Castaway.... VA Beach style

I'm working in a town up in the Catskills of New York this week. It's kind of warm during the day but is downright chilly at night. We went camping last weekend in VA Beach which was the exact opposite. Camping in early September is just the best.

We stayed at First Landing State Park. If you have never been there, you should. It's actually on the Chesapeake Bay, right where the bay meets the Atlantic. Since it is not right at the oceanfront, it is not crowded.... at all. You have plenty of room to spread out all your stuff on the beach and do all the beach stuff (throwing the frisbee/football, flying a kite, etc) without running anyone over. Also, it is a great beach for kids. There are waves, but they are little kid-sized. At the ocean, I have to hold onto Colin in the water. At First Landing, he can go out in the water by himself and jump the little waves without me. In addition, there is a ton of stuff washed up on the beach for the kids to check out. Last weekend, there was a vast array of clamshells, crab shells, jellyfish, seaweed, and horseshoe crab shells. The best part of this was watching the kids really get interested in all this stuff. They ran around and assembled a huge collection and even organized it into basic categories in front of us. It was interesting to see them, without adult intervention, kind of work as a team to do this. The bad part, was convincing them to leave all this stuff on the beach.

We didn't go on our trip alone. Our friends Josh and Laura and their kids Gabe and Belle went. Also, our friends Russ and Anna brought their children Olivia, R.E., and Joshua. Then my mom, brought my niece Sara down for the day on Saturday. Camping with such a large group is really the way to go. We had this amazing little three-family community going on. We laughed a lot, and learned a lot about each other.

One of the most interesting things I noticed was the different setups each family had. Daleen and I have been going to First Landing for a long time and we still use a tent. Well, its a huge house tent. Then Josh and Laura are on the other end of the spectrum with their enormous camper-zilla, which has everything you could ever want in the way of comfort. Then there was "Lee", Russ and Anna's camper. Russ just got Lee from some guy who had been living in it for a couple of years. Its a pretty small camper, but its nice. Russ had to do a lot of work just to get Lee ready and roadworthy. I learned that Russ is a great improviser when it comes to Lee. He even cut out the back window and installed a window unit air conditioner...... Looks a little funny but it works great.

We had some great weather last weekend. Hot during the day and cool at night. As I mentioned, the beach was great. In the evenings, after dinner and getting the kids to bed, we would make a fire, hang out and talk, and then play some sort of game. It was during this time in the evening, that I think I learned the most about my friends. I learned that Laura is an absolute shark when it comes to cards (total poker face) and Anna likes to set her marshmallows on fire and then eat them after they turn black. I also learned that when playing cards, when Russ has an awesome hand, he starts talking with this funny accent that is a cross between Cheech Marin and Tony Montana (he has no poker face at all). And I think my friends learned a lot about me as well during this trip. They found out that when I go camping at the beach, I go into "castaway" mode, where I pretty much only wear shorts/swimsuit and my flip-flops all day and night, become an expert campfire builder (shouting, "I.... Have Made Fire!), and basically become a complete beach bum. It's just what I do, but I don't think they expected that from me.

The only downside to the whole trip was R.E. came down with this incredible pain in his hip. By Saturday evening, he was limping really bad and Sunday morning, he couldn't walk because it hurt too much. So, Russ and Anna had to leave early to get him to a doctor. We were all really anxious about what could be wrong with him. Luckily, we found out that evening that he had a virus that caused an infection and swelling, but that it was only temporary and would go away on its own after a couple of days.

I know a lot of folks aren't into camping. However, I think when you take some time to give up a few modern conveniences, you gain a lot in the way of experience. (Don't worry, Russ and Anna did bring a TV to watch the Saturday VA Tech game. But the TV ended up staying on all evening as after it got dark out, the bugs were all attracted to it and left us alone.) As I mentioned, we laughed a lot, learned a lot about each other, stayed up late talking, cooked together, did our dishes together, and just created this incredible community we would never experience back in Powhatan. All in all, it was a great weekend and I'm looking forward to going again with them. You should join us the next time.......