Getting Farther Away from It All

August 11

Jack and I awoke first. When Devon awoke a few minutes later, he began talking in all caps, even though he was whispering. “HEY MOM, DAD, GUESS WHAT??? WHEN I WAS ASLEEP I THOUGHT I WAS IN MY OWN BED, AND THEN I WOKE UP AND THERE WERE TREES OVER MY HEAD AND WE WERE CAMPING!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!” That boy needs to get out more.

One of the main reasons we had chosen a campground so close to the freeway was my special music for church. I didn’t want to show up to sing for the out-of-town guest speaker without being clean and sparkly.

After showering, ahhhhhh, I put on my beautiful flowered dress Tina had just gotten me, and the little blue jacket with the embroidered flowers. Something seemed a little different than the other time I wore it, but I didn’t give it much thought till walking back to the campsite. It just seemed………..drafty.

Maybe I hadn’t pulled it all the way down. I tugged and wiggled to make sure it was on right, but it didn’t help. Finally I asked Tina, “Do you think this shrank when I washed it?”

The shrill cackling was less than reassuring. As she saw the elegant knee-high slits, now all the way up to… well, never mind…her mirth increased. “You looked like a Flowered Jungle Woman, hahahahahaha!”

It’s very unkind to laugh at someone and mock them without offering any solution, so as soon as she could catch her breath, Tina offered to let me use her extra outfit. She is the soul of consideration. The only price I had to pay was graciously overlooking the snickers, chortles, and guffaws that flowed my way. For hours.

On the bright side, I got to be clean, sparkly, AND clothed when I sang.

In the afternoon, everyone else went to Makoshika to hike. I just drove back and forth between the hiking trail and Glendive. Not that I am bitter.

Upon arriving back at our campsite, something so bizarre happened that I can hardly still believe it. Part of our group, and several friends, a total of 8 people, were standing in our campsite, quietly talking. We had just gotten back, and were chatting for a few minutes before going our separate ways.

The proprietress rode up on her ATV and started yelling at us, literally yelling. We had parked our car in the wrong place, and our friends’ car wasn’t back in their spot yet. There were too many people in our campsite, and they needed to leave. We had spilled out of the confines of our allotted space.

When I apologized for inadvertently breaking the rules, asked what our allotted space was, and pointed out that, since there were no lines or boundary markers anywhere, that it was hard to tell, she became even more irate. At one point, our friend, a sweet, soft-spoken lady who is prayerfully considering a move to Glendive, asked her, “There are only 8 of us here, talking quietly. Are we not allowed to do that?”

The lady yelled at her, too. “You get out of here! Go back to your tent and STAY THERE!!!!!!”

I finally asked if she would just return our money so we could go somewhere else. She furiously refused. When Jack got back, we packed up and left, $22 poorer and with nothing to show for it but hurt feelings and ringing ears.

Tina, Laura, and our friends, all came with us to set up our new camp at Makoshika. We got to borrow Damon’s and Tiggy’s friends for the night, too, and they each set up their own tent in our remote, gargantuan space. Boundary lines were no question there. We couldn’t have taken up all the space to the next camping space if we had tried. And really, we did try.

Blessed fellowship, campfire, a mellow guitar, roasted marshmallows and smores, scorched veggie dogs,

one veggie dog all but incinerated

before its triumphant recovery

…the evening passed all too quickly.

The night before, most of the padding hadn’t been enough for the Princess and the Pea, so this time he got it all. After all, he’s much more delicate. And this time, we found ourselves lulled to sleep by the wind in the pines.

Camping, at last.