a walk in the woods

This past weekend Mark and I met up with Heather and Denis for a camping trip in the Berkshires and it was a great time! The campsite Heather found was perfect, with a soothing stream nearby and hikes on the premises. We got there an hour late of course since Mark had been slow to get going in the morning (as I anticipated) but even though I wanted to be mad at him I couldn't since he knew just what to joke about to make me laugh on the car ride over.

We got there a little before 1pm and set up our tent, which I have last used 2 years ago when we went on a 3 day kayaking adventure in the Adirondacks. Sadly I had forgotten that it was wet when I packed it up 2 years ago, so when it came out of the bag it was still a little wet and moldy, but after airing out for the afternoon it was liveable at night. Mark had been dreading a difficult hike, but I reassured him we would do mainly flat walks...little did we all know the 2.5 mile trail we choose was 75% steep uphill. I was definitely huffing and puffing and sweating like everyone else, but I think my running kept my legs from getting to be like jelly and shaking. Mark was a trooper and survived, and even Tina did a great job. By the time we got back we had all worked up an appetite. Heather and I took a dip in the freezing cold stream trying to de-sweat since the "swimming area: looked like sewer water and was full of obese kids and adults.

We went in to North Adams for dinner, and found a cute little Italian place called "Red Sauce" via the iphone. Then we relaxed in front of the fire at the campsite with some (forbidden) beer and wine and marshmellows, amazingly for once the vegan counterpart trumped the regular marshmellows.

Our night's sleep was a little non-exsistent since Mark and I did not have an air mattress and the ground was full of small rocks. Mark first wanted to try climbing in to one sleeping bag and using the second as a mattress, but that resulted in me having my shoulders exposed to the cold air and being half on half off of the rocky ground with no pillows (Mark kept telling me to rest my head on his chest while he had the pillows). After an hour of that I couldn't do it anymore and made Mark fork over the other sleeping bag so we slept side by side. It was warmer then, but the rocks were worse, and Mark slid down the very minor incline to wake up in the corner of the tent. Despite all of that, I was surprised by Mark's optimistic attitude in the morning. Instead of being pissy and complaining, he just said "Hun, next time we go camping, we have to bring an air mattress". Maybe my optimistic, happy attitude rubbed off!

On Sunday we just did a short trip driving up to the top of Mt. Greylock, which had gorgeous views and made me think of the scene with the mountain in Bill Bryson's "A Walk In The Woods". We called it an early day and avoided another hike so that everyone would be well rested for work the next day (well, Denis at his new job, Mark on his important project, and then me doing nothing and Heather looking for jobs is more accurate). I had a great time, and it sounds like everyone else did too, so hopefully we can pull off another short weekend trip later in the summer if I actually get any decent time off.