My Camping Trip (Where I Almost Died)

Well, I guess I owe you all the story of my camping trip last weekend.

I'll admint-I'm terrible-I didn't get any pictures.

But here's a picture of the place we went!  Oneida Narrows!

Though I did get massive amounts of mosquito bites, a few bruises and cuts, and some new clarity on life.  Oh and Idaho booze, let's not forget that.  All in all, the trip was pretty great, since I didn't let that friend (the one I was annoyed with) ruin it for me; even though he tried.

As for the Booze, for those of you who don't live in Utah, ours sucks.  We have some of the weirdest liquor laws and our beer is pretty much hops flavored water.  You would have to drink twice as much to get drunk.  Also, they took all of the wine coolers and malt beverages out of the store, so the only place you can buy them is the State Liquor store.  It's because most of the people here are too freaking stupid to realize that it's booze.  You know, it being in the beer section and saying "CONTAINS ALCOHOL" is just too much for some people.  They didn't know, they bought it for their grandkids...

Anyways...

Josh, Jon and I went up Thursday night.  We stopped in Franklin for dinner and booze, and then made it up in time to get the second to last camping spot at Oneida Narrows.  It was the same one we had last year, and that they had the year before that.  We set up camp, built a fire, and had fun.

Friday, Heather and Mike were supposed to come up, but they flaked, so we went up to the dam to swim since we couldn't do any tubing.  After swimming for a while, Jon locked his keys in the car, along with all of our cell phones (which wouldn't have had service anyway) and our food and water.  We were lucky to find a lady who drove us down to cell reception to call the Sheriff's Department.  Unfortunately, he didn't come after a very long time so Josh and I started walking back to camp while Jon waited with his car.  We got a ride back from a lovely little couple, and the Sheriff finally arrived 4 hours later.  We could understand it though, he'd had a 10 year old drown, so very sad.

Friday night, Josh B., Kasey and their friend Travis came up.  We all sat around the camp fire and had a good time, except for Jon.  I had been teasing him, but not anymore than I tease most people, and so he sulked and went to bed early.  I tried to apologize, but he just ignored it.  It's ok, we had a lot of fun without him.

Saturday morning we decided to go Tubing, except for Jon.  He dropped us off and went and did his own thing, even though he'd been excited all along to go Tubing with us before the trip.  It was ok, we had fun without him.... Until I almost died.

 (We didn't have silly helmets though)

It was overcast and Kasey was freezing, so everyone decided to get out early.  Unfortunately, I was too far ahead and didn't catch up with them when they all pulled over to the side, so I had to try and jump off on the other side.  The current caught me and rammed me over a bunch of rocks.  I finally got my footing and started making my way back towards the bank where I could climb out, when they decided to keep going and hopped back on their tubes.  They stopped to wait for me, but as my adrenaline wore off I started crying and couldn't get back on my tube.  

When I finally calmed down I jumped back on my tube, only to have it flip me back over.  I cried a little more, and finally got back on and made it to where they were, where they were helping to hold on to me.  All seemed fine, until the next set of rapids threw my tube into a rock and tossed me off of it.  After a few more rocks made good friends with my legs, and struggling to hold onto my tube and Josh B's tube, I started panicking.  I was crying and having a hard time breathing, just wanting to get out of the water and thinking I was going to drown.  

Then Josh looked over at me and yelled "CALM THE FUCK DOWN!"  (He used to be a lifeguard, apparently getting angry with someone drowning makes them come to their senses better.)  We made it over to the side, where after a few minutes my crying turned into laughter and I regained my breath.  We finished out the tube ride fairly safely.  

Josh B, Kasey, and Travis all headed home after a quick nap, and later that evening Ortie came.  By the time Ortie returned Jon had started acting a little happier and participating in our fun.  We thought everything would be fine, however Sunday morning when we decided to go tubing with Ortie before we went home.

Josh's tube popped half way through that tubing experience, and he had to walk back to camp.  Ortie and I got to spend some time getting to know each other better.  We packed up camp, and on the way home the plan had been to stop in Franklin for some wine to add to our cupboard. Then, we were supposed to stop in Tremonton to say hello to Josh's mom and her friend that was in town.

As for the clarity?  Josh and I got to spend some good time talking about life and love.  I realized some things that I want, even if they're not right for me now, and he did too.  It was so peaceful in the mountains, where our cell phones couldn't ring, and it was a little sad coming back to reality.