With a full company (welcome aboard, Michael!) and far too many groceries, we were ready to plunge into our first outing adventure: the Shenananadingdong River Valley (sp?). Full disclosure, I never thought we would last in the wilderness, but with a little hardwork, ingenuity, a Coleman Grill, four king-sized sleeping bags, a small tent mansion, an industrial strength space heater, and a plasma screen TV, we survived. And what's more, we befriended a sweet elderly couple along the way. After helping them mount a canoe onto their stationwagon, we were repaid with ginger ale, because nothing says "thank you" to a 22-year-old quite like a crisp, non-alcoholic soda.
Up into the mountains we hiked, completing such scenic trails as Stony Man, Little Stony Man, and Stony Man 3: Son of Stony Man. We could have stayed up there forever, but the allure of fast food fried chicken became too much to handle. And so we tailed the first Confederate-flag-flying-pickup-truck we saw to the nearest Chil-Fil-A (no, really), thus ending our one day stay in the Old Dominion. Onward to Asheville!
We leave you with a few camping recipes from Chef Alex's Cooking Corner!
Alex's Southern-Style Breakfast Goop:
1. Wait for Jack to make too much rice from last night's dinner. Like, way too much rice. Nice one, Jack.
2. Add water, either from the river if you want extra flavor, or from a jug if you're afraid of "food poisoning." Place pot over fire.
3. Mix in day old fruit salad and honey to your liking. Voila, you've got yourself some grade-A second rate oatmeal!
Alex's Famous Honeyed Bread (for one):
1. Obtain bread. Store bought is fine. Remember, you're eating this alone, so no one will judge!
2. Squirt some honey on that sucker. Don't worry about plating your food. You're in the Great Outdoors. Go straight from bottle to bread. Really lather it up.
3. Don't think too hard about what you're doing. Just enjoy.
Great photos and recipes!
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