Urban Camping

I'm noticing that as I'm getting healthier and more active, I'm suddenly more eager to post on my blog. I think I'd been feeling somewhat embarrassed about my declining state of fitness and health, and so wasn't exactly looking forward to posting about my non - active life.

It's been another very nice week of healthy eating and being active. I walked three times during the week, and even ran a bit of the last one (partly because it was starting to get dark, but also because I just felt like it).

With the serious rain storm that came through on Tuesday, Ed and I joked that it would be fun to go camping - inside our apartment. We haven't been camping together in a very long time (maybe a year?). Added to that, my parents gave us this wonderful tent for Christmas, and I had yet to get to use it. After we voiced the idea, though, we thought it could actually be fun. We'd be warm and dry and we could still enjoy a hot meal of chili and the glow of fire (from candles, that is). So, we decided that we would be 'camping' Friday night. I found a healthy recipe for chili from Cooking Light and Ed got us all the necessary ingredients.

Friday night I cooked up a big batch of chili, using my brand new Dutch Oven that I got from my parents for my birthday. It worked wonderfully and in about an hour we had a steaming pot of chili, cornbread, and a giant tent sent up in our living room.



The set up of the tent was more difficult that we expected, essentially because, while our living room is relatively big, the tent is relatively, well, bigger. Luckily, with a few near misses as poles knocked at lights and glasses, we had our tent.

We found a 'nature sounds' channel on the tv and lit about 20 candles, and we were set for a romantic evening of 'camping'.



Of course, we learned that camping in the living room is a bit more fun in fantasy than reality. I woke up around 3 with a sore back and decided that with a very comfy bed less than 20 feet away, I was done with camping. Still, it was a fun experience :)

Since no camping trip would be complete without some hiking, we decided to drive up to the mountains about Saratoga today for a 4ish mile hike. Ed took me to what is now my favorite place to go, outside of Mt. Tam. In fact, this was very similar to Mt. Tam. Rolling grassy hills with views of redwood and even a faint view of the ocean in the distance. It was too beautiful not to run, so we ran a good amount of it, most of the downhills and flats and even a bit of the uphills. It was great fun, though I overdid it a bit, especially with the fact that I was in long sleeves and it was pretty hot. Even with feeling a bit subpar at the end, I love that my legs have that good soreness in them, and the views from the run are ones that will stay with me.

All in all, a great weekend to be 'camping'!