Beary Funny-NOT



WARNING SIGN AT BOGART PARK CAMPGROUND



Well, the first thing that's disturbing about this sign is that they look like they spelled Disturb as DISTURD....but...still, what was alarming is that I read the word BEAR at the end of the sentence.  BEAR...hmmmmm......

That.....

is.....

not....

              good......................

(I thought to myself).  Plus the welcome view of a bobcat with a fresh rabbit kill in it's mouth seemed like a good premonition that...this wasn't going to be any ordinary camping trip that I'm used to experiencing.  ANYWAY...quite honestly.... I wasn't too thrilled to go camping this time around because I was concerned about Emily ..... since she just came down with an ear infection and chest cold....but at the same time, I empathized with my hubby because he has worked so hard the last several months.....and I know my husband just needed a break- he loves camping...and has been looking forward to this trip for a few weeks.  Camping is in his blood...he's an Eagle Scout...and I grew up enjoying the smells of a campfire....it was fun.  Emily was on antiobiotics and she appeared to be feeling chipper apparently...so I left the decision for Jason to pack for camping while I went to work Friday Morning.  To my surprise, he installed a new Bike Trailer mount for my SUV...and things were already packed and ready to go.  YAY.   Tired from waking up at 5:00 in the morning that day....I was a little bummed that this was the decision.  I did make it clear I wasn't very THRILLED with the idea of roughing it....but my good wife side thought about my hubby's excitement...and he did take time off for this as well as reserved our camping spot for 2 nights. Jason reassured me that the place we were camping wasn't going to be FREEZING....and Emily should be ok...especially with antibiotics.  Plus Jason's parents were coming to join us through the evening (they WEREN'T going to spend the night...."those Lucky Ducks" I thought to myself...Lol) and my father in law, with his previous scouting experience, was in charge of making a Dutch oven meal...so I was excited about that.  
We had dinner, a yummy chocolate/cherry/walnut cake, corn on the cob that night.  We made sure that the food scraps were taken FAR AWAY from our camp.....you know, "JUST IN CASE".  What was a little concerning in my mind....is that these trash cans didn't have lids on them....AND....we were practically the only ones camping other than another family on the other side of the campground.  We made sure all the food was put away in the car, and that we didn't have food in our tent etc. for preventative measures of course.

   

2:15 a.m.

We could hear something rummaging through a garbage can in the distance of our camp. 

Me: "WHAT was that??????" 

Jason the eagle scout took out the flashlight and looked out of the window of our tent.  "Let me see.......UM........yeah."  

"WELLL?????" I muttered?  "WHAT IS IT?????"......   

Jason:  "It's a BEAR".

Me: " WHAT??????  ARE YOU SERIOUS?????"

Jason: "UH YEAH......Grab Emily and Get to the Car"

Me:  "ARE  YOU SERIOUS???!?!?!?!"

Jason:  "HE IS COMING TOWARD OUR CAMP......GET EMILY AND GET TO THE CAR."

At this point I'm panicking....I stand up thinking...Great I don't have my shoes on...I need to make sure when I grab Emily that I get her favorite stuffed animal Jake since I know she will be upset if we left him in the tent for the BEAR. 

Jason:  GET THE KEYS....GET THE KEYS-

Me:  "I CAN'T FIND THE KEYS!!!!" frantically spinning around the tent in circles with a half sleeping/ whimpering, 43 lb child under my left arm covered in a blanket.

At this point, Jason got the keys....he urged me to get to the car.  I felt like I was running like some tribal woman with my bare feet, feeling the dirt and gravel between my toes and completely ignoring the fact that I had seen a huge trail of ants earlier that evening.  My instinct was to get EMILY IN THE CAR AND TO GET MYSELF INTO THE CAR....and PRAY REALLY HARD that JASON Makes it in the CAR safely. 



2:30 a.m....

Jason didn't realize that when I got in the driver side of the car, I had climbed over thinking he would also get in the driver's side.  I mean...he's the man, he should be in the drivers seat right?  I thought I was being thoughtful...but he ran to the passenger side...and Saw me sitting there (DOH!)....and I probably reduced his chance for survival slightly doing this because it made him stay outside the car longer and forced him to run around back to the drivers side of the car.  In the car we were safe.  In my mind I'm delirious.  I had my Motorola Tablet with me...so first thing I think of is to POST something on facebook....HA HA...you know, just in case ANYTHING happens, people would know. Just in case there was Breaking NEWS early in the morning to find some Family had been attacked by a Bear.   I was freaking out....and we took a glimpse of the bear.  THE BEAR WAS H-U-G-E....it wasn't some cute little bear cub....It was like

 Jabba the Bear....probably 300 lbs.  IT LOOKED LIKE THIS:

http://www.bearsforever.org/Black_Bears.php?cat=2

This bear...was ambulating along, scouring for food of course.  The next thought the comes to my mind. " I gotta go to the potty".  I wasn't about to get out of the car to go....I wanted to make sure this BEAR was nowhere in sight.  The bear decides to go toward the BATHROOM of course.  I'm like, I can't imagine if I was by myself, going pee....this Bear is half-way through, peeking inside the bathroom.  I was on mandatory training to hold my bladder.  I'm like....I WANT TO GO HOME.  WE ARE PACKING THE TENT AND LEAVING.  I started complaining that I needed to go potty, and I wasn't about to exit the vehicle concerned that the Bear was out there......

Jason said it should be ok since it was like an hour later...and I'm like

 "UM NO-...I'm not going!!!.....Kim vs BEAR?  Are you kidding?   BEAR WINS!!!!" 

 then I muttered "Emily could have been the Bear's little tasty morsel....I'm the appetizer...and Jason...YOU ARE THE MAIN COURSE!!!!"

Jason was just laughing at the whole situation and saying "WE ARE CREATING FAMILY MEMORIES"

So after we waited and felt it was safe to get outside the car....Jason and I took down the tent that we had just put up hours before.  We packed our things...and came home around 7:30 in the morning.

ANYWAY......YEAH.  WELL. Although this had been one of the scariest moments of my life , I guess it still couldn't compare to the drive by shooting that happened next door to us when we were renting a home in Pasadena.  I am grateful that Jason did STEP UP  and PROTECTED US FROM THE 300 lb WILD BEAR by throwing rocks at it (Probably "pebbles" to the Bear's point of view)...The bear did gallop a little away from the camp, then it slowly traversed up the grassy hill like it ain't no big thing like a chicken wing. 

I'm proud to say that I'm a CHICKEN when it comes to WILD BEARS.  I wouldn't want to battle it out with it.  I'm grateful I ran track in field in my early years because It had been awhile since I sprinted so fast.

Tired.................Exhausted...................WE ARE SAFE IN OUR HOME.

That was our weekend.....How was yours? LOL