Necessities
So last weekend, after talking about it for 12 months, we went camping with Brian and Jerry. OK, so preface this with this is my first time camping..ever. so I expected that there would be some lively stories of me missing the comforts of home…but not so much. We decided on Cherokee National Forest (outside of Tellico Plains). It’s a little less regulated (i.e. we could have some booze) and a lot less busy than our Great Smokies National Park. We were later than expected on Saturday getting setup. Brian had to stop and eat (of course) before entering the park. Then, we couldn’t decide on the perfect location for to setup ‘Camp WTF’.
More necessities
Setting up
COFFEE!!
Once we got setup, we got a small fire going. The trees were at peak fall color and the weather was amazing. Sunny and in the 70’s. Tent setup was much easier than expected. I’d already warned everyone that there was likely to be a flurry of foul language when I started setting it up. Wow, they’re a lot easier than they were was a kid! in 15 minutes, we were all setup. Jerry had to meet us there because of work obligations and since we were in a location a little hard to describe, Brian went to meet him. M and I manned the fire (oh crap, my cigars were in the car with Brian… grrrrr!) and started sampling the beverages. M had made a Cherry, Apple, Pineapple vodka punch that was yummy, but I settled down with some Famous Grouse.
When Brian and Jerry got back, we started dinner (unfortunately we waited until a little too close to dark so it made it difficult). I loved Jerry’s quote, “This is why we enjoy going camping with E & M. If we’d came, we would have sandwiches and chips… they bring a gourmet diner” And we kinda did. We (OK M did most of the work on this one) had braised brats with grilled onion and belle peppers and ‘puppy chow’ for dessert.
M crafting our dinner in the dark
Jerry spent the evening crafting Blair Witch props to leave behind and film for his daily video entry. And we laughed and chatted into the morning. And even popped some popcorn.
Bug net… he brought a bug net.
Now, sleeping was a different story… next time E will have an air mattress or take a memory foam mat or something. It’s amazing how uncomfortable a pea sized rock can be. And we were a little cold. Just a little forethought will fix that next time. And apparently someone was wandering through our campsite during the night. I missed that, but we had plenty of firepower in case of thugs or bears.
M and I woke up early and THANK GOODNESS, she had brought coffee!! It was great to sit around before the boys woke up, get the fire going, and have coffee. It was just brisk enough to be able to wear a heavy sweater and have a small fire. Once the boys got up, We had chirozo and egg breakfast burritos. We soon started packing and the funniest part was trying to watch J & B fold a tent as a team. They should NEVER try to work as a team! Hilarious.
All in all, it was a really fun little trip. I wish we’d got there a little earlier and stayed a little longer, but I’m already looking forward to going back. 
Bobblehead
- The foliage was perfect!
M had to help…
