork at the ranger station, fooled around a bit and shouldered our packs for the hike... we departed by 9:13 sharp. the sun was beginning to get hot, and we were glad for the early start. over the fluffy dunes we went, past the (shockingly numerous) sunbathers out so early on a weekday, making our way to the hard-packed sand by the water. shuffling through the fluffy dry sand was H-A-R-D and i was briefly concerned about the whole venture. then we made to the water's edge and all was fine. relatively. it was hard at first, and all i could think was "god, this sucks, i can't wait until this is over." but then my brain figured out that it was going to be a while, and i kind of forgot/got used to the pack. the last mile was hard, though, as my waist belt was slipping and the pack was feeling heavier and heavier with each step. then we made it! less than 2 hours, i think.

[pony portrait, from last year - on my flickr]

dumping those packs on the ground never felt so good. relieved of the oppressive weight, i felt like i could skip over the moon. fly through the air like wonder woman. it was great. even though we could hear the pounding surf over the dunes and could practically feel the cold sea spray... we decided it would be all the sweeter later if we put up the tent first. and so we did. then had a quick lunch of tuna on crackers (this stuff is awesome!) and tomatoes. and THEN hit the water. where we stayed for the rest of the day, pretty much. i had brought a small sun shelter, so we had some shade and a cool breeze... we read, and slept a little and just enjoyed the novelty of not walking around with 50 pounds on our backs.

as a last chance to eat non-freeze dried food, we had bought some hot dogs for dinner. we waited until almost dark to make the fire - BAD BAD MOVE. about 30 seconds after the sun dipped below the horizon, huge swarms of mosquitoes came tumbling over the dunes to suck us dry of blood. we stood cowering in the smoke of the fire, scarfing down our dinner in a few hasty bites before diving into the tent. luckily, we were so tired from the long day that we passed out in a few minutes.

Saturday, Day 2:

woke early, it was a dry night with not much dew. meals were an adventure in freeze-dried goodness/weirdness. we played on the beach pretty much all day, with a scrabble break here and there, and a nap or two. we brought a trap and a bucket for crabbing, and had plans to walk over the island to the bay side for some crabbing. we found the path about 2K from our site and began the leisurely hike through the march. wrong! we got about 10 feet into the grassy area before the mosquitoes were so bad that they were flying into my mouth and nose. !!! i looked over at scott and his entire back was covered with bugs, to the point where his back looked furry. we screamed like babies and ran back to the sand, where the bugs promptly vanished and we scurried back to the beach.

it was a bit hotter on saturday, and i tried to rig up some shade at the campsite with a fallen signpost - to no avail. next time, i'll invest in a super lightweight shelter to bring along. i did discover that by lashing a metallic tarp to our tiny sun shelter on the beach, i could make a larger shade area - almost like a miniature covered wagon. great for reading the thornbirds, and for napping. scott wanted to take an evening walk, so we scheduled dinner for earlier to leave time for walking prior to mosquito invasion. we followed some wildlife trails around the dunes, and then scott asked me the big question! it was perfect. after strolling back to the site, we had just enough time to brush teeth, gather supplies for the night (because neither of us wanted to leave the tent after dark) and head for the tent. we played some scrabble and some UNO and hit the sack. i don't think my hair has ever been greasier. ever in my life. it actually felt wet and stiff at the same time.

Sunday, Day 3:

up at 7:00ish, breakfast, break camp. i think we departed around 10:00 - later than we had planned. and GOLLY the packs were a lot lighter on the way back. we packed just under 3 gallons a person - that's almost 30 pounds of just water. we drank almost every drop, so our packs were about 30 pounds lights on the trek back. wheeee! and it was f-ing hot. and one of our tent poles got so much sand jammed into the joints that it wouldn't collapse. poor scott had to walk the whole way with a 10 ft pole coming out of the top of his pack - which forced him to walk in the difficult, tiring fluffy sand for the first 2+ miles in order to keep from snagging on the multitude of fishing poles set up along the waterside. ask him about it someday. he'd love to tell you about it.

but man, once we got back to the car and dumped our crap everywhere, we hauled our butts to the icy cold water once again. an hour or two of swimming and resting and we were ready for cold showers in the campground area, followed by a seafood lunch at the assateague crab shack. after a weekend of drinking nothing but warm-ish water, icy cold pop never tasted so good. we were home before dark. and not a moment too soon.

Lessons learned: freeze-dried huevos rancheros aren't the best idea; we need a sun shelter; backpacking where there is no potable or fresh water at all is hard; pack at least one whole spray can of 30% deet bug spray PER DAY when camping out there (we almost ran out); we need a wind screen for the camp stove; if you bury hotdogs in the sand in the shade of a dune, they will stay nice and cool and the ponies won't find them; baby ponies sure are cute.

Will we do this again? certainly! just not right away.

BIG THANKS TO JESSIE AND DAVID: for the campstove and all the other donated goodies. we couldn't have done it otherwise.