Raccoons, and Tears, and S’mores, oh my!

What good would this weather be without a little camping trip? Chilly and crisp at night and just warm enough in the day to enjoy yourself. Absolutely perfect weather for camping. Absolutely perfect weather. Period.


We had originally planned to go with some friends, but it did not work out for them. We packed the car with the camping gear we got as wedding presents and headed over to Arkansas to enjoy a weekend getaway, just the two of us. We got there around 4pm on Friday afternoon and were greeted by a slew of Pickin & Grinnin Seniors. We were not aware we had chosen the mobile retirement home park of the south. We had.


We got all settled in – cooked, played rummy, yadda, yadda – you know, the usual. Except, I forgot to put the food basket in the car at the end of the night. So, what happens when you are nestled back in the woods away from the pickers and grinners and you leave your food out? (See below)


Notice anything missing from my s’mores pack? Yeah, the chocolate! What kind of raccoons take just the chocolate? Seriously? They must not have known who they were messing with. Seriously.

Also missing but not pictured: bread (all but two pieces), wheat thins, and the best chips in the world.


Jacob and I took inventory, cooked breakfast and then decided to explore a little. This park had some decent trails that we wanted to get in before lunch. Hence, the tears.


Sometimes I feel so out of shape that I could cry, but the tears were not ours. We walked the longest preserved portion of the original Trail of Tears. It was amazing. We thoroughly enjoyed being surrounded by nature and checking out all of the cool little things the “woods” have to offer. Mostly this included mushrooms and spider webs. We are dorks. We do not care. We have fun being dorks together.
















After our excursion in the woods, we drove down into town to replace what the raccoons had taken or left contaminated. Lunch was nothing special, but dinner, oh my goodness. Let me just tell you, if you have never had wings marinated for a full day and cooked over an open fire, or a burger with onion soup mix in it cooked over an open fire, then go do it. Both are SO good!

Then, then, came the s’mores. Also known as the best s’mores I have ever eaten. Not sure what did it for me, but they really were the absolute best ones I have ever had the pleasure of savoring.

We topped the weekend together off by making it to church just in time and then relaxing on this rainy Sunday. Have I mentioned I love our little life?