Sad Movies and Camping

"Some national parks have long waiting lists for camping reservations. When you have to wait a year to sleep next to a tree, something is wrong." ~George Carlin

"It always rains on tents. Rainstorms will travel thousands of miles, against prevailing winds for the opportunity to rain on a tent." ~Dave Barry


"I got into an argument with a girlfriend inside of a tent. That's a bad place for an argument, because then I tried to walk out and slammed the flap. How are you supposed to express your anger in this situation? Zipper it up really quick?" ~Mitch Hedberg

{I just had to add all of these quotes. They were so funny, I couldn't pick just one.}

I don't like to watch sad movies. I've seen a few in my life. Life is Beautiful, Forrest Gump, West Side Story. These all stick with me. I can't shake them. Every time I watch a sad movie, it burns a little hole in my heart that can never be healed. I don't really understand why people would like to purposely make themselves sad. Why do we do that? Am I the only one that thinks like this? I would much rather waste my 2 hours being happy, or uplifted, or inspired. Yep. When it comes to watching something sad or depressing, you can count me out. (This also applies to any violence. Especially torture or violence against children or animals)

On to my next rant. I don't understand this whole camping thing that people purposely do. Don't get me wrong. I LOVE to be outdoors. I like to hike, see beautiful mountains, waterfalls, wildlife. It's so fun-- as long as I can go home and sleep in a nice comfortable bed, use a real toilet, and eat a hot meal. Why do people let go of all their comforts in life on purpose? I might have a theory. You see, when I was a young child, I remember taking off my sandals and walking on the gravel with my bare feet. It hurt a lot. We had "crushed rock", not the smooth pea gravel. This jagged rock would hurt with every step I took, yet I did this on purpose. Why? Because when I walked on the grass after walking on the rock, the grass would feel SO GOOD on my feet! It was worth that pain, so the ordinary grass would feel extraordinary!! Is that why people sleep on rocks and in the cold? Is that why we poop in a hole in the ground and eat canned beans? So when we get home we can appreciate the soft mattress and heated house? This is my only idea.

Speaking of camping. This is how we "rough it" We made a fire in the "desolate wasteland" part of our backyard and roasted marshmallows. The only problem is that we didn't have any large marshmallows, only mini ones. So, we made do with that. We also had mini Hershey's bars and graham crackers, so we made mini smores. Sounds good, huh? Nope. Mini marshmallows don't toast as well. The kids enjoyed it though. Here are some pictures.