Labor Day Camping Trip part 1

We all met at Lauren's house and consolidated into two cars before heading off to the campground.  We got Damien and Kinsley and Lauren and Alex got James and his girlfriend.  James's girlfriend's name was Haley and she was a couple years older than me, from the way it sounded.  She was quiet, but she didn't know any of us, so I didn't blame her.

The drive took a lot longer than it should, because we were trying to leave town at 5:30 on the Friday of Labor Day weekend.  We didn't really think that one through very well.  By the time we got there, I was starving and quickly volunteered to start dinner while the guys dealt with the tents.  We had a pretty spacious group site with a grill and I waved off James's and Alex's offers to start it.  I'm perfectly capable of starting a grill.

Lauren, Kinsley, and I worked on dinner while the guys got the tents situated (which included a significant amount of swearing).  Haley did a whole lot of nothing, lingering around watching James.  Kinsley and I both tried to include her but she didn't seem terribly interested.  After the tents were up, Brody took the coolers out and started sorting through to get all the drinks in one.  "Will you drink wine with me?" Kinsley asked.  "I don't want beer."

"That's a stupid question," I replied.  "I'll always drink wine with you!"

"You can't drink wine when you're camping," Lauren replied, wrinkling her nose.

"Seriously," Brody agreed, coming over with a handful of beers.  Kinsley shook her head and so did I.  He shrugged and handed one to Lauren, then wandered away to distribute the rest.

"I don't think a camping newbie like you gets to make the rules, Laur," I teased.

Lauren snorted.  "I'm better off than she is," she muttered, barely moving her head in Haley's direction.  Haley was standing awkwardly a few feet away from James, not really participating in his conversation with Damien.

"Come on, like you've never been the person who doesn't know anyone except one person?" I asked quietly.

"Hmmmm," Lauren mused, seriously considering this.  "No, I don't think so, actually."

"Shut up," Kinsley hissed.  Haley was wandering towards us hesitantly.

"Hi," I said with a warm smile.  "We're going to open a bottle of wine, do you want a glass?"

"What kind of wine?" she asked.

Kinsley walked over to Brody's SUV and rooted around in the back, then returned triumphant.  "Yellowtail Pinot Grigio," she reported.

Haley wrinkled her nose and shook her head.  "No thanks," she said, turning and walking back over to James.  Lauren looked at me pointedly and I made a face.

We finally finished making dinner and we all sat and ate and drank and unwound a little.  When we were done, Alex and Brody got a fire going and we all sat and drank some more and got a little rowdy.  I was glad the group site directly next to us was empty, because we were awfully loud.

Kinsley and I had finished one bottle of wine and were halfway into another when I plopped myself down next to Haley.  "Hi," I said, cheerful and tipsy.

"Hi," she said skeptically.

"If you decide you want some wine, help yourself."  She nodded.  "So how long have you and James been dating?" I asked.

"Ummm, I don't know," she replied.  "More than a month."

I nodded.  She didn't say anything else, so I pushed on.  "What do you do?"

She sighed.  "Why does everyone ask that as a 'getting to know you' question?  I think it's a little rude."

I blinked in surprise.  "I'm sorry," I replied.  "I didn't mean to offend you.  I just want to get to know you a little.  I know what it's like to not really know anyone in a group and--"

"Thanks, but I'm okay."  And with that, she literally turned her body away from me and started talking to James.  I briefly caught James's eye over her shoulder and he gave me an apologetic look.  I shrugged and moved back over towards my chair next to Brody.  He intercepted me on the way, pulling me down into his lap instead.

"That went well," he said, his voice slightly slurred.  We were all well on our way to drunk.

"Oh well, I tried," I replied.  I snuggled against his chest, glad for his warmth since the night had gotten chilly quickly.  Ignoring the other people around the fire, Brody let his hand travel over my hip to my ass.  I smacked it lightly away.  If I couldn't tell he was drunk from his slightly slurred words, I could definitely tell by his PDA.

Just a few minutes later, James said goodnight and he and Haley disappeared into their tent.  "I don't like her," Lauren hissed.  I turned, craning my neck to look at her, because she was behind me with the way I was sitting on Brody's lap.

"She's not very friendly," I agreed.  I shrugged.  "Maybe she had a bad day and tomorrow will be better."

"I don't think anyone is more friendly after a night of sleeping on the ground," she grumbled in response.

I laughed.  "I brought a pain in the ass air mattress just for you," Alex reminded her.

"Trust me, you'll thank me in the morning," she replied.


No one was thanking anyone in the morning.  We were all a little fuzzy and slow moving from our indulgences the night before.  All of us except for Haley, that is.  She was up bright and early and had disappeared.  "She went for a run," James said.

"It's official, I hate her," Lauren whispered to me as we headed towards the campground bathroom to brush our teeth.  "She got up early to go for a run.  I'm hungover.  And I hate people that run."

"I run sometimes," I reminded her.

"Not anymore," she argued.  "You used to run.  And you were just as annoying as the rest of them.  Lucky for you, I could never hate you."

"Lucky for me indeed," I replied, laughing and rolling my eyes.

When we got back to the campsite, Brody and Damien were working on starting breakfast.  I had no problem sitting and relaxing, letting them cook breakfast.  "You could learn something from them," Haley commented to James when she returned.  "Real men make breakfast."

James laughed and looked at Alex.  "Hear that?  We're not real men."

Alex shook his head.  "I can make breakfast.  Sometimes I even do it.  You're on your own, man.  Sorry about your loss of manhood."  We laughed while Haley rolled her eyes and glared at James.

While we ate, we discussed what we wanted to do that day.  Kinsley didn't hesitate to say that she wanted to go to the park's beach.  Haley agreed quickly.  I wrinkled my nose.  "It's going to be packed."  Kinsley shrugged.

"I kind of want to do some hiking," James said, earning him one of Haley's now-familiar glares.

In the end, we decided that we were just going to split up.  Kinsley, Damien, and Haley were going to head to the beach.   James, Brody, Lauren, Alex, and I were going to do a little hiking.  Haley didn't seem pleased that James was going hiking instead of going to the beach with her, but James didn't seem concerned.

After breakfast, we all got ready for our respective destinations and headed off.  "So," I said, sidling up next to James as we walked towards the trailhead we'd located on the map of the park.  "How'd you meet Haley?"

"She's a friend's cousin," he explained.  "We met at a barbecue he had."  I nodded, not sure what else to say.  Luckily he continued, "Sorry that she's been less than friendly.  She's actually a little shy."

I forced my face to stay neutral, because I felt confident that there was little truth to that statement.  Instead, I asked, "Any tips to win her over?  I really want her to feel welcome."

He shrugged.  "She'll come around, I think."  Conversation over.  Luckily we located the trailhead shortly after that, and headed down the path.

Most of the trail was narrow and we walked single file, chatting in a slightly chaotic way.  Interruptions abound when you can't see other people's non-verbals to know they're about to speak.  It would open up a little occasionally and we'd clump together before moving back into single file.  The order of the line changed constantly this way, but I found myself in the front more often than not.

I was looking over my shoulder briefly to acknowledge something James said behind me when I heard a sharp rattling sound.  I stopped abruptly and quickly found the rattlesnake coiled along the left side of the narrow path, about 10 feet in front of us.  James bumped into me, causing me to stumble forward.  He put both hands on my shoulders to steady me.  The snake rattled again and instinctively I stepped back, treading on James's foot.

"Easy," he said softly.  I heard movement behind me and then he said, "You can back up now."  I backed up two steps until I bumped into him again.  He shifted, and I backed up another step.  The snake stayed there, rattling away.  We backed up a little more, and it stopped rattling, but stayed there, coiled and watching us.  Finally, it slithered off into the brush on the side of the trail.  I wasn't generally very afraid of snakes (and had seen a few while hiking before), but this one had caught me by surprise and I was still a little shaky when James gently nudged me and said, "You can go now, Liv."  When I hesitated, he stepped around me and led the way, skirting along the right side of the path, just in case the snake was lurking just off the path.

I followed him, still a little nervous.  After I passed the spot where the snake had been coiled, I let out a breath I hadn't realized I'd been holding.  I thought we were good, but I heard Lauren yelp behind me.  I turned in time to smack into Brody and see the shivering tail of the snake disappearing into the rocks on the right side of the path.  Apparently he'd changed his mind on the direction he wanted to go in and didn't want to wait for us to clear the path.  We were all past the spot where he'd been except for Lauren, who was now paralyzed with fear.

Tough, sarcastic Lauren is absolutely terrified of snakes.  I used to be able to convince her to go hiking with me in high school, but she rarely went out here because the likelihood of seeing a snake was much higher here than in Wisconsin.   She was rooted to the spot she had been in when I had originally heard the snake and even from here, a good 20 feet away, I could see the terror on her face.

"It's gone for real now," Alex said soothingly, but she shook her head and muttered something I couldn't hear.  He walked back to her and put his hand on her arm, saying something quietly to her.  She shook his hand off and shook her head again.  I turned away so we wouldn't all be staring at her, making it worse.  I could about imagine the conversation that was happening.  Alex would probably try to gently cajole her forward, and she'd refuse out of fear.  Then he'd probably offer to hike back with her, and she'd refuse out of pride.

I couldn't blame her.  I was still a little uneasy from the snake's slightly erratic and uncharacteristic actions.  I looked around, half expecting it to slither back out onto the path.  "You okay?" Brody asked.

I jumped, his voice startling me.  "Yes," I said, my cheeks getting warm.  "That was just weird.  I wasn't paying enough attention, I guess."

Brody looped an arm around my shoulders and kissed the side of my head.  "Do you think we should go a little further?  I feel weird just standing around and waiting for Lauren.  I imagine she's not a fan of the audience either."

"Yeah, maybe," I agreed.  Brody, James, and I moved up the path a ways.  Far enough that we could give Lauren a little more privacy, but close enough that we could see if they decided to head back.  Just moments later, Alex and Lauren started our way.  By the time they caught up to us, my remaining nervousness had faded.

Lauren, on the other hand, looked like the only reason she was still here was her pride.  I touched her arm gently and she snatched it away.  "I'm fine," she snapped, even though I hadn't said anything.

"I know," I replied, even though I could see her hands shaking.  "We could go--"

"No," she said forcefully.  "I'm. Fine."

"Okay," I said, holding up my hands in surrender.  Lauren stalked ahead, and we all quickly followed her.  She relaxed little by little and within 15 minutes was joking with us again, but she was clearly still on high alert.

We returned to the campsite around 1:30, made some sandwiches for lunch, then decided to join Kinsley, Damien, and Haley at the beach.  I was in the tent changing into my swimsuit when I heard Lauren shriek, "You have got to be fucking kidding me!"