Rat squirrels, prehistoric bugs and beautiful Red Rocks! Oh my!

Well, I have officially "roughed it" (in my mind) when it comes to camping. Last weekend I went with some very good friends to Zion National Park to hike around the beautiful Red Rocks. It was definately beautiful, and definately an experience.

Being the frugal person that I am, when my friend Robbie informed me that the other people we were going with knew of a "free" campsite- I was all in! Little did I know this "free" campsite had no bathrooms, no showers but had a whole lot of red dirt and ants... lots of ants... to the point where I had a flash back of a Disney short cartoon where things get carried away by ants at one of Mickey's picnics.

The hiking was AMAZING- no denying that. The heat was unbelievable, but some how I survived... I drank my entire 100 oz. Camel Pack and didn't have to pee- partially because all the water left my body in the form of sweat... Sexy? You know it.

However, while hiking I realized a few things I did not like.

1. Shirtless men running down steep hills towards me as I was trying to hike up this steep hill. Who in their right mind does that? Not only was the image terrifying, but the sound of their feet pounding on the ground caused me to have a mild heart attack. Now I know how Simba felt when he was stuck in that canyon at the stampede came rushing towards him... RIP Mufasa.
2. Squirrels and Chipmunks freak me out. Now, chipmunks are cute when they are cartoons and their day job is being rescue rangers- but in real life, they are demons. And their friends, the squirrels? They are FAT demons... These weren't even squirrels, they were fat rats and mini cats. They also had NO fear- they would corner me on the path ways, crawl under my legs as I was sitting down and frankly ruining any relaxing moment I had!
3. There were prehistoric bugs down at Zion National Park, and I was caught off guard by two of them. One being a "beetle"- Define beetle. This thing had WINGS and looked more like its mother was a pterodactyl. The second bug was a bee- not just any bee but an elephant bee. It was HUGE and the buzz made it sound like I was being attacked from above even though it was below- yes that is how large said bee was. I didn't even know bugs like that existed, I thought they died in The Great Flood, but apparently God told Noah to take those things along for the ride!
4. Sleeping in a tent while its 90 degrees outside... Hot, sweaty, sticky and not in a good way. Normally I don't think it would have been bad, but there was no breeze... Stuffy? You betcha. Did I want to sleep naked? Yes. Did I? No. Why you may ask? Well besides the fact that I was sharing a tent with friends, I feared that I would be attacked by ants and carried off into the wild, naked. So I kept clothes on just in case I was carried out into the wild, I would not be embarrassed by my nudity.

Overall the trip was great and amazing! I would totally go again in the fall or spring when its not so hot- and I would stay in an area with showers. And if some one asks me to go again before the summer is over, I am going to suggest driving an extra hour and hiking the mysterious trails of Las Vegas- I hear the hike up Ceasar's Palace is AMAZING :)

Get out there and experience the world a little bit- its good for the soul.