polka dot suitcase

Sir Buffalo Sushi’s rolling his eyes because yup, it’s another camping post. It’s in my blood.

I just finished up a book deadline last Tuesday. Big Fish called from work and said, “It’s gonna be a great week — let’s go camping!” Who am I to say no? I’d just pulled a bunch of late nights finishing up the book, the weather was indeed gorgeous, and my new-to-me camper was sitting in the cul-de-sac patiently. We piled in and off we went.

…but first, a quick stop at the Biggie Mart, where I scored an end-of-season, discounted ladder ball set. It was a whim purchase, I’ll admit. Well, upon arriving at the campsite, Sir Buffalo Sushi and I got to work setting up the camper, and Mister Steel began assembling the ladder ball. Little did Mister know what he was getting into — we finished at about the same time (and it takes me a while to set up the camper!).

Anyhoo — very fun, this ladder ball phenomenon. After swearing they would not throw the bolas at each other’s necks, the guys started playing. It’s addictive. You toss these balls at different color rungs on PVC-pipe “ladders” and add up the points. Sounds simple, but it’s more challenging than you’d think. And I mentioned addictive already. For tailgating, backyard BBQs, or of course, camping — me likey. And they’re not even paying me to say that!

And you’re itching to know what I made in the pie irons, right? A grilled ham-and-cheese sandwich and a lemon pie, made with lemon pie filling and a marshmallow on crescent dough.  Burned my tongue. But delish! (Pie iron company doesn’t pay me, either. Not the lemon pie filling company neither. Marshmallow company? Nope. Hmm…what a disturbing trend.)

In other news: Big Fish went fishing (natch) and landed a big ‘un — a six-pound large mouth that was purty. I perfected my fire-building skills. And we all came back ready to launch into all our autumnal responsibilities. Great wrap to a wonky summer!