eaten alive
the marshal and i (along with celtcub, norcalpaco, damneddonkey, BFF-sarah and mike) ventured into the woods of santa cruz county this weekend. we arrived yesterday morning, pitched our tents, hiked a little, and ate a lot. we dined on delicious trail mix and fruit salad, pik-nik and veggie sticks, hot dogs and italian sausage, tandoori chicken skewers and pita, muffins and carrot-ginger cupcakes (in celebration of paul's b-day!) and finally, but most importantly, we partook of the ancient tradition of wood-fire roasted marshmallow, chocolate and graham crakers, AKA s'mores. everything was delicious. to pass the time we chatted a lot. with topics ranging from the boring-to-some-interesting-to-others WoW chat to the more introspect and deep questions of "when did you know so-and-so was 'the one'?". we also played games: say anything (similar to apples-to-apples, but personal questions) and flux (i was just getting into this one when BFF-sarah won and then didn't want to play anymore :P).
we also were eaten alive by mosquitoes. i have 2 on my temple, one on the inside of my left wrist, another on top of my right hand, and two huge ones right above my ass (yeah, don't ask how that sucker got in there!). marshall has a number all over him, too, and he keeps finding more. i believe most of these bites happened once we left the communal campsite and to our own tent (we were split into two camps, but ate and hung out at one of them). we spent the majority of our time at the communal site huddled around a fire and usually the smoke keeps bugs away. i also wore long pants and long sleeves yesterday and this morning, whereas marshall braved it all with shorts and sandals (luckily he brought a sweatshirt!).
despite the other campers in our group, marshall and i slept great. his slept well with the aid of ear plugs (something he's started to keep the noise of the cats from waking him up at night) and i, well, i can sleep pretty much anywhere if i'm tired enough. everyone else, though, seemed to have issues either falling asleep, staying asleep or just not able to sleep at all due to forest noises or lack thereof in some cases. i slept fine, but hated that i got up at 7:30 this morning. so not the time i would normally get up on a sunday!
overall, i loved the trip and i want to do it again and again! i'm worried the rest of the summer is already full-up to take a longer trip. i'm requesting a good chunk of time next week for the bridal posse getting-to-know-each-other party, i've got a potential trip to LA to visit the in-laws at some point, and sprinklings of activities and events on single days here and there. i think things will die down tremendously after august, but school starts up again soon after. i'm only taking one class in the fall, so i should have the time to take a weekend off. i'd be nice to go more than one night. i was just getting comfortable with nature and raring to go on another hike when we had to leave. :(
but yeah, i had a blast! :D
+_+_+
tomorrow starts my 8-week triathlon training. i just hope i last that long...
we also were eaten alive by mosquitoes. i have 2 on my temple, one on the inside of my left wrist, another on top of my right hand, and two huge ones right above my ass (yeah, don't ask how that sucker got in there!). marshall has a number all over him, too, and he keeps finding more. i believe most of these bites happened once we left the communal campsite and to our own tent (we were split into two camps, but ate and hung out at one of them). we spent the majority of our time at the communal site huddled around a fire and usually the smoke keeps bugs away. i also wore long pants and long sleeves yesterday and this morning, whereas marshall braved it all with shorts and sandals (luckily he brought a sweatshirt!).
despite the other campers in our group, marshall and i slept great. his slept well with the aid of ear plugs (something he's started to keep the noise of the cats from waking him up at night) and i, well, i can sleep pretty much anywhere if i'm tired enough. everyone else, though, seemed to have issues either falling asleep, staying asleep or just not able to sleep at all due to forest noises or lack thereof in some cases. i slept fine, but hated that i got up at 7:30 this morning. so not the time i would normally get up on a sunday!
overall, i loved the trip and i want to do it again and again! i'm worried the rest of the summer is already full-up to take a longer trip. i'm requesting a good chunk of time next week for the bridal posse getting-to-know-each-other party, i've got a potential trip to LA to visit the in-laws at some point, and sprinklings of activities and events on single days here and there. i think things will die down tremendously after august, but school starts up again soon after. i'm only taking one class in the fall, so i should have the time to take a weekend off. i'd be nice to go more than one night. i was just getting comfortable with nature and raring to go on another hike when we had to leave. :(
but yeah, i had a blast! :D
+_+_+
tomorrow starts my 8-week triathlon training. i just hope i last that long...