Sunday, February 7, 2010

A Campster Valentine



My guy knows me so well! I do not own gemstones or gold. My wardrobe will survive river crossings and fire tending. The kinds of "necklaces" I get tend to have a vinyl strap with a powerful pair of binoculars or colored cord holing a high-tech compass. Wrapping paper could be a vintage Green Trails map. Once my gift came in a Mountain Smith lumbar pack. The gift that year was a white gas hiking stove that had a simmer setting instead of being just a blow torch on a stand. I still have both of those even though sleeping on the ground is no longer an option for me. Is it just me or do most outdoors women prefer these kinds of gifts?


A couple of years ago he gave me a cute picnic back pack well before Valentine's Day. I filled it up with classic romance on the road-food. We caught a ferry to the Olympic Peninsula and spent the day at Point no Point birding, finding colorful rocks and wondering how some of the stuff from high tide got there. There were a surprising number of hard hats among the drift wood. Dinner from the tailgate of our truck while sitting on a thrum-a-rest, watching the Mergansers flirt on the edge of the rip, enjoying treats from the backpack.


What will I do this year? He and the boys are deep into Geo caching. I do not know much about their hobby. I know just enough to realize that they have all the do-dah's that they need. Same with fishing gear and birding extras. There is a large pile of hats in the office. So besides foods that he loves what do I get this year? He likes the book, "Fat of the Land" by Langdon Cook (Adventures of a 21st Century Forager) Perhaps a trip to the Washington Coast with a brand new clam gun will be sexy enough for Valentine's day. Perhaps a trip to Cabela's or REI will give me some ideas. Better yet, browsing the aisles of Camping world with their jacks and grills will be more to his liking.


Not long ago we talked about learning to jig for rock fish from a two person sit-on-top kayak. That seems a too cold and involves too much work for a romantic evening back on shore. I'm open to ideas.

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