The Last Trip

I woke up that day very excited. I scrambled to my feet, put on my favorite pair of cropped shorts , a bathing suit, and a slightly stained T-shirt. I pulled my baseball cap out from under my bed and slapped it on my head. I grabbed the bag I had packed days before and ran out of my room, down the stairs taking them two at a time, and out the side door. From there I ran through the path we always took through the woods on the way to each others houses. I arrived in no time. I could see that they were already packing the equipment and gear into the red truck. With the sight my excitement grew.

Every year my best friend and her family went to camp up in Mt. Hood. This year I was invited! We literally lived on the base of the mountain but now we were going up to camp next to the lake. I had never been camping before, and especially not with my best friend. The drive like usual was very funny, we laughed and giggled the entire way up. After about an hour we could see the beautiful blue green lake surrounded by trees that went on forever. We were almost there!

We arrived right in the thick of the hottest part of the day, so instead of unloading, and setting up camp like we were told we had to do. We stripped to our matching swim suits and waded into the water were we played for most of the day. Before we knew it afternoon turned to dusk, the camp had been set up, and a fire was lit. We then laid next to the fire roasting our food, telling stories and talking. It came time to set up our sleeping bags and get some sleep before we did it all over again the next day. That was the perfect day I can’t think of one more fantastic.

In the following month my best friend was diagnosed with stage four melanoma. She died shortly after diagnoses, and we never really got another camping trip. Our families grew apart, and we moved away. It never really was the same playing in the woods between our houses. She taught me that we have to live in the moment, as well as in the future. We never know what will happen next.