This box fits just so in the van, followed in by that bag.  A careful balancing act of firewood, equipment and people is choregraphed for the short ride to solitude.  One stop on the way out, ice is needed, enough to cool food and drinks.  

We pile, all two of us, back into the van, settling in for the longest few mile journey of our lives.  We giggle, discuss what is for dinner that night, how to set up our set, hoping for a much more level one this time.  

The miles pour passed us, we see the sign marking our destination, slow turn, the left turn arrow signalling our descent into peace.  As soon as we pass the sign, we visibly relax.  There are no words that can completely describe the feeling. 

We are signed in to our site, given the pass to prove we belong, and hunt our site.  It's the furthest one out, down a gravel path into the woods.  Reasonably level, perfectly shaded, the place where we will eat, sleep, and just be for the next couple of days.

Backed into the site, his pace quickens, darkness comes earlier in the woods, the canopy of leaves blocks the light much sooner than in an open field.

It begins to take on its form.  The tent rises majestically, filling its new plot and airing out from almost a year of neglect, the fire pit is surrounded by wood, cooking apparatus appears, a bed made of sleeping bags is made.

We pull out the new equipment, a Coleman stove and Lantern.  As daylight fades quicker than we expected we read directions on the Lantern, only then realizing that we need the mantles that are resting in a drawer at home.  

He must return to the world, to the store just outside the entrance of the park we are in, in hopes of finding mantles to provide the light we need.

I settle in with a book, a battery powered light, and a smile.  For the first time in days the tension melts out of my back, my face relaxes, I am truly happy.

It's only a few minutes before he returns, victorious.  A final read through of the ambigious instructions, the fuel tank filled, the mantles prepared, the air pressure pumped, and there is light.  The glow of the lantern fills the campsite, a gentle hiss brings back a flood of childhood memories of trips like these.

2 nights of this, just us, in the woods, eating, laughing, reading, listening to nature, and just being together, with no one else.  The best days of my year so far are unfolding around me.

A smile, a truly huge, happy smile and really, what more is there to say?

Suzy Smith