camping under the stars, vol. 5 (sanctuary)

Dear listeners, I have a tale for you!! One that is not only true, but also equal parts exhilarating and terrifying. The best/worst thing to happen to me brought on by our sweet Mother Nature. I had been planning a camping trip for 1 whole year with a high school buddy (who only knows me only as a metalhead, shhhhhh......). He had never been to the mid-west, in any place like South Dakota, Wyoming, Montana, or Idaho. I had, but for work-related travel, which was a soul sucking endeavor and left me devoid of any potentially wonderful life altering experiences. Our plan went from imagining to planning, and would take us to The Badlands, Custer State Park, Mount Rushmore, the Black Hills, Devil's Tower, Bighorn National Forest, Yellowstone Park, and beyond. It was going to be fantastic. I bulked up some snivel camping gear and I was ready. Imagine that: me, a sissy novice camper, eating barbaric foods over a fire and having a flexible agenda while listening to nature at night in a tiny tent. What could go wrong?