My best camping story... It would have to have been when I was younger and my dad, sister, and I camped out by an old abandoned saw mill on some property of ours. We pitched our tents on the edge of a field with a line of forest on the other side of the creek and got everything set before the sun had even thought about setting. I was so excited to be outdoors I could barely stand it! It was summer so it was hot and the bugs were out in force. We made a fire out of some small saplings that were still green so the smoke would make the bugs leave us alone. My dad grabbed a few sticks and had me shaving the ends off for our hot dogs; and later our marshmallow delights. As the sun dipped down behind the forest and the frogs and crickets started singing there light melody we ate our dinner around a small campfire by this creek and concrete wall of the abandoned saw mill. As dusk came upon us dad sent us to the creek to wash dishes while he set up for desert. While my sister and I were at the creek she happened to start flicking food at me from off our plates like siblings will do to tease each other and of course I had to retaliate! Well with no food in hand I did what anyone would have done... I threw some good ole squishy mud from the creek side! She freaked! My sister has always been slightly prissy and the "I don't want to get dirty type", well I smacked her one good time with this glob of mud and she started squealing. In her haste to grab some and throw it at me she didn't pay attention to how close to the edge she was. As she reached over to grab some mud herself she stepped into it and slid head first into the creek edge where it was mud galore. By this point my dad has joined us to see what all the commotion was about and he and I end up laughing and hooting and hollering as she harrumphs into the mud and angrily demands to go home. After my dad took some bowls and washed most of the mud from her and we all had calmed down and she had on her clean clothes we had our marshmallow delights! Which consists of graham crackers, a reese's cups and one slice of a hersey bar and it is a little bite of heaven! We managed to convince my sister to stay after I let her throw some more mud at me and we sat and told ghost stories around the fire. But, as we sat around the fire the coolest thing happened, a huge Great Horned Owl swooped down about 15 feet from our fire and snatched up a mouse and turned to look at all of us as he hooted and flew off with his prey!!! After that we all sat in silence and stared into the fire and too soon Dad sent us off to bed and we slept well enough since we were sleeping in tents before we were so graciously introduced to hammocks. Around 2am I woke up suddenly unsure what caused me to wake with a start. I laid there a few more minutes and decided what the heck I wanted to watch the stars. As I climbed out of the tent my dad looked up from his spot by the now dim fire as he smiled at me. He said " I wondered how long it would take you to wake up and sneak out here to look at stars." I grinned as he pointed out in the field. About 50 Yards away were a pair of coyotes playing with their two pups, you could see them from the light of the almost full moon. Their yipping is what had woken me up. He let me sit and just watch the coyotes and the stars but after an hour or so he sent me back to bed. We woke the next morning, Packed, and headed back home. That was probably the best camping trip ever!
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