Camping in Julian Price Park

After a seriously stressful week at the Adcenter, I needed to escape Richmond and my apartment for a bit. To accomplish that goal, I called up a friend from undergrad who lives in Chapel Hill. Allison and I have been friends since we were 18 years old - we met on a pre-orientation camping trip before our freshman year at Kenyon College. Since that time we have lived together for 5 semesters, have had the same friend group and major, have lived in Hilton Head Island at the same time and have taken many bad pictures.

I was looking for an escape from the city and Allison had just gotten a new tent for her birthday. As a result, after a sharing a fabulous Shabbat dinner with the Greenberg's (Allison's boyfriend's family), we threw our gear in her car and drove to Boone to meet up with some of her friends for a weekend of camping and hiking.

The weather was perfect for the entire weekend, with blue skies and a slight breeze. I would have never dared to go camping at this time of year in Illinois, so I was especially thankful for the 70+ temperature. At Julian Price Park off of the Blue Ridge Parkway, we met up with four friends of Allison's who were also camping. Our site was perfect and it was great to meet a bunch of new people. A camp fire, s'mores and a star-filled sky may be one of my favorite forms of therapy.

After camping for the night, Allison and I headed off on our own for a quick hike the next morning. We drove around the Blue Ridge Parkway for about half an hour admiring the scenery, and then choose an hour long hike that paralleled a stream bed. The trail was deep in a valley in a hugely dense part of the forest, and so at times it felt like we were hiking at dusk.

Sometimes I wonder about my career choice. I know that strategic planning and working in an agency are things that I want to do. I also feel more connected to forests than I do to many people, and know that I will be happiest living in a cabin in the middle of the woods. I haven't yet found the connection between those two dreams. Are there any national ad agencies in national forests? Unfortunately, I don't think so.