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| Oh Yeah, as you can see from the title, DH and I are big outdoorsy sorts. My brother in Jacksonville camps fairly frequently at an army base called Camp Blanding, it is for the National Guardsmen. When I was younger I spent many happy hours across the lake, which also borders Camp Blanding, at a couple of recreational parks and even when we had a boat to get there, had a picnic lunch at Camp Blanding. My brothers are both able to get on the base, and one had gotten a campsite for tents and the other a cabin. Because of DH's health, our life has been pretty restricted, but I thought we should give camping a try anyway, we aren't getting any younger and we spend way too much time indoors. Our intent was to tent camp, there is water on the site and a bathroom about 50 yards away or so, and my brother has lanterns and flashlights etc. Unfortunately, we picked a time when a storm was rolling in, lol. We had a really nice time the first day and sat by the fire above until about midnight. The young man in the picture is my nephew Robert who was a perfect kid the whole time even though he's 15. Our intention was to tent camp, but a storm with winds and lightning was expected in the middle of the night so we all slept in the cottage. The cottage was a really nice little two bedroom house with a screened porch, all the amenities and a beautiful site on the lake. It is such a beautiful place and the water so clear and beautiful. I waded and the water was cold, but my brother from Georgia and his son even did a little knee boarding. We were supposed to take a boat ride the next day, but it was still windy and a little nasty, exhilarating though, I enjoyed the portion of the second day that we spent there also. We left about noon and drove home. The little tent is what my brother uses when he's by himself, he has a larger one that we would have used. To make this quilty, last week the lady who came and quilted with me came back and we worked on two of her quilts, a flowery one for her that still needed some cutting out, and a University of Florida Gator one that she is making for a grandchild (if it turns out well she plans to make several more for other grandchildren). Anyway, it happens that both my brothers are Gator fans, especially the Florida one, and so I'm going to make them Gator quilts also. My Florida, tent camping brother had his quilt that I gave him a few months ago with him, it seemed the perfect size for sleeping on the ground with a twin sized air mattress, and it made me feel good that he's using it. I thought that Gator quilts would be excellent thank you gifts. I have really good brothers. Many times when my brother camps he goes with buddies, but sometimes he goes alone, and hopefully he will invite us some more, and it would be even more perfect if my other brother and his son could come too. |
