this week was fun in a different way. I’ve been wanting to take my wife along on my adventures, and lately she’s been a bit frustrated that I’ve been going without her. this week i promised i would take her with me, if she would be willing to ride on the back of my bike. we chose a camp site nearby, so that it would be a shorter ride for her. it would still be her longest ride on the back of the bike, and another challenge would be fitting everything on the bike, and her at the same time. exciting!

sandy hook is a state park, a little strip of beach land poking out in to the atlantic ocean. its got public beaches, and old cool forts. again i failed to reserve 24 hours in advance, and so to get a camp site, my wife had to drive there earlier in the day and pay for one in person. took her an hour and a half out of her normal busy day, but she did it, with a smile, even though i could have avoided it all if i booked it earlier. while there, she bought us a bundle of wood and left it on site for us.

i got to my fathers house in jersey 8pm, a bit later then we wanted to start, but i had to work late in nyc so it was what it was. we packed up, and headed out. it was so exciting to have her come on an adventure with me. if i could, every adventure i ever go on, she would be by my side. she’s amazing, adventurous, and actually helpful to have around on outings like this. she also puts her own twist on outings, making me do things differently, and i end up loving it.

i left the top case at home this time, and we strapped the now overstuffed dry spec duffle bag to the back of the bike where the top case would normally go. wifey (marilyn) sat where the duffle would normally go. she was happy to have the duffle to lean back on instead of the normal hard case that she leans back on. note to self, get back pads for the top case.

i had my father take a little video of us leaving, and i got a couple photos of us 15 minutes away at 711 picking up batteries. we spend the 30 minute ride on the phone with each other so no one would get bored. i wish she had an intercom, but hard to justify the expense when she barely comes out for rides longer then 15 minutes so far. I’m hoping we have more outing and we can eventually get her an intercom. it was fun chatting, but hard to hear her as she was using apple ear buds that come with the iPhone. not great in the wind.

we got to site, marilyn knew exactly where we needed to turn and how to get to site. we had to park in a parking lot, and walk about an 1/8th of a mile in to our camp site. it was an interesting site, with other campers right next to us. our picnic table and fire pit were out in the open, but the spot for our tent was away from the others, hidden and surrounded by trees and bushes. a romantic spot for the tent, thats why she picked that site.

we made a fire, dinner, listened to some music, and just enjoyed each others company. we slept ok (not great), but thats how camp sleep usually is. just ok.

the next morning we made our usual breakfast, packed up site, and headed out to a beach at the end of sandy hook. a nude beach! it was fun, interesting. we didn’t get nude, besides wifey taking her top off while we were in the ocean .. just for a few minutes so she could say she did it. though i doubt she wants to tell anyone she did that. sorry mar. now the internet knows. truth is, no one noticed, there were so many old penis’s and boobies hanging around it was hard to concentrate on any singular person.

we drove back to the house, i showered up and headed back to manhattan for work. it was so great to have an adventure with her, and to finally camp two up. i can’t wait to do it again. love you mar!

SUMMER CAMPING 2014