Camping--The Ultimate Learning Experience

So this weekend, Marc, Mags, and I took to the woods, as Louise Dickinson Rich would say, and had ourselves a good ole fashioned camping trip down at Blue River , near Tishomingo, OK.  I had never been here before, but it's where MJ and his pals go 2x a year for the Trout Derby.  He's always said how much I would love it, so I finally told him "take me to camp, or lose me forever."  And he did.  And I loved it.  If you're an Okie, you know that our bodies of water typically vary in color from brown to bright red, but this one stayed true to its name and was so lovely.  We had to cross a low-lying part of it to get to our campsite, and once there, you could hear the rushing of the water over the large boulders and stones while sitting at the campfire.  If that isn't relaxing and peaceful, I just do not know what is.  

The brush was a bit overgrown in spots, so the hiking wasn't the greatest, but it didn't bother me too much.  Even though I'm an avid hiker, I've been having such a good time on my sweater lately that I really had planned to spend the majority of my time working on it.   I also had my 800+ page book to keep me company, and so when I wasn't napping, I had more than enough to do.  The ONLY thing I didn't like at the place was the lack of bathroom facilities.  Usually, we are camping at state/nat'l parks, where there are--even if substandard--shower rooms and regular flushing toilets.  Now, I'm outdoorsy enough to not mind in the least having to pee out in the bushes or skip a shower.  Not a problem.  But because this isn't a a funded park, there are no shower facilities, and the "toilets" are pretty much a hole in the ground with a toilet seat plopped on top. The only place you can go for any kind of shower and toilet time is at Scotty's, a local convenience store up the road from the campground, and that will set you back a whopping $3.00 per use.  But being curious, I wanted to check out the "brick sh*t house" that JC had been telling me horror stories about for weeks.   I honestly didn't think I would mind it too much, seeing how I've used a porta-potty before (granted, I was a kid last time I used one), but even though I had several warnings prior to the trip to NOT look in the toilet, well, you guessed it, of course I did.  And having done so, I turned right back around and walked outta that crap hole never to look back.  

So I guess I learned that I'm not as daring as I thought I was, and if I'm ever in a location where an emergency toilet is necessary and a hole is my best option, well, I guess I'll just have to hold it in or pay $3.00.