The Weekend the Woods Tried to Kill Me

I love being outside.  While I'm not the easiest person to be outside with, my husband amuses himself and takes me camping, hiking, biking, etc.  I probably whine more than I should, but in the end I love it, and have the time of my life.  I take pictures, I discover things about nature, (and myself most of the time), I sweat, I push myself, I laugh, I make memories with the man I love and the dogs I cherish.  But this particular weekend I did more than all of the things listed above....this weekend I cried...I vomited...I thought I might die.  I'm pretty sure the woods tried to kill me.  I have a lot of circumstantial evidence to try and prove this crime, but as you will read, any jury would have convicted.  Here's the story:

Friday, June 25: Adam and I load the dogs, the car, and ourselves and start driving north.  Our destination was Northern New Hampshire...quite possibly our favorite place in the world.  We had every intention of making it to Gorham, NH and setting up at the Dolly Copp Campground.  It sits right in the middle of the White Mountain National Forest, and has a wonderful river running through it.  As we neared the Great North Woods we had a sudden change of heart.  We were driving down the Kancamagus Scenic Byway, towards North Conway and we started passing lots and lots of campgrounds.  I had read about many of them in a book we had, so we pulled over and decided on a change of venue.  We found The Covered Bridge Campground which sits right on the Swift River.  We pulled in and fell in love.  We found a spot, paid our fee, and set up our tent.  After picking up some camping chairs from a local EMS, and sandwiches from the Lil Store on the Kanc, we were ready for some fun in the sun down by the river.  We packed a small bag with some delightful beverages and towels, grabbed the dogs, and were off.  It was amazing, and such a great start to our weekend.

Maggie enjoying the water

View from our sun bathing rock

The Covered Bridge in Albany (where our campground got it's name)

See how much fun we're having?!

But it didn't stay this way...oh no, it took a turn for the worst.  Behind us sits a shrub of sorts...it's an Alder Bush...Marsh Alder to be exact.  As it turns out, I'm allergic to this shrub.  I knew that, but thought nothing of it.  It wasn't pollinating or anything, so it really shouldn't matter. We continued with our fun and then headed back to our campsite.  We had hot dogs and s'mores awaiting us...what could possibly go wrong and ruin this perfect moment!  Oh, it suddenly mattered.  First came the chills, which I thought was a result of my light sun burn.  Then came the pressure in my head, nose, and ears...basically my entire face was about to explode.  Next I couldn't hear out of one ear, which followed agonizing pain from that same ear.  By the time I went to bed (just about 6 hours after the river fun) my throat was on fire.  Making everything much worst was the fact that the only bathroom was a pit toilet...no running water at all.  Normally this wouldn't bother me, but when you're sick, downing fluids and using the pit toilet every 30 mins, you want to wash your hands...and hand sanitizer is NOT the same as good old soap and water!!!

Saturday, June 26:  Adam tried to take care of me, but when you're in the middle of the woods, nothing helps.  He took me to get allergy medicine, and a fleece.  He let me sleep while he hiked with the dogs.  He made me stuffing, which I couldn't end up eating.  And for what it's worth, I tried to pretend I was ok.  We stayed Saturday night hoping that maybe I'd awake and feel better, then we could get in some hiking.  That night I threw up every last fluid in my body.

This is me trying to have fun:(

At least I'm smiling, right?!

Sunday, June 27: As soon as the sun was up, we were headed home.  Usually we linger at the sight for a while, do some hiking and shopping at the outlets.  Not this time....I didn't even look for Moose.  I'm not so sure I would have noticed one if it ran out in front of me.  I drank orange juice and tried sleeping.  When we arrived home I immediately took a shower and proceeded to throw up again.  A check of my vitals showed a very high fever and swollen glands and throat.  I slept most of the day, and prepared for a trip to the Urgent Care for Monday.

Monday, June 28: A visit to a Dr. produces these results: Sinus Infection, Ear Infection, and Strep Throat.  Here's some serious meds, take a few days off and get better. 

And that my friends, is a recap of the most horrific outdoor weekend I've ever had.  Ever.