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What the Heck Just Happened?
My first camping trip, ever. Today I'm going camping with my family for the first time ever. Being a 32 year old man, I have been told many times that I should have gone camping as a kid and that I'm an idiot for deciding to go at my age. I don't know why those people think that but I'm going anyways. It will be great, my brother, his wife, my parents, 3 nieces and wife are coming. The best part is that my wife is bringing our 3 year old, it's going to be a great time.
We arrive at the campsite, and I feel so relieved. We crammed our whole family into a mini van and drove for 2 hours and our child crying for half of the time. We all jump out of the van as fast as we can, hoping to feel the fresh air, which we do, mixed with the smell of humidity, is that a smell? The kids stretch their legs for 30 seconds, and then start running around, well, except our kid, he's sort of wobbling. While the kids run around all of the adults and I begin to take out our stuff from the back. "Blankets, marshmallows, change of clothes, first aid kit, toolbox and radio", I say as I take out the materials and pass them to my family. I then turn around only to see them giving me some kind of death stare. "What", I ask. Nobody speaks for a while, then my dad walks up to me and looks at me straight in the eyes. "You absolute moron", he says firmly. "You forgot the tents".
"No problem, I can just drive back and get them", I say shakily. Without waiting for their responses, I hop onto the driver's seat and start the car, or at least I try. " The car won't start", I yell as I open the door. I'm met by another death stare and a, " I can fix it". My mom walks up to the front of the car and starts tinkering with it. "I just need 15 minutes", she yells, "You guys go explore the woods for a while, your father will stay and help", she says and looks at my dad. That sounds fun, I think. I nod at my brother and we all walk up to the kids. "Hey, do you guys want to come explore the woods with us", I ask the kids with a wide smile and a high voice. "You sound dumb", my 8 year old niece says. My smile immediately drops as I watch all the other kids laugh. I turn to my brother and his wife to see if they'll do anything but only see them laughing. " Well we're going anyways", I say grabbing my toddler's hand. Those people were right, I AM an idiot.
We walk around the woods silently, stopping every once in a while to stare at a tree. "Look, a squirrel", screams my 5 year old niece. "Hey, start recording ", I tell my brother. He turns to his wife, then looks at me and then just shrugs and pulls out his camera. "Isn't it cute", I say as I start getting close to the squirrel, "Hey little guy", I begin to draw my hand close to the squirrel to pet it. Then, the squirrel turns around and immediately bites my hand. It runs away and my hand feels terrible. I then hear laughter, like EXTREMELY loud laughter. "Was that on purpose ", my brother asks. "No", I answer with tears in my eyes. "Then why did you ask him to record you", his wife asks. I thought it would be cute", I yell while still crying. "Oh you stupid man", says my brother, "You very stupid man".
We get back to the campsite 30 minutes later, only to find my mom still working on the car and my dad asleep on the backseats of the van. Before I can ask, my mom answers with, "While we were working on the car, a bear passed by, it didn't do anything, it just passed by and your dad got so scare he passed out. It took me forever to get him back there". "Well at least you didn't get bit by a squirrel", I say. "Did you try to pet a squirrel AGAIN", she asks, "Yeah", I mumble. "You were always a strange child". I watch as my mom works on the car for five minutes until she says, "Done".
I get on the car and start it. Then I hear the passenger doors open. "There's no way we're gonna do this for a full night", my mom says, everyone else nods. I have no problem with this because I wasn't planning on going back in the first place. As I begin to drive the mini van I see something fall in the distance and I see confetti flying all over the place. I get off the car to see what fell. It's a poster that says, Congratulations, Longest time spent at This Campsite! And then I scream the first thing that comes up my mind, "What the heck just happened".
© Azul Morales
We arrive at the campsite, and I feel so relieved. We crammed our whole family into a mini van and drove for 2 hours and our child crying for half of the time. We all jump out of the van as fast as we can, hoping to feel the fresh air, which we do, mixed with the smell of humidity, is that a smell? The kids stretch their legs for 30 seconds, and then start running around, well, except our kid, he's sort of wobbling. While the kids run around all of the adults and I begin to take out our stuff from the back. "Blankets, marshmallows, change of clothes, first aid kit, toolbox and radio", I say as I take out the materials and pass them to my family. I then turn around only to see them giving me some kind of death stare. "What", I ask. Nobody speaks for a while, then my dad walks up to me and looks at me straight in the eyes. "You absolute moron", he says firmly. "You forgot the tents".
"No problem, I can just drive back and get them", I say shakily. Without waiting for their responses, I hop onto the driver's seat and start the car, or at least I try. " The car won't start", I yell as I open the door. I'm met by another death stare and a, " I can fix it". My mom walks up to the front of the car and starts tinkering with it. "I just need 15 minutes", she yells, "You guys go explore the woods for a while, your father will stay and help", she says and looks at my dad. That sounds fun, I think. I nod at my brother and we all walk up to the kids. "Hey, do you guys want to come explore the woods with us", I ask the kids with a wide smile and a high voice. "You sound dumb", my 8 year old niece says. My smile immediately drops as I watch all the other kids laugh. I turn to my brother and his wife to see if they'll do anything but only see them laughing. " Well we're going anyways", I say grabbing my toddler's hand. Those people were right, I AM an idiot.
We walk around the woods silently, stopping every once in a while to stare at a tree. "Look, a squirrel", screams my 5 year old niece. "Hey, start recording ", I tell my brother. He turns to his wife, then looks at me and then just shrugs and pulls out his camera. "Isn't it cute", I say as I start getting close to the squirrel, "Hey little guy", I begin to draw my hand close to the squirrel to pet it. Then, the squirrel turns around and immediately bites my hand. It runs away and my hand feels terrible. I then hear laughter, like EXTREMELY loud laughter. "Was that on purpose ", my brother asks. "No", I answer with tears in my eyes. "Then why did you ask him to record you", his wife asks. I thought it would be cute", I yell while still crying. "Oh you stupid man", says my brother, "You very stupid man".
We get back to the campsite 30 minutes later, only to find my mom still working on the car and my dad asleep on the backseats of the van. Before I can ask, my mom answers with, "While we were working on the car, a bear passed by, it didn't do anything, it just passed by and your dad got so scare he passed out. It took me forever to get him back there". "Well at least you didn't get bit by a squirrel", I say. "Did you try to pet a squirrel AGAIN", she asks, "Yeah", I mumble. "You were always a strange child". I watch as my mom works on the car for five minutes until she says, "Done".
I get on the car and start it. Then I hear the passenger doors open. "There's no way we're gonna do this for a full night", my mom says, everyone else nods. I have no problem with this because I wasn't planning on going back in the first place. As I begin to drive the mini van I see something fall in the distance and I see confetti flying all over the place. I get off the car to see what fell. It's a poster that says, Congratulations, Longest time spent at This Campsite! And then I scream the first thing that comes up my mind, "What the heck just happened".
© Azul Morales
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