Shit I want to do before summer ends, revisited

Back in July, I posted a list of activities I wanted to partake in before summer ended and I'm disappointed to report that I came up short. Let's recap, shall we?

1. Go camping with Nic. And anybody else who wants to go camping, for that matter. I just NEED some camping. It's been years.

Update: We tried SO HARD. Friday night we went to Gander Mountain and purchased hundreds of dollars of camping equipment. (Okay, that was mostly Nic. I bought a hot dog roasting stick for $4.99 and a really cute North Face vest, which I never intended to bring camping in the first place.) After Gander Mountain (and some bomb ass cali rolls at the gas station sushi place), we went to Nic's parents' house to grab a tent and sleeping bag and to pet Ashton. I went home and pack, pack, packed and we woke up the next morning fairly early and rushed through our morning, preparing for the camping trip. (Note: this killed a small to medium-sized part of me, mostly because my only prior camping experiences have been with the Fahj and he gets everything done ahead of time, so we can leave at the crack of dawn because you know those sites at Tofte go quickly.)

We went to Nic's house to pack, to his parents' house to try to find a hatchet, to Gander Mountain to buy a hatchet (which, obviously, he couldn't find at his parents'), to the bank to get cash, to Super One to stock up on junk food (a MUST for camping) and to Subway for a little sustenance before hitting the road. Oh, and back to my place because we were too stupid to take the new camping stuff out of my back seat in the first place. And, we were off. Destination: Temperance River campground.

It was sprinkling when we left Duluth but there were blue skies ahead and by the time we hit the Silver Bay area, the air was balmy, the skies were blue, the sun was shining and the lake looked more gorgeous than I had ever seen it look before. Mother Nature was showering us with kisses. French kisses. Easy on the saliva.

Oh, but she got sloppy. Very sloppy. We made it to our campsite, pitched the tent, and then loaded it up with our sleeping stuff. By then, it was already 3:00, and Nic wanted to get some fishing in, so he donned his fancy fishing costume and headed down to the river. I followed him, hopping from rock to rock across the water, sitting on rocks in the middle of the river, reading a decent book. When I wasn't reading my book, I was fantasizing about sitting by the fire that night, eating blackened hot dogs.

The weather was mildly ornery, sprinkling on and off, but nothing too terrible...that is, until Nic came out of the river. A steady rain started, so we grabbed our cheese popcorn and E.L. Fudge and settled into the tent to do some reading. The rain picked up a little, which was okay with me, because there's very little nicer than the sound of rain beating down on a tent and I was SURE that the weather would clear up by dark so we could have a fire. Faulty assumption. You know when rain beating down on a tent becomes no longer nice? When there's an inch of sitting water in said tent and your sleeping bag is cold and drenched.

Our frustrations mounting, we moved our tent (by dragging it with all of our stuff inside) to higher ground. Ten minutes later, we said fuck it (!!!!) and tore it down, carelessly balling everything up and tossing in the back of the CR-V. So, yeah. Camping was a waste...of waste of time, a waste of money, and Nic didn't even catch anything but minnows. It was the disappointment of the summer. I don't even know if it counts as camping because we didn't spend the night.

2. Go mini golfing with Nic. I don't even like mini golfing, but I think I can beat him.

Update: Mini golfing done. Nic beaten.

3. Roast hot dogs over an open fire. Or just eat hot dogs roasted over an open fire. I don't even have to be the one roasting them.

Update: Don't even get me started.

4. Walk through Canal Park on a Friday or Saturday night. I've only experienced that meat market once and I've been dying to go back ever since.

Update: Done. Lots of tourists and high-school aged girls whoring themselves out for Marlboro Ultra Lights. The menthol kind.

5. Sit by the lake after dark.

Update: Cha-ching. Done. Thoroughly relaxing.

6. Hike around Gooseberry Falls. Last summer, on a day when I was horribly hungover, Nic forced me to do this, insisting that getting out and about would help. It ended up being one of my favorite days ever.

Update: Doggone gone and done it and loved every last minute.

7. Go to a Duluth Huskies baseball game.

Update: Failed miserably. To be honest, never even checked their schedule. If life was a job, I would be fired. No severance.

8. Have a girls' weekend in the cities with Red. Do some crafts and eat at BUCA!

Update: Done, minus the crafts. Substituted Wii. Like latch-hook rugging was going to burn those Buca calories.

9. Walk from my apartment to the top of Enger Tower.

Update: Working on it. When does summer officially end?

10. Spend an entire evening at the beach.

Update: Not even close. I don't have anything going on this evening. Maybe I'll pack a picnic dinner. No need for a cooler. That bitch Mother Nature will keep my beer cold.