by Denise Calaman

Created on: April 27, 2008   Last Updated: August 19, 2009

"Yes, oh yes, let's go camping!", I exclaimed when my husband suggested recently that we go camping in Acadia National Park. Both of us are "outdoorsy" people so we were looking to put a twist on our annual vacation while visiting our family in New England. Every year we make the drive from the Mason Dixon line to Maine and spend most of our vacation sitting in traffic jams, combating other tourists, and swatting black flies. Excited for the change I called Blackwoods Campground, a very family friendly campground (and when I say family friendly, I mean, that yes they do, in fact, have toilets) in the heart of Acadia, to make reservations to pitch a tent the last week of August. For those of you who are a little more "outdoorsy" than I am Acadia does have campsites available with pit toilets. Being a tres chic woman of today I have not been able to bring myself to use pit toilets except in an absolute emergency.

When we arrived at our campsite we were surprised at how spacious and private our campsite was. My husband got right to work pitching our tent. He carefully laid each tent pole on the ground where it was to be staked. He did this with precision and the utmost skill. He looked like a professional. I was a bit surprised at his skill and not the least bit worried about the tent's ability to stay up. I kept myself busy setting up our video camera in the perfect position so we could tape a greeting to our family and friends to let them see how enjoyable and relaxing our weekend was. My husband likes to take his video camera everywhere and is an excellent videographer. All of our family vacations have been well documented much to the amusement of others. Every little misadventure seems to get filmed.

Video camera rolling, I joined my husband and dutifully offered assistance in setting up the tent. "Can I help?" I asked.

My husband looked at me through gritted teeth. "Damn instructions. I can't believe these #$%&$ poles. $%#$$%&*! I never in my life saw $%#@%$@ . . ." It didn't take me long to leave the scene. Quickly. I left my husband in a cloud of profanities with the video camera still rolling.

After my hero won the battle with our tent we had to take a short drive to pick up some much needed camping supplies. We picked up your typical camping supplies; wieners and beans, marshmallows, and the always-hearty beef stew in a can, of which, my husband is a big fan. But then again he eats anything; (peaches, mayonnaise and lettuce

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