The Adventure Begins

It was a beautiful Summer Sunday morning. The sun began its rise over the hills to the east. I can feel the excitement, as I got ready to meet everyone at the picnic. Yesterday, I made the potato salad and placed it in the refrigerator. Now, I take it out of the refrigerator and lay the potato salad in the plastic container. I cut up the egg, and garnish the top with the sliced eggs and some paprika.

My wife Debi runs rushes out of the house and drives to the local convenience store. She jumps out of her blue Ford Taurus and rushes inside to pickup 2 bags of ice. After she gets back, I pour the ice into the ice chest. The clock is ticking to 10 AM. I need to leave to make the picnic grounds for our noon rendezvous. The excitement begins to mount.

Debi and I go through the checklist. We make sure we have the plates, fork, knives, spoons, cups, our blanket and towels, paper napkins, garbage bags, insect repellent, charcoal and lighter. I quickly load them into my gold Jeep Cherokee. I make sure I leave room for the important items, the food and drinks.

In the kitchen, I put the food together. Into the ice chest goes the potato salad, the meat, condiments, pickles (because I just ate one), and drinks I want to keep cold. In the picnic basket, I arrange the cake, potato chips, cookies, and other non-perishable items. I quickly take them to the Cherokee and finish loading. Debi and I do a quick kitchen run-through to make sure we did not forget anything. Satisfied we have not forgotten anything, we return to the garage and jump into the Cherokee.

I backed out of the garage and hit the remote garage door button. It slowly rolls down. After checking for oncoming vehicles, I back onto the street. In two hours, we will be in the rich pine forest at a remote picnic ground I recently discovered. There joining us will be our friends, ready to enjoy another picnic adventure.

Read more tips...