We headed out for the long weekend, starting on Friday, with the return sometime on Monday. This was a Jaycee trip to Grandfather Mountain area (Boone, NC). The intent was 'car camping' at a campground that actually had running water, so this was good. Around the area was plenty to do, some traditional camping activities, some not so traditional.

We got there Friday afternoon, set up camp and enjoyed the sunshine. After playing around a bit, we got hungry. We realized we didn't really want to admit we were camping yet, so 4 of us (there were like 50 or so in all) went out for local food. We ended up at a pizza joint. Not bad actually.

We returned to the campsite, to enjoy the fire and the camaraderie. Of course, any were also enjoying alcohol, and lots of it. Which inevitably leads to random singing and guitar playing. And of course, throwing large sticks into a flame. Me, I went to bed early.

But not in my bed per se. Knowing full well that I am a camping wussy, I went out prior to the trip and purchased an inflatable air mattress. Even cooler, was that it had its own built-in fan. All good then, right? So after the tent was setup, I put the mattress in and turned on the fan. Hmm.

It didn't take long to realize that this bed would end up being a little bit too big for our tent. Ugh. Fortunately Richard had a smaller bed and was in larger tent, so we were able to swap. Ok, now all set. Which was good, because I had to get up at a decent hour (by 9 anyway) to go out and really enjoy the camping experience.

And by that, I mean golf. Given all of my feet issues, there was no way in hell I was going hiking. And since Richard had gone hiking the day before and already tired himself out, he was a sport and decided to go along with me. Everyone else basically decided between two hikes; one, a nice 4.9 mile hike along a stream where you could bring dogs; or two, the baton death march in which even the fearless leader came back with a noticeable limp.

Bring on the golf cart!