GIRLS' ROOM!!! It's all y'alls fault

[bigsallysmom]

I've been on this site for years.  Listened to y'alls stories with rapt attention and dreamed of the day I would join the ranks -- on a non-fulltime basis.  Y'all were and are so brave.  Like explorers of old.  If I met you in a restaurant I'd stare at you like you were a celebrity.

My recent three day fishing trip just whetted my appetite for more.  Being as I don't have a mobile dwelling I thought I'd pack the 4 x 4 truck, drop off the dog who pants like a steam engine and take off on my first ever solo trip into the wilderness.  Now that I've said it out loud it's scaring me out just a little... lot.  You know... lions, tigers and bears.  Family  has only two more days to freak out.  After that I'll be out of phone range.  Oddly enough, my wife is the calmest of all.  "Sure go. Have fun."

I will be going to the Gila national forest in SW NM on Monday.  31 miles on 15 as the crow flies.  Lots and lots of places to boondock but fewer knee-and-senior-friendly entrances to the water.  Going on a weekday I might be the only person on the water.
 
Do I have the nerve to go out into nowhere and fish and sleep in a tent?  I want to be y'all. I want to experience that what y'all have been telling me about for years.  I want the confidence y'all wander with.

Damn y'all.

 

[michele0203]

You just did a 3 day....you got this! Keep us posted! (Yes this is from someone who hasn't camped but once let alone by myself...nonetheless, you sound just as badass as all the others here, go for it! ) as soon as I figure out the battery situate for my cpap machine I'll be doing the same!

Girl power! (OK. Kinda corny but i had to go there!!!)

 

[anewbiewannabe]

Atta Girl!!!!! ROFL@Damn y'all.

Yay! for your adventure!!!!! You already took one bite so enjoy the next one!

 

[Almost There]

If there's one thing I don't mind being blamed for - this is it!!

Getting someone out there in nature and pushing/testing their limits is what makes it all worthwhile!

You go girl!

 

[cyndi]

"Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things that you didn’t do than by the ones you did do... " – Mark Twain

 

[TrainChaser]

Some of the dumbest people on the face of the earth go camping and come back alive.

You'll do just FINE! Look at all of the great tips you've picked up here and have stored in your brain.

I would bet you money that when you come back, you'll be knocking yourself in the head, saying, "WHY DIDN'T I DO IT SOONER???!!!"

 

[Queen]

Have a great time, and you couldn't have picked a nicer spot to give it a go. I spent my 38th birthday at the end of the catwalk with my feet soaking in that cool river, I'm 56 now and still dream about that place.

 

[bigsallysmom]

I got back yesterday. Had issues with cold, wind, rain but I did get one night in the tent. Definitely need a sleeping pad. But I did absolutely, positively enjoy being by myself. Would love to have stayed longer.

 

[Headache]

I don't know how long you'll be able to tolerate it but tents are a deal breaker for me. Now a properly set up tipi or a yurt and I'm good but not a tent. If I was desperate I wouldn't say no of course.

I know, I'm a wuss. lol

 

[gypsyvioleta]

My son has ordered me a purple tent, which is taking forever to get here (from China) but I can't wait to try it out but I can also sleep in the car as I had already had a pad in it to see how it would feel, so if the weather gets bad, the car will work fine.

 

[bigsallysmom]

I've managed to get two sleeping pads and with two donated sleeping bags I am ready to go.

 

[AD64]

Oh yes, there is something in going alone and being alone out in the wilderness and on the open road. We can do it, yes we can. It is so very worth it.

I find great encouragement in the women here who go it alone and in reading the stories of women adventurers. Which makes me think I might start a discussion to post suggested readings?

Just last week I got an old used minivan after being without a vehicle for several years. I've been working on it to turn it into my little home on the road. I'll be leaving for a road trip next week, and am looking forward to the wild open spaces and places, all alone.

 

[KatBalouE350]

Bigsallysmom, I am glad you tried it out. There is just something so unremarkablly soothing with being alone in nature, once over the fear of it, that is. But for certain, my first time, afterwards, when I was back into my safe zone, the aftertaste was nothing less than empowering!
Good for You!