Our first Camping Trip

Whoa, I am so behind. Almost a month ago Brian turned 22. To celebrate I surprised him with a camping trip on the Oregon Coast. I booked it all by my lonesome! (I was a bit proud b/c that's always been his role in our relationship...But I did it!) He got off work on Friday and came home to me in the kitchen packing 2 big ice chests. He concluded, "Either we're camping or we're staying in a hotel and you don't want to spend anything on food." I laughed, what else is there to do?!

Just days before we decided to eat dinner in the backyard. Upon stepping out the backdoor I remembered I'd already packed our two chairs in the truck for the weekend surprise. I quickly exclaimed, "I don't want to eat outside anymore!" Brian looked at me confused and I practically yelled, "It's really cold!" (It wasn't cold at all. ;) The next night while sitting in the living room Brian looked out the window and following a moment of confused silence he said, "Why are the chairs in my truck?!" Uh-oh. I was sure he had me figured out but judging by his ice chest comment on Friday I decided to hang on to the thread of what may still be a surprise. It wasn't until we had driven through Portland and were obviously headed toward the beach that I told Brian where our final destination was. We spent Friday and Saturday night at Nehalem Bay State Park.

Back in the dating days we'd already begun talking about camping together. While we were engaged Brian received several camping related gifts. His parents gave him a tent and two matching sleeping bags and I gave him an air mattress. (He's unable to truly rough it on the ground. He claims it makes him sore for weeks [yes, plural!] to follow. Psh, silly guy!) We couldn't wait to use all this stuff someday and this trip, our first camping trip together, gave us the opportunity...we loved fiiiiiiiinally getting to break them in!

Of course, Finn was along for the ride. He thought it was the life, spending all day outside doing nothing but playing with us and eating camping food, the best kind there is. The three of us fell asleep each night huddled together (it was CHILLY!) inside our tent and sleeping bags, and on top of our huge air mattress listening to the waves crash against the beach. It was grand, everything we'd looked forward to. :)