Life Goes on After Sunset Surfing

By the time we back to the campsite there was very little light left. I realized then, why everyone was interested in heading back a lot sooner than we did. I am a firm believer in doing what feels right at the time, this is why I stayed in the water to experience sunset surfing for the first time. Unfortunately you cannot always have it all, you cannot watch the sun set at the beach and then again at the campsite, it just doesn’t work that way. This being the case, we had to deal with a very small window of sunlight to get changed into out evening attire, cook our dinner and start our fire. It was not ideal, I admit, but if we were able to maintain a positive mood through the wet morning, hustling to get ready for the night was not too much of an issue. I am happy to tell you that we did survive and we did have a lovely night J!!

Our night was not too much different from any other night that you would have when you are camping. It is always a bit of a struggle to cook dinner in the dark, especially when you are grilling meat on top of the fire pit. Anyone that has tried to BBQ in the dark will relate to what I am saying. Even if you have a flashlight available it is still quite the task to evaluate whether the meat is cooked to perfection. The two most common outcomes are; the meat is cooked on the outside and still raw on the inside or the meat is charred on the outside and completely cooked on the inside. I have experienced both situations regularly while camping, the reason why it is not such a big deal is because camping goes hand in hand with drinking…..and drinking makes situations that could otherwise be frustrating, so much more tolerable, even to the point of enjoyment. Add in the fact that we had been surfing all day and worked up quite the appetite, so it did not take much effort to make the “best meal everrrrrr!!”

Our meal did turn out pretty well. The steak was a bit rare and the potatoes were a wee bit rock hard, but they tasted amazing to me. I realized that tastes are very situation dependant. When you are at home with a fully stocked kitchen, that is when you realize that you need some salt and pepper, and some sriracha (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sriracha_sauce), and some olive and some etc etc. When you are camping you are like “oh you can’t find the fork or the knife, no problem I got hands.”  Big difference!

Once the meal was finished, it was time to amp up the fire and relax. We had so much wood for the weekend and we didn’t have to bring any back with us, so what better time to build a rip roarin’ rager of a fire. I realize that it is always a kind gesture to leave some wood for the next people to use the site, and we have been the beneficiaries of such kindness in the past, but who can pass up the opportunity to make a blazer! There is no better classification of fire!

At this point there was not much to do but enjoy the life. Life is good when you have a cooler full of drinks, a raging fire, and some enjoyable company. It was an ideal way to end the day. We started out soaking wet and cold and finished up warm and cozy around the fire.

Eventually the fire started to die down and by this point it was only Shannon and I left standing. She decided that she was ready to call it a night so it was up to me to wait out the fire. There is a certain enjoyment when it is just you and nature, staring up at the clear sky full of stars as the fire crackles away. The tranquility slowly turns into sleepiness and when you start to get the head jerks you realize that it is time for you to call it a night, as well. I had a big day of surfing ahead of me so I decided to give in. I did my best to put out the fire and off to bed I went J and that is how our first day of surfing went down.