Goodbye Redwoods, Hello Doug Firs

Spent most of the day today running around doing little errands: getting gas, picking up snacks from Harvest Market, tracking down a CAT5 cable, making a pilgrimage to Cooking Up Ideas… I think I’m more or less ready to head out of town in the morning.

My poor car has been sitting in front of Uncle Bud & Aunt Pearl’s house all week, and I felt the need to reassure it of my undying love and devotion for its nine-year-old carcass every few miles. Cutter and Dam thought I was completely out of my tree. Hey, a girl gets to feeling guilty for neglecting her ride. Sue me.

Aunt Denise and Uncle John hosted tonight’s dinner in their campsite. I don’t know why, but they chose the tiniest campsite they could possibly muster, and then crammed eight people in it. Granted, it made for a nice coziness once the cold air started whipping through, but seriously…trying to eat dinner and converse while jammed sideways into a six-by-six plot of land with numerous other members of the human race as well as various insects and flora…it’s damn near impossible. I had to fight the urge to flee.

Everyone got pretty sauced, myself excluded. I don’t know why, but lately I just don’t feel like being drunk. It’s not appealing to me. Am I finally at the age where responsibility and maturity override any sense of fun? God I hope not. It sucks to be the only sober one. People are on a completely different level of existence than you, and that’s rather boring. On the upside, being totally sober while everyone else is shitfaced? Gave me great perspective on just how obnoxious and gross drunk people are.

Case and point. We were playing a fairly heated round of Scattergories, during which I had to repeatedly shush various folks due to them being completely unable to control the volume of their voices. Sound carries well in the forest, especially when it’s foggy. Oh, and 10pm. At one point, I kinda leaned back in my seat and was staring out at the road and saw the ranger truck roll by. And I waited for it. I knew what was coming and I waited. And sure enough, minutes later, a pleasant-faced ranger with a very large flashlight invited himself into our midst and asked everyone to please keep the volume down. He really was a nice dude. And rather cute. But then again, I’m a sucker for forest rangers. We told him he should join us for drinks once his shift was done. He chuckled and wished us a good evening.

Unfortunately, this somehow pissed off Uncle John. I so didn’t get it…I mean, the guy was nice…he asked us politely to keep it down. He even explained how the sound carries. And hell, we were almost done with the game anyway. So why my uncle freaked out the way he did is beyond me. He packed up his game board and said “That’s it…we’re done. It’s bedtime.” We just stared at him as he had his little wobbly and disappeared into the dark, presumably headed for the restroom. The rest of us finished our game, packed up, and went our separate ways. It really was kinda late and the temperature had plummeted greatly in the last hour or so.

Here I am…in my tent…11pm. And for some reason, they’ve started up the party again. I can hear them drinking and laughing and hollering. What the-? It really is rather obnoxious. Granted we’re in the next campsite and all, but I can hear it like it was in my own tent. I’m hoping they actually go to bed soon. Not that they’re keeping me up or anything. The excitement and anticipation of tomorrow’s journey are achieving that all on their own.

I suppose the sooner I get to sleep, the sooner tomorrow will arrive. *sigh* Wish me luck on that.