Matt Howell

Wednesday - I picked up my son in Selma and we went to Muncie. We stopped off at the old office and picked up the mail and some FedEx packages. We went to the Blue Bottle for a frozen Mocha and an Italian Soda. I met Bonnie at the Fickle Peach for a DJ job and met the soon-to-be bride and groom. Next up, “Don’t Mess With The Zohan” movie. It was a funny guy movie, that’s for sure. Afterwards, we hit Taco Bell for some grub and finished up at Wal-Mart, gathering supplies and food for the camping trip.

Thursday - Angie and I left for Brown County State Park around 10am. We stopped off in Columbus for supplies at Wally World and ate lunch at Denny’s. Actually it was more like breakfast. We got into the park around 2pm and setup camp. The first wildlife we encountered was a box turtle tramping through the bush behind our campsite. We realized early on that our primitive outing was way too primitive and traveled back to Wal-Mart for an air mattress and pump. Once camp was setup, we ventured on a easy/moderate trail that turned out to be “stairs from hell”. After losing a gallon of sweat, it was time to cook dinner. We made hobo meals on charcoal in the provided firepit at the campsite. After a good day of traveling, setting up and trail hiking, we slept like logs on our new air mattress in the tent.

Friday - We had pancakes and sausage links for breakfast made on my new propane camp stove (a good buy if you ask me). We headed up to another trail for an early morning hike. The trail was marked moderate, but actually was easier than the “stairs from hell” path we hiked earlier. The last part of the trail was pretty rough as we had to hike up out of a ravine. We hit the campsite and got ready for a day of shopping in Nashville, Indiana. We arrived in Nashville around 11am and hit quite a few shops before stopping for lunch. One of the neatest places was the old jail with the two-headed calf in the upper cell (for the women). Scary. Anyway, after lunch we hit a variety of stores and bought fudge, candy and tea. Our last shop before leaving was the Brown County Winery. We tasted a variety of wines before deciding on the Autumn Red (Dry) and Vista Red (Fruity). We also picked up a bottle for Angie’s mom who’s birthday is June 24th. We were pretty tired when we got back, so we had hot dogs, chips and s’mores for dinner. Good stuff.

HERE ARE SOME CAMPING PHOTOS!

Saturday - Bacon and Egg sandwiches filled our belly’s early in the morning. We took down camp and started on our way back to Farmland via Martinsville. We stopped in to see my brother and his family. My niece Morgan is doing much better. She has full energy back now. The plan was to stop outside Indy and eat lunch, but 465 was S-L-O-W going around to I-70. So instead, we traveled downtown and had lunch at “Hooters” - wings and burgers - Yum! After lunch, we traveled on I-70 out of Indy, only to go S-L-O-W once again due to construction and rain. We made it into the driveway around 4pm. We unloaded, had dinner and watched “SAW II” and a movie called “Rick”. “Rick” was a Sundance “artsy” movie that sucked :-)

Sunday - I met Angie for lunch at the Real Hacienda around 1pm in Anderson. Afterwards, we delivered the birthday present to her mom and visited for awhile. Currently, Angie is making us Stir-Fry while I write the grossly long blog entry that you’re skimming and not even really reading right now :-)

Overall, I had a great vacation. It was nice to get out of “work mode” and get some other things done that needed doing. The camping experience was great and I really enjoyed spending so much time with Angie. It turns out we’ve been dating for two years (6/21/06) and it’s been great. I think my son had the “best week ever” staying with his uncle while his other two siblings were in Maryland. I can’t wait to get all the kids on Tuesday and find out how everyone did on their vacation as well.