The first week of July was eventful indeed. I got the chance to knock two items off my July Goals list which I am ecstatic about. The first being, read two books. I actually ended up reading 3 books in the span of 3 days because of the long drives we made from Greenville to Boone, Boone to Roanoke Mountain, and then back to Greenville, I always find myself reading extremely practical books so this time I chose to read books that were purely fiction. Weird how I find myself drawn to thrillers but these are the books I read (mainly because they were available on Kindle Unlimited, hehe).
Stillhouse Lake – Rachel Caine
The River is Dark – Joe Hart
The Handmaid’s Tale – Margaret Atwood (this is also a show on Hulu and Joe and I started it right after I finished reading the book, so good!)
The second bucketlist item I had for July was to take a camping trip. We got to do that this past week at Carver’s Gap with my husband’s family. It was so sweet to take a “vacation” with them knowing that I was officially a part of the family!
Carver’s Gap is beautiful, I’d highly recommend it for both a short hike and a fun camping trip. During the summer, Carver’s Gap can see close to 700-800 people every weekend. When you go there, you can absolutely understand why. I was so excited to go backpacking again, the last time I had gone had been five years ago so I was definitely in for a treat..
For our meals we brought the following:
Dinner: Ground beef, frozen vegetables, and seasoning. When wrapped in foil and cooked over a campfire after a long day of hiking, this is DELICIOUS!
Breakfast: Oatmeal with brown sugar, assorted nuts, cranberries, and almond butter and coffee.
Snacks: Trail mix, granola bars, Nuts
I have to say I could never go camping alone. There are essential skills needed that I simply just can’t do like building a fire, setting up camp, etc. I was probably most helpful in taking care of the food and that was about it. Needless to say, I was really grateful to have my husband’s sister there who works at a wilderness therapy group and knows all of the essential skills for backpacking.
We hiked six miles the first day and it took us three hours. It seems ridiculous but when you’re carrying the pounds of the pack as well as going uphill, it takes a while! The second day we woke up really early (6 AM) to go hike another 1.5 miles uphill to see the sunrise. I was already awake at 5 AM having gone to sleep really early the night before. When you’re camping, you’re already so exhausted from all the hiking you’ve done that there really is no desire to stay up once the sun is down!
After a hearty breakfast of oatmeal, we packed up camp and went on our merry way to trek another six miles to finish up the trip. By the end of the hike my feet, calves, hamstrings, and butt were all aching but boy did I feel accomplished. Before I met Joe, I would have NEVER set foot on a hiking trail and camping was in the category of “impossible” for my life but it’s funny how things change. Thanks to him I have a greater appreciation for the outdoors and getting comfy with the nitty gritty of what nature has to offer. What a beautiful thing.
