Cassie and I have been talking about going camping for a while now, but Its been cold, and rainy, and we’ve been busy… But last night with a free weekend ahead of us we decided after sundown to jump in my Subaru and go spend the night outside. It was actually so great!

My parents own 40 acres of nothing only 40 minutes from home, outside Shady Cove (a small redneck town where nothing happens). Through a decade of birthdays and Christmas days I’ve accumulated a good amount of minimalist camping gear that goes mostly unused. Until last night.

I didn’t make a video, because it was cold, and we were out there for less than 12 hours, but it was a great night.

We pitched our tent between my car and a big oak tree, and made a fire within eyesight of the pond that lines one corner of the property. Laying in our zero-degree sleeping bag that night it began to snow and we could hear geese in the distance around the pond, while the fire bounced flickering light off one side of the tent beneath that hundred year old oak tree.

In the morning we woke to an inch of snow and I remade the fire while Cass made coffee and oatmeal. We went for a short walk down to the pond before packing everything up to head home.

It was great to just get outside for a night, sit next to a fire in the forest, and cuddle warm under a blanket of snow.