Rodeo Weekend (Part 2)

Last weekend we headed to a local rodeo with some friends. It was a weekend long event and what I really thought sounded like fun was that fact that you could camp out with all the cowboys and cowgirls! It was gonna be like a giant camp out! I'm all in for that! Now I cannot say that I am "a camper". I own camping equipment...tent, tarp, inflatable bedrolls, battery lanterns, portable water containers, bug spray, enamel ware, bandanna napkins...pretty much covers it! I can also say that when it comes to camping I am pretty much not a wuss. Well, that was until last weekend...
We were scheduled to meet Tony, Ann and Morgan on Friday night but the rains came and they said that the place was a giant mud pit and we should just come out on Saturday/Sunday. VERY good advice! I packed supper for us all, plenty of blankets, warm clothes (low was in the 40's) and dog supplies. This was, in fact, Kiwi and Ginger's first foray into camping! Heck! I even did a trial run on setting up the tent and airing it out. Smart, huh? The one thing that never, never crossed my mind-wearing the correct shoes. Shoes! I arrived in dad-gum flip flops! What a wuss! I quickly realized that the mud pit didn't mix well with flip flops so I changed into my beat up Crocs. Crocs will work well for this occasion! Not only "no", but HELL NO! They just ended up turning me into one giant projectile around our campsite! I slipped and slided all around trying to unpack, set up our tent and help fix supper. I finally gave up, found a comfy chair and opened up my lap for some serious dog snuggling!
Tony got the fire going and we cooked seriously fresh corn on the cob, tandoori chicken and seitan, whiskey glazed carrots and veggie foil packets! We had the most amazing feast and were all stuffed to the gills by the end. After dinner Morgan wanted to change for the dance they were having with a live country/rock band. Ann and Tony had a RV/trailer that they were staying in and compared to our two-man hiking-style tent set up just next to them, their RV looked like the Taj Mahal! I was debating on taking my chances leaving the dogs in the tent and sliding down to the dance in my Crocs or just staying next to the campfire. The campfire and lap dogs won out and the rest of them headed to the dance. After awhile I decided that I needed to finish setting up the inside of our tent so I bundled the dogs up and went all Martha on the tent. I dressed our bed rolls with a foam mattress pad, sheets, thick blankets under and over and extra pillows and blankets for the dogs. We were super cozy in our little 2-man tent! OK-truth be told the dogs and I were super cozy-Charles was still at the dance. There was much whopping and hollering going on around the giant campsite with folks coming and going on foot, on hoof and by car. Some were drunk, some were not quite there. After I changed into my pj's in a horizontal position lit by a flashlight and despite the "fun" crowd, Ginger, Kiwi and I settled down and fell asleep. Let's not talk about the color of my feet from the mud through the holes in those Crocs. I checked my feet when putting on some socks and quoted Miss O'Hara, "Tomorrow is another day..."
Charles unzipped his way into the tent, didn't bother to get into the pj's I packed for him and proceeded to make the "cozy" disappear. What he replaced it with was claustrophobia! I couldn't get comfortable. I was having trouble breathing (not his fault) because the many campfires going were causing havoc on my throat. After about one hour of realizing that I was never getting back to sleep, I grabbed a thick blanket and Ginger and headed to the car. I've slept in my Vibe before. Not a bad sleep at all. Not quite cozy, but not smokey and NOT claustrophobic.
I woke up to the sounds of cowboys making coffee and feeding their horses. After a quick change and a potty break in the RV, a tooth brushing in the tent with the dog's water and a cup of pretty weak coffee I was ready to hit a Mickey D's! Charles had to put in a few hours at work so we needed to leave early anyways. We stayed while Ann registered for a couple of events and got her sweet horse ready and then took off.
It really was a fantastic weekend and I promised myself that the next time we do that we are a) either renting an RV or getting a bigger tent b) getting cots and screw the bedrolls c) bringing the doggie playpen so I don't have to worry about sleeping with muddy paws and d) buying some shoes that I wont embarrass myself in!


Morgan headed out to visit a friend or two!

Cowboy cuisine!

Tony enjoying his corn appetizer!

Lap full of Luna and Ginger.

Charles at the dance.

Ginger checking with Daddy to see if he is ready for bed.

In the campsite

This was the Sunday morning view from our tent flap.

Ann pining on her number.

I just thought this MASH-style tent was cool!

Those dad-gum Crocs!