Camping Update

This weekend past, we drove up to the Oklahoma City area and camped out for the weekend. It was not as great a weekend as we had hoped--read more about it here--but I wanted to offer some observations about the experience here.

On driving from Texas to Oklahoma:

The Red River looks much bigger at the I377 bridge than at the I35 bridge.
OK still has wildflowers--they're long gone from here.
There is a horse ranch off 377 in OK that I absolutely could not believe: there were 3 stables, each the size of a Walmart distribution center!
Why does OK build washboards into their highways?

On cooking and camping:

I took the electric skillet for cooking with and foods that required a minimum of preparation.
For lunch one day we had smoked sausage and Broccoli Coleslaw that I had sortof steamed. (Note: I steamed the coleslaw in the skillet with lots of sausage drippings and a little bit of water--it was very yummy. At home I tried it without the sausage drippings and it was bland and tasteless!)
Nature's Own makes a sugar-free, trans-fat-free, whole wheat hamburger bun that's pretty good.
Cabela's carries a camp kitchen with a framework exactly like mine, but it has two canvas cupboards and a vinyl sink.
I must remember not to let DS drink so much juice next time (uugghh!).

On family:

We had quite a few frustrations over the weekend, but the drive home was quiet and uneventful, thankfully. We stopped at Cabela's to stretch our legs, and even though it is the largest store in the world, or somesuch, we three created this little "bubble" around us that let the frustrations roll off, that separated us from everyone else, that let us enjoy each other and that allowed us to share each other's enthusiasms. It's hard to describe, but it turned into one of those times that I wish I could capture in a bottle, prized and perfect, forever.