Tomorrow I return to work after taking a week's vacation. I haven't had a vacation in 2-3 years, and I'm not sure I'll get one next year since I won't have been at a new job for a year. And this one doesn't seem to have done it's job: rest and relaxation. The relaxation was there, but the rest was lacking. Maybe once I get back to work, I'll feel a bit more normal.

This was actually the "stay-cation" that is apparently popular this year. In these time of high gasoline costs, we elected to stay close to home and do some camping in drive-able destinations. I went with a friend and stayed the first few days with my family. My family has always camped, since we were children and spent half the summers in campgrounds. My friend does what I am going to call "tenting." He plans a recreational activity (4-wheeling) that he intends to take up most of every day, and the "camping" ("tenting," in my vocabulary) consists of lighting up a mini-charcoal grill, heating a piece of meat and accompanying that with a store-purchased salad. While this would be great if we were traveling and wanted to save money while avoiding hotel rooms, he obviously needs to experience true camping. I think he got a taste of it for those few days with my family, and he even commented on our familiarity with the camping life.

As much as I was looking forward to "camping," I was disappointed in the result. However, the 4-wheeling was fun. And spending 1-on-1 time with him was good. I think the issue for me came not from the actual activity; moreso, it came from my expectations of something that I should not have anticipated with such aplomb. The trip turned out to be exactly what was described to me, but I had interpreted the word "camping" to expand the described-activity to include my historical experience of "camping." I really need to learn not to assume things, or I will end up with the kind of experience I've had.

Through it all, though, I saw some fantastic country. It's been a while since I've seen such "country," and I welcomed the reuniting of me and all that is fresh and green. And on the ATV, I went places I would never have gone had I not been with my friend. We saw wildlife such as deer, turtles, raccoons, skunk families and all kinds of birds. We experienced wildlife like deer flies and mosquitoes. We tented in thunderstorms and tornado warnings--and lots of hot sunshine.

Tomorrow, I will return to work. I hope this vacation was enough of the "wild life" to last me a while.