A Week with the Silent Soldiers

It's been three years since Steve and I went camping last.

Well this past week we took care of that. Saturday the 29th, we had a family of gypsies squat in our home and since they didn't seem to be leaving any time soon, we asked them to watch all the dogs and puppies so we could take a short vacation.

(Note to the gypsies: I know how you don't like your business told, so I disguised you here)

We also had my youngest daughter and her new fiance' come visit.

Although the visit was way too short and there was a little more than average commotion with the gypsies and all, we had a great visit. I hope they have a long relaxing existence together.

This day and age it's so difficult to understand, let alone live the word commitment.

Sunday night we pulled out the telescope and took a look at Jupiter and it's 4 moons.

I don't have a camera that could have pulled off the moons.... but I did manage to get one clear (non-wobbly) pic of Ole Jup!!

Monday night, after 'bout and hour of discussing it, we decided on Longfork Campground. A gay owned and operated 86 acres in the middle of nowhere just north of Charleston WV. It's also a clothing optional facility which is just what we wanted and needed.

Tues morning we pulled out every bit of stuffed away camping gear we could find, a cooler here, a chair there.... pillows and a few sheets. Loaded the Jeep and off we went. Five and a half hours later we were pulling into our home for the next week.

As hard as we try, Steve and I just can't seem to put up a tent without getting on each others nerves. I think we focus too hard on it and somehow it backfires. Needless to say, however I will.... we shot each other a few of those "Why am I camping with you" looks, but eventually got the tent in place and our gear stored. Settled in... cooked our first meal which was flank steak with peppers and onions and a mixed vegetable stir fry.

I won't bore you with daily meals, but we ate well. Especially the shrimp and steak kabobs. By day three we were experts at boiled coffee and I'd have to say I miss it now.

Our first night up at the pool/hot tub was fun. Since it was middle of the week, there were just a few regulars hanging out (literally). Four... five... six... cocktails later we would all, flop back and forth from the HOT.. hot tub and the warm pool. Mind you the air temps were around 50 degrees. Steve after a while wandered off to tend the biggest campfire I've seen in some time.

The warmth of the fire on wet naked flesh was so relaxing. The flames were near 6 ft tall, which in hindsight was some sort of foreshadowing, because as the week moved closer to the weekend, more and more "flamers" started arriving. I guess I shouldn't be so hard on them, but they should realize how in a campground environment.... they do stand out.

What a great first night it was though. Happy people drinking and laughing and swimming and playing with fire.

Dawn came as shimmering light scattered throughout the tree tops and slowly worked it's way down the moss covered bark of those silent soldiers who protected us while we slept.

The chilled morning air a too sudden reminder that we were naked in the woods.

Naked and hung-over, but still smiling.

One morning this little fella dropped in to visit. I'm not sure of his "real"name, but I grew up calling him a Tobacco Worm, because that's what his kind would eat.

Any kind of bug or critter could have fallen from those trees, but NO... we had to have a tobacco worm visit us. I just imagined it was my dad saying Hey, and to keep certain body parts away from the fire if we were gonna drunkenly dance around it with no pants on.

86 acres covers quite a big area. Longfork has several primitive roads and a beautiful meadow that affords any day hiker a peaceful place to relax in the sun. On one of my many visits to this sun drenched oasis, I snapped these happy creatures just doing their thing.

A not so advertised part of the Camp is this old family graveyard. Some of the headstones date back to the early 1800's and later when I inquired about it, the owners told me how there's an entire family buried there who died in a house fire. They were so poor they couldn't afford funerals, so the farm family allowed them to be buried in their graveyard.

So poor were these people, that they only have rocks as headstones.

You can see the rocks behind the one headstone. There were around 7 graves with just stones.

Well, all good things must come to an end and Camping Au Natural was one of those things.

Our last day... the day before Labor Day, we flipped a coin and decided to take a chance on that 40% chance of rain. We Lost. The rain started early evening and by midnight we seriously thought our tent would be swept down the hill by mudslide. Fortunately we had already prepared most of our gear for rain, but we were never prepared for the 8 hour downpour we got.

Sometime around 1 am we abandoned our tent and headed for the bunkhouse. Steve and Tony, the owners had given us a key should we need shelter other than our floating and flooded neoprene cave. We grabbed the few blankets that hadn't been soaked and headed up hill for a drier location to finish the night, hoping our tent which we had secured to those silent soldiers, would still be there in the morning light.

Arriving at the bunkhouse we saw it was occupied, so we crept as quietly as two hikers who looked as though we had just emerged from mother natures womb, could. It was only 20ft or so from the jeep to the front door, but this was over rough stone and with bare feet softened by hours of rainwater.

We scoped our new shelter, apologized to the one tenant for our late intrusion and went back to gather our belongings. Four feet off the bottom step, I caught glimpse of the snake as it struck out at my leg. Where had this snake been when we crossed this very same path only moments before? I leaped back , just barely avoiding its fangs. It immediately recoiled, but by this time I had not only managed to be well clear of it, I had also managed to have possibly the biggest girly fit of my entire life.

Now with flashlight in hand and positioned squarely on this pissed off snake, I could see I had narrowly escaped being bitten by not only a 3 ft snake, but a 3ft Copperhead.

In the dark and the pouring rain I managed to find a stick, but assessing the situation I thought it best that I NOT hit at a 3ft snake with a 2 ft stick, especially since they can strike much farther than their length. We tried dropping a rock on its head, but only managed to piss it off even more. The snake decided we weren't worth the trouble and headed off into the darkness.

We got our blankets, got in the cabin and eventually fell asleep.

The morning came way too early.... still raining and much muddier than before, we headed back to our tent and proceeded to break camp. It'll take DAYS to dry out all our gear. Our drive home was just as beautiful as our drive to the Campground even with the sky a little overcast. We headed north to visit the Fairfax Stone. This Boundary Stone has several purposes, and one of them is to mark the spring that is the head water of the north fork of the Potomac River. Since I had spent my childhood at the mouth of the Potomac River, I thought it would be nice to see where the river came from.

I guess a dry summer made our visit a little anti-climatic, because it's suppose to be a spring. It was still nice to visit such a historical and prominent marker.

Leaving the Fairfax Stone we caught site of these wonders. An entire mountain ridge of windmills.

I LOVED it. Yes, there are organizations fighting to protect the view of the mountains... WHATEVER!!!! I'd rather see windmills parked up there than see those murdering coal mining companies destroying one mountain top after another. Lets not forget the factories that will one day block out not only the sun but that precious view those idiots are trying to protect.

If only we could get 50 or 100 of them across the river on MD Heights!!!!

We had to drive up a road that I swore led to someones Still to get this next shot. I based this on all the "Stay Out" and "Trespassers Will Be Shot" signs. Notice the tractor trailer parked at the bottom of the windmill to get the correct perspective.

We saw Saddleback Mountain going both directions and it's breathtaking whether in full sun or cloud cover. Somewhere up here is a ski resort.... not that we'd ever go.

So we made it home, some of the gypsies had left already and all our furniture was still in the same place. None of our puppies had been sold into the circus and the following morning when the neighbors were still talking to us, I realized having gypsies in your home could be a good thing.

Back to work for Steve and off to 12 piles of puppy poop X 5 times a day for me. Oh and lets not forget the laundry.... OH the Laundry.

I found myself pausing in our own back yard yesterday when I returned home form the grocery store. I stared up at our own silent soldiers. How had I forgotten them..... taken them for granted? I think we might camp at home next time. What a soul cleansing, revitalizing week it's been!!! I wish you all the same peace and tranquility that's consumed us these past several days.