This weekend was my camping adventure.

First, I went camping by myself, when I tell people that they are suprised. I don't really know why, it's not like I randomly went out to the wilderness and setup my tent. The plan was to be at Paynes Prarie before dusk in hopes of getting a campsite. What really happened was that I left later than I planned, hit bad traffic on the interstate and wrote down directions comming from the wrong direction. All of that combined put me at the park just after dark and the ranger wouldn't let me setup camp. So, I drove around a bit hoping to stumble upon some other camping area and come up with a new plan for what I would do in the event of driving around fruitlessly.

Finally, I decided to backtrack and camp at a private “camp ground” that I had been to before. This camp ground was more of an RV Resort but with trees and was right next to the highway. I figured it wouldn't be too bad and beats driving all the way home. So I set up my tent, started a fire, changed tires on my bike and roasted some marshmellows. Then I attempted to sleep. I had forgotten how loud the highway was, until I tried to sleep. My attempts to sleep were further complicated by my forgetting to bring my pillow. Needless to say, what little sleep I did get wasn't very restful.

Now that saturday had arrived, I drove back up to gainesville to meet up with my friend to go mountain biking. We met up and went to San Falasco (SP? I have no clue) and rode some of the easier trials to warm up and allow his other friend get accustomed to her new bike. Once we had finished up there it was time for lunch and then on to Hailes Trails so he could pre-ride for the race. I went along for the fun of it. Hailes trials are only open on race weekends, so it was a once in a blue moon oppurtunity. I really enjoyed riding Hailes Trails but determined that I'm way out of shape, especially if I were to try and race the course.

So my camping/biking weekend was an overall success and I will have to do something like it again soon, before the weather becomes too hot for camping.

Brian