Camping Fun

About 6 or 7 years ago, we found a campground in Virginia that we really like to visit. It’s primitive camping (meaning, no water or electric hookups, no cell phone service and no Internet) which makes for a really nice time for visiting with just the people you’re with – no outside distractions.

This year, we had 19 people, 5 campers and 2 tents. We took up 5 camp sites and had a great time! Matt, Colton and I left on Friday morning and headed to Bristol so that we could stop and check out the brand new Bass Pro Shop up there. While we were waiting on the rest of our camping crew, we looked around the store, got Colton his first BPS hat and grabbed lunch at their restaurant (which was – surprisingly –  good). We had great weather driving and setting up camp but as soon as we had everything out, in came a torrential downpour. It was probably the hardest rain we’ve ever experienced while camping up there. It lasted for about an hour (long enough to completely soak everything) and then cleared off.

Since the campground sits right against the creeper trail, on Saturday a group headed out to ride the 20+ miles to Damascus. I rode it last year, but we (Matt, Colton and I) opted out of the ride this year and relaxed around the camp site. Since Colton decided to take a 2 hour nap, Matt took advantage of it and followed suit and I got to do some reading. It was so nice (and quiet)!  Saturday night we had kabobs on the fire and lots of other awesome campfire goodies. The laughs and the stories will stay with me for a long time.

Sunday was nice, but cloudy. We packed up and drove down to the lake/beach area for a few hours. Colton loved splashing in the water and playing in the sand. The real excitement (for me) on the trip happened on Sunday afternoon. My Mom and I took Colton to the playground and he was climbing up the stairs, walking over the swinging bridge and going down the slide. Out of nowhere, I look down and Colton is standing on a snake. Literally, he was standing right on it. He had it trapped with his foot. I couldn’t believe it. I saw the snake flapping from side to side and then it turned to go up his leg. I wanted to panic, but I guess Mom instinct kicked in because I stepped towards it with a stomp and grabbed Colton. As soon as I swung him off, the snake slithered away from us and was gone as quickly as it had arrived. So lucky. It felt like 10 minutes, but I’m sure it was about 2 seconds. Talk about instant heart attack! All I could think after it happened, (while checking Colton to make sure there were no bites or marks) was “that was not a black snake or a garter snake. What the heck kind of snake was that? Was it a copper head? Oh crap, I didn’t see the shape of its head, but surely it wasn’t a copper head. It wasn’t a rattle snake because I didn’t hear the tail. Oh my gosh, did that really just happen? I would’ve killed that snake if it had bit my baby. Did that really just happen? Where the heck did it go?”!!! I was shaking so bad and everything on that playground looked like a snake after that. Needless to say, we only stayed for about 5 more minutes and headed back to camp!

 After weekends like this, I leave feeling so re-charged, focused and blessed. I mean, my Mamaw and Papaw Shelton are both in their 80’s (Papaw will be 89 this month) so I don’t know how many more trips I’m going to get to take with them! I’m beyond thankful for a tight-knit family (and friends) who loves to spend time together. I’m thankful that being together is a priority in their lives. It takes an effort to make weekends like this happen. People have to plan, take off work, rearrange schedules and coordinate, but when it all comes together, it’s priceless. Thank you to the 18 people who helped make this weekend so much fun – I love you all dearly and can’t wait to do it again.