This past weekend Sam and I took the girls on the second annual Hunting Island Beach Trip. A trip where my sister and her best friend are taught how to set up a camp site, and leave no trace after 2 nights of surviving with AC in a tent. Last year was pretty uneventful other than LOTS of bugs, mud slinging, and licking the foam. (I told them it was dead mermaids, but it didn't stop them)This year the girls didn't eat the sea foam (thank goodness) but there was mild mud throwing and ALOT of splashing. This trip was more sedate, our campsite has a view of the waves, and we met more people.
Instead of driving down after work and setting up camp in the dark, I had the sense to take the day off. We pitched the tent pretty quickly. My husband didn't even have to help out of instruct! Downside- it meant I was putting the pegs in the ground and I ended up breaking the metal stake completely. So after some Hulk jokes the tent was secured and we were able to sit around with the citronella candles burning on the corners of the table.
With my hair up in a pony tail, I leaned back as we were talking and started smelling some terrible. REALLY TERRIBLE, the kinda of smell that makes you gag. I turned my head and saw the flames licking up the side of my pony tail and promptly flipped out. Grabbing my hair I yelled (ok, yes there was cussing involved...) and attempted to pat out the fire. The girls were laughing their heads off as I did my fire dance and my husband belatedly tried to cover it to put out the flames. All I can say is that never wearing hairspray came out in my favor! Ironically though, I had just gone to the salon the day before!
I moaned over my frazzled ends and the smell..but in the end the fire only got an inch and half off one side of my hair. Almost as bad were the looks I got from the parents at the campsite next to us. I can't remember what I was yelling...but apparently they didn't appreciate panic over someone's incinerated head. Whoops...
Thankfully, for the rest of the trip we stuck to burn wood, hotdogs, and only one or 2 marshmallows. That is, unless you count sunburn!
Last year's beach trip saw some red cheeks of both kinds. Reapplication was not really practiced. Sunscreen never really found its way to our backsides either. Needless to say after driving 4 hours home on toasty buns last year, we not only applied but reapplied multiple times this year. 50 sph is a marvelous invention, even if it meant it I came home with hardly a shadow of tan on my face.
So, while I've left out the attack of jellyfish, theft of sunglasses by waves, and an epic gathering for volleyball I feel I've left some rather good life lessons in this article.
1) Be aware of your surroundings- don't dip your ponytail into citronella candles!
2) If you cuss at family campsites expect to be the pariah.
3) When in doubt - ask/beg friends to hit your back with sunscreen that 3rd to 5th time after you've been doing handstands in the ocean.
4) You can never drink too much water at the beach. (you can always go pee in the ocean- gives you a chance to stretch your legs and cool off from all your sunbathing!)
5) PACK YOUR ALOE FROM HOME...and pack it in the cooler with your icepacks. (maybe this should have been lesson number 1?)
The final lesson I learned days after being back at work.
Apparently the jelly fish I ran into (top part) was benign! Those clear round jellies are harmless and don't really have a sting according to my friend at work who has a dive instructor's license. They are called "cabbage head Jellyfish". You can pick them up and play with them. I suppose I owe the ones I ran from screaming an apology - they just wanted to be friends!
Cabbage/Cannonball Jellies
Now go reserve your tent site on Hunting Island and pack your bug spray...you're gonna need it!
Beach Camp Reservation Site
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