Brrr...

(post title courtesy of my mom)

Now that we're home and getting back into the swing of things (David has already started studying for Pediatrics, an intense eight-week course that begins Monday), I'll provide a report on our camping experience:

David: "it was great!"

Frances: "it was cold!"

Overall, the experience was worthwhile. We found a great campsite (Cypress Black Bayou, north of Shreveport, Louisiana), set up camp without difficulty, cooked a yummy supper (thanks to David's foresight - he prepared meat sauce and spaghetti noodles before we left, froze them for the long ride in the cooler, and then just warmed them up on our Coleman stove that night), and even built a decent fire. Alas, the cold was all-consuming for me. I couldn't really enjoy all the other blessings through my constant shivering. Four layers of clothes, a heavy-duty sleeping bag, and three blankets couldn't keep me warm in the night (in the upper thirties). Am I a hopeless case?

Here are some pictures:

David chopping firewood (before a helpful fellow camper told us where we could find a stack of precut logs, free to campers).

David warming up our dinner on the Coleman stove.

David starting our first campfire (with some helpful tips from a nearby camper, he made an even better one the next morning). David thinks we should invest in charcoal and lighter fluid for next time, but I'm not convinced they're necessary. Maybe in rainy weather, but do I really want to camp in rainy weather?

I really tried to enjoy this camping experience. But I'm afraid trying to maintain body heat that night negated the positive results of my recent campaign to fatten up. So David was incredibly gracious in allowing us to spend the next night in a cozy hotel. (By the way, you know you're a nerd when you finally have the chance to watch cable television and you choose the Discovery Channel. We watched a great program about the brain!)