It is a favorite thing of mine to pitch a tent, hang the hammock, start a fire and lay or sit beneath the canopy of trees.
And a camping trip with any one from my family proves to be a fun adventure! We always know how to make things interesting. On this particular trip my brother Eric waged a contest to see who could get a fire going first. From the start, he didn't lay out any rules or mention items we couldn't use, therefore, I made my way to my hiking pack and pulled out the following items: My survival knife, fire starter sticks, and a lighter.
If my memory serves me correct, I do believe he gave me a hard time about the lighter and fire starter sticks once he saw them, and I politely reminded him that he never said what we could and couldn't use. His method involved tree sap and striking flint. (which I'll get to the tree sap in a bit.)
So guess who got a fire started first!? Yep. I was never a boy scout (for obvious reasons) but when it comes to the outdoors, I'm always prepared.
My brother had success with the tree sap, and Punkin sure enjoyed burning and charring things just because she could! But before long, with the combined efforts of all our flames and charred kindling, we had a blazing fire just perfect to start dinner with!
Another fantastic thing about camping in this family, is that you're sure to eat well! I can remember dad cooking up fried potatoes, eggs, bacon, and sausage for breakfast and roasts with carrots and potatoes for dinner, or pork chops...it was and is always a culinary delight!
My brother made a delicious Low Country Boil, minus the shrimp this time but chock full of cajun seasoning!
The picture above is proof of how much of a weenie I truly am...I must confess that although I speak highly of the outdoors and praise a Mighty God for His beautiful creation, the one thing that can send me running and screaming like the girl I am is a spider. Go ahead and laugh or chuckle or shake your head in disbelief, but before I can even get one foot in my hammock I spray the perimeter with bug spray. If not, I have these visions of laying quite comfortably in my hammock, swinging ever so slightly and watching the tree tops dance in the wind and it all being brought to a halt by eight legs and two beady eyes. So yes, I am a weenie. But I'm okay with that.
Okay, so now for the educational portion of this post. My brother taught me something, that my other brother taught him. Tree sap makes a great fire starter! Above is a picture of Punkin scraping sap from a pine tree. When lit, sap will burn for quite a while, and in the process will also ignite small kindling and leaves. Below is a shot of some sap burning.
And to continue on with the fun educational portion of this post, I also had to get a little inventive on this trip. I've reached the age where I can no longer sleep on the ground when camping, I (and my joints) prefer an air mattress these days. I had let a friend borrow mine so I searched my house for the next best thing. I have a self-inflating mattress, but it doesn't do the trick for me, but I found a pool float in my laundry room and figured I would give it a try.
I ended up sliding the pool float down into my sleeping bag to keep it contained and from shifting out from under me. I had a quilt with me to cover up with so it all worked out perfectly! I slept so well that night, that the pool float is now and always will be a permanent fixture in my hiking pack. Much lighter than an air mattress and takes less time to inflate too!
All this talk of camping really has me wanting to make haste to the great outdoors, but alas the school and work schedule will not allow it most likely until next summer. Reminiscing is the next best thing : )
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