One of the things Joe and I wanted to do this summer was go camping. Well it didn't really work this summer and we had kind of given up on the idea until pretty recently. We decided to go to Hueston Woods, just southwest of Dayton near Indiana, on the last weekend of October.
Neither of us has a tent so we opted for a "camper cabin." It had one room with two sets of bunks and a small table, and one room with a double bed, mini fridge and small table. Thankfully it was heated because it got really cold.
When doing things like this, it becomes necessary to make fun of ourselves a little bit ^.
We got there Friday, midday, unpacked and set up a little bit, then went exploring in the woods behind the cabin.
This was our first taste of hiking for the weekend and it was promising.
When we got back, Joe started grilling steaks. Try grilling on a propane burner sometime, it's difficult, but the steaks turned out perfectly.
We tried to start a fire with the wood we bought from the campground store. It didn't start on fire, it just turned into coals, so we had to gather branches from the woods. I cooked perfect marshmallows and Joe melted a boot.
It got really cold that night and we didn't turn the heater on. Mistake.
But in the morning we drank a lot of coffee and headed out for a day of hiking.
Because I'm a little crazy, I decided we'd go hiking on the longest footpath listed. This was along the shore of the lake and was about 6 miles. We drove to the trail head and spent most of the day hiking along the shoreline. It was a great trail, lumpy, narrow, right next to the water, great views.
We hiked all day. And were sore.
Then we went horseback riding.
Joe had never been horseback riding. Ever. I decided a private ride would be better than a group ride, because who really wants to be out in nature with people they don't know? The private ride was walk, trot, canter.
Joe stayed on! And he tells me he enjoyed it, except for trotting, but no one really likes trotting on trail horses.
The horse I rode was a buckskin :) and he was the owner's cow horse. The owner told me the horse had a lot of go.
The horse had a lot of go.
But he quickly figured out I wasn't going to let him gallop around and ride up the guide horse's butt. See his ears? He's listening. He actually had a really nice jog and lope once I got him to do it. But we did gallop a little.
Joe's horse was slow and lazy. It took shortcuts through the woods to catch up without going faster. I think it was developing Cushings disease actually, because it was really sweaty by the end of the ride and it's coat was a lot longer than the other horses.
After we pried ourselves off the horses and slumped home we made a fire, with wood from the forest, and started grilling.
Chicken, sweet potatoes, peppers and zucchini.
And then marshmallows.
Then sleep. We were sore before the day ended and for the next two days.
Sunday we checked out and headed to the outlet mall in northern Cincinnati. Weird, I know. I had a gift card for the Gap, but it didn't work at the outlet, I was greatly disappointed.
Along the way to Cinci we found an old abandoned mill near some railroad tracks. It was super creepy but we didn't explore it because of the no trespassing sign.
After the outlet mall, we parted ways for home. Closed the lid on a truly awesome weekend.
What's next? Snowshoeing? Skiing? Or maybe a kayak/tent trip some day? I don't know. All I know is that this was the kind of weekend that I'd like to represent my identity. I love adventures, exploring, being active. There's a kind of peace, connection, inspiration in it. Set me in a forest or near a lake or on a horse and you'll have to drag me away. My mind goes somewhere else out there. It finally feels like I'm breathing. What is that?
An entire artistic, philosophic and literary movement occurred because of that feeling.
How good it is to be such a small piece of something so big.
When we got back, Joe started grilling steaks. Try grilling on a propane burner sometime, it's difficult, but the steaks turned out perfectly.
We tried to start a fire with the wood we bought from the campground store. It didn't start on fire, it just turned into coals, so we had to gather branches from the woods. I cooked perfect marshmallows and Joe melted a boot.
It got really cold that night and we didn't turn the heater on. Mistake.
But in the morning we drank a lot of coffee and headed out for a day of hiking.
Because I'm a little crazy, I decided we'd go hiking on the longest footpath listed. This was along the shore of the lake and was about 6 miles. We drove to the trail head and spent most of the day hiking along the shoreline. It was a great trail, lumpy, narrow, right next to the water, great views.
The leaves were all on the ground but they were still beautiful. We found tons of fallen trees to climb on, trees with our initials already carved in them, the perfect little lunch place on the shore, old glass bottles that will find a place in my apartment, and hills and ravines to climb when the trail got too boring.
We hiked all day. And were sore.
Then we went horseback riding.
Joe had never been horseback riding. Ever. I decided a private ride would be better than a group ride, because who really wants to be out in nature with people they don't know? The private ride was walk, trot, canter.
Joe stayed on! And he tells me he enjoyed it, except for trotting, but no one really likes trotting on trail horses.
The horse I rode was a buckskin :) and he was the owner's cow horse. The owner told me the horse had a lot of go.
The horse had a lot of go.
But he quickly figured out I wasn't going to let him gallop around and ride up the guide horse's butt. See his ears? He's listening. He actually had a really nice jog and lope once I got him to do it. But we did gallop a little.
Joe's horse was slow and lazy. It took shortcuts through the woods to catch up without going faster. I think it was developing Cushings disease actually, because it was really sweaty by the end of the ride and it's coat was a lot longer than the other horses.
After we pried ourselves off the horses and slumped home we made a fire, with wood from the forest, and started grilling.
Chicken, sweet potatoes, peppers and zucchini.
And then marshmallows.
Then sleep. We were sore before the day ended and for the next two days.
Sunday we checked out and headed to the outlet mall in northern Cincinnati. Weird, I know. I had a gift card for the Gap, but it didn't work at the outlet, I was greatly disappointed.
Along the way to Cinci we found an old abandoned mill near some railroad tracks. It was super creepy but we didn't explore it because of the no trespassing sign.
After the outlet mall, we parted ways for home. Closed the lid on a truly awesome weekend.
What's next? Snowshoeing? Skiing? Or maybe a kayak/tent trip some day? I don't know. All I know is that this was the kind of weekend that I'd like to represent my identity. I love adventures, exploring, being active. There's a kind of peace, connection, inspiration in it. Set me in a forest or near a lake or on a horse and you'll have to drag me away. My mind goes somewhere else out there. It finally feels like I'm breathing. What is that?
An entire artistic, philosophic and literary movement occurred because of that feeling.
How good it is to be such a small piece of something so big.
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