I went camping

Camping and I do not get along.  I am opposed to dirt, bugs and using the Great Outdoors as a toilet.  I do not sleep on the ground and I find sleeping bags too confining.  I am also a bug bite magnet, despite all efforts with sprays, lanterns, torches, etc.  So why did I spend my Labor Day weekend camping?  They made me.

My friends banded together in a mass effort of pleading and guilt.  Oh, wait, that was just N.  Honestly, I went camping because it wasn't really camping.  I slept in an air conditioned Airstream.  On a very comfy bed.  There were flush toilets.  I got to drive a golf cart around the campground.  This is the only type of camping in which I am a willing participant.  The campground itself was pretty awesome.  Despite a "no permanent buildings" rule, there were some pretty sweet summer homes.  One person had a sign in the front proclaiming that he is "White Trash".  Another lot included a rickety looking wooden shack featuring at least 5 non-working surveillance cameras.  The "streets" in this campground were named after long-time lot owners.  Unfortunately, from our camper the sign for Cody Pass read "COD ASS".  And then there is Trixie's Marina, also known as my favorite place in all of Kentucky.  This lovely little dive is right next to the campground and easily accessible by golf cart.  They sell snacks, soda, beer and the BEST diner food I have had in a good long while.  I had this double-decker BLT that make my tummy sing.  All of the people who work there are awesome, including "Sweetheart" who is a ringer for Albert Ingles and the owner herself (not named Trixie) who has a photo shopped pic of herself with Brad Pitt hanging above the register. 

The surrounding area is also fodder for entertainment.  The campground is located near a state park called Big Bone Lick.  I am so not kidding.  So there is a Big Bone Lick church, road, etc.  I giggled like Beavis and Butthead as we passed each sign.  There is also an area called Beaver Lick, which is home to the Beaver Lick Baptist Church.  Yup.  The campground is on Gunpowder Creek which empties into the mighty Ohio River.  Boating on that river was amazing.  So much of the land in that area is still undeveloped so it was all trees and birds.  While I really wanted to get a look at Squalor on the River, I was actually in Kentucky and across from Indiana, so no dice.  But speaking of dice, we did boat past the massive casino complex in Rising Sun.  The riverboat is only a small part of it, people.  It's HUGE.  The friends we were staying with not only own two camp lots, each with air conditioned trailer, they also rent a share in a private island on the Ohio.  So we went there too.  They are also friends with my new favorite couple ever.

Manly and Judy are the nicest, funniest, most real people I have met in a good long time.  Manly is in his 70's and Judy her 60's.  They have been married for 50 years and boy does it show.  Judy is the sweetest person you have ever met, until Manly starts in.  She gives as good as she gets and made me howl with laughter.  Manly is....  How can I describe him?  He is part good old boy, part dirty old man, and all genuinely friendly and nice guy.  I loved him so much that I wanted to bring him home with me. 

To sum up, I had an amazing weekend doing something that I didn't want to do.  Now, camping in a tent on the ground and peeing outside is still not on my list of things to do.  But this "camping" with these people in this place?  I can't wait to go back!