The weather in Chicago has been beautiful as Fall approaches.  I love the colors this time of the year with the pops of bright yellow, orange, and red dotting the landscape.  And, more than anything, I love the smell of burning leaves, hay rides, and apple cider.

When our daughters were young, I would take them on mother/daughter camping weekends in the Fall.   We have quite a few harrowing stories of escape from wild animals.  The most dramatic story is the one where white rapids were whirling through the middle of the campground nearly washing our tent and all belongings away in the aftermath of a downpour.

Recently, I was sharing these memories with my husband with the hope that I might inspire him to go camping with me.  Last Sunday after church, he said, “Why don’t we stop at Cabela’s and have a look around?”   Mind you, I still have all of our original camping gear, and I’m thinking a really cheap fun weekend.  I did not want to discourage him.

Cabelas’ is a manly store.  One can’t help but walk down the aisles and grunt several times.  I’ve never seen so many fishing poles, lures, and flies in all my life.  Add hunting rifles, camouflage, and deer urine, and you have a weekend of sheer manly delight.  However, my dear husband cringed when he saw a video in the store of a woman shooting a deer with a bow and arrow.  He has a soft spot for animals and feeds our resident chipmunk in the backyard.

As we were standing by the camping gear, I whispered, “Honey, what’s better than zippering two sleeping bags together and snuggling?”  His response, “A nice warm snuggle in our bed at home.”    I reminded him, “We have an air mattress to make the tent more comfortable, and I’m willing to slave over the Coleman stove to make you chili and cornbread for dinner, and eggs and pancakes in the morning!”

We left Cabela’s with a bag of maple nut goodies.

I’m still waiting for a response to my romantic weekend camping idea.