I step out of the dark blue truck and inhale a slow deep breath.  The strong smell of the pine surrounds me and fills me with a sense of relaxation and ease.  I walk over to the old picnic table that has been through all types of weather and run my hands over the places where all of our names are carved roughly into boards that make up the table.  I look around as my dad backs our twenty-seven foot Salem camper carefully into our spot next to our friends’ campers who come with us most of the time.  We won’t spend much time in there, I think to myself excited at the perfect weather reported for the weekend.  We only use the camper to sleep and get ready in the morning, other than that we are outside sitting around the campfire, playing games, eating snacks, and cooking.  There is no place I would rather be than right here. I have gone camping ever since I was four years old.  We go every year during the summer, usually every other weekend. 

The sound of the river rushing over the rocks and dark green weeds finds my ears and my mind fills with excitement.  Finally I will get to use my kayak, I think to myself.   It has been up in the attic for most of the year waiting for summer to finally come around.   When we finally finish setting up camp I decide to walk down to my spot by the river.  The rock looks the same faded grey stone color it does every year.   The enormous mound is flat in most places, but there are still some bumps embedded deep in the rock.   It’s easy to climb on and off the rock because the top is connected to the solid ground, but the bottom is below the water.  It is the perfect place for entering and exiting the river.  I take off my shoes and dip my feet in.  The water is cool, but not as cold as I expected it to be; eventually my bare feet will get use to the temperature. I take out my favorite book, To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee from my dark red backpack and begin to read.  I occasionally snack on some Oreo’s, dipping them into a small jar of peanut butter I packed for the ride up, but now I am glad I decided to save them.

The light soft breeze blows my hair out of my face.  The sun shines, down on me, warming my cheeks and gives me the feeling of comfort like a familiar friend would.  This is my favorite time of year, school is out and now it’s finally time to resume the activities that mean the most to me. I put my book away as I hear my sister making her way towards me.  She sits down with me and then dips her pointer finger into my peanut butter jar.  She shovels out a big lump of deliciousness as I give a disgusted look and hand the container over to her for keeps.  I can tell by the smell of hot dogs and hamburgers cooking that my dad has started the campfire.  We sit in silence on our rock for a while and just enjoy each other’s company.  “We better head back,” I say cheerfully, knowing we will have all weekend to sit here and relax.  I help my sister lazily get up and we make our way back to our favorite camp site for dinner.