Highlights of the weekend (in order of occurrence)
1. Ryan ordering a Big Mac with no pickles, having the wrapping of the Big Mac labeled 'No Pickles' and then opening his sandwich to find PICKLES.
2. Being introduced to D3 'Camp Host'
3. Stewie bolting out of his cage and running to another campsite.
4. Being shushed by the Park Ranger.
5. Hiking to the St. Croix River and enjoying the beautiful views.
6. Ryan falling out of his chair around the camp fire.

So what did we do this weekend? We went camping! We joined two other couples, friends of ours from Assurant, for a weekend of fun filled camping excitement. Oyi. While the campsite was nice and the company was even better, I know now that I HATE CAMPING. I hate the taste of Deet on my fingers after I've forgotten that I sprayed myself down with bug spray and then eat chips or drink water and taste it on my lips. I hate having to put on my shoes, climb out of a tent, grab the flashlight and close the tent just to walk to the bathroom (granted, having a bathroom facility was a huge bonus). I really thought I could have enjoyed camping. The six of us went camping for the first time two years ago and had an absolute blast. The campsites were open, our three sites were close and we put our tents up on grass. It was an excellent introduction to camping. One of the couples are avid campers, they camp 3-5 times a summer, while Ryan & I along with the other couple, not so much. Since we had such a great time (well, as great as you could camping) two years ago, we decided (the women) to try it out again this year! We left after work on Friday and made the hour and half drive to Wild River State Park, just east of Rush City. The park itself is very pretty. The map of the campsites looked like the sites were really close to the St. Croix, but after Saturday's hike, it wasn't that close at all. Back to Friday, Ryan and I put our tent up with ease. I was very thankful that we didn't have any problems as this was our first use of the tent I bought Ryan two years ago for his birthday after our inaugural expedition. I nested, as any good women would do, and then we grabbed our chairs and some beer and headed off to see what the others were up to. C & J were sitting in their car and they looked miserable. They made the journey effortlessly without passing through rain only for it to start pouring as they were half way through putting up their tent. Once they saw us, they shook off their annoyances and we started a fire and drank some beer. F & E arrived shortly after and joined us for some drinking and chatting. I will admit that I did throughly enjoy catching up over the fire and enjoying the nice evening after the rain had passed through. The Camp Host, aka D3, came around and introduced himself and welcomed us to the park. D3's purpose was make sure we were all enjoying ourselves and if there was anything he could do, we were to go and see him. This became the running joke of the weekend ... 'D3 we figured out what you could do for us, make us dinner,' 'Oh no it's D3' and so on. The park has quiet hours from 10:00 p.m. - 8:00 a.m. and after 10 p.m. it was dead quiet that first night. We had our fire going and were still going strong enjoying the night when the Park Ranger came by and very politely asked us to keep it down. He was so incredibly friendly about it that we felt bad. After the Ranger left, we put out the fire and returned to our own tents. Saturday morning I awoke at 6:15 a.m. to what sounded like somebody dribbling a basketball. WTF? Go back to bed. I tried to ignore it, but it was so annoying that I looked out the window and saw two boys in the road standing about 10 feet away from each other kicking a soccer ball back and forth. Seriously. Ryan too woke up and since we were both up, we got dress, put on our shoes and walked to the bathroom. We had breakfast and had cleaned up our site all before 7:30 a.m. Ryan had his crabby pants on and decided to go back to bed as C & J and F & E were not awake yet. I decided to take the opportunity to enjoy the morning and read my book. Apparently I too was tired and fell asleep reading in the chair. I woke up and went back into the tent where Ryan and I slept until 11 a.m.! After we got up the second time, we joined the others and went on a hike to the St. Croix River. The hike was fun and we saw where the old dam used to be. It was very interesting. The walk back sucked, it was all up hill and it felt as if we were never going to get there. Ryan only had his sandals and his feet were really starting to hurt with the blisters that had formed. Before you say 'poor Ryan', I'd like to mention that I did tell him he should bring his tennis shoes, but he refused saying his sandals would be better especially if it was wet, but perhaps his blog will tell a different story. I think it was the moment that we returned to the campsite that F & E and Ryan & I decided we were never going camping again. We'll do a cabin, but not a tent. We spent six hours sitting around the fire and just sitting. We did cook dinner together which was very fun. I borrowed a mini gas grill from one of my coworkers. Their grill was pimped out. It had the prep tables on each side of the grill and cooked 12 ears of corn, six brats, six burgers, bacon and diced potatoes very very well! Ryan was the grill master and did a fantastic job. Everything was so yummy. As usual, we brought way too much food! After our 'after dinner snacks' we burned the left overs! That was awesome. We also made a game of throwing grapes into the fire with some very very arbitrary rules. I'm sure Ryan will tell more about that! We said our goodbyes and turned in early out of boredom. I woke up at 6:57 a.m. and immediately started to roll up my sleeping bag. Ryan woke up to my milling about, looked at me with a smile as I said, "I'm ready to go home!" Ryan followed suit and by 7:30 we said goodbye to Wile River State Park. We hit up Denny's for breakfast in Rush City and cruised on home to see our cats! I feel all grimy and I have a sheen of bug spray still on me that I can't wait to bathe off.

All in all the weekend was fun. I got spend the entire time with the love of my life without interruptions from the TV, computer or cell phone. I had fun catching up with C & J and F & E. We had many laughs and it was nice just to be able to relax and do nothing for a couple days. I forgot my camera, but Ryan had his i-Phone and we were able to take some pictures before it died. Click here to view!