| Sitting in a meadow at dawn. Huddling around a fire | | | | sun light left so I decided to hold off on pitching the |
| roasting marsh mellows. Gazing into galaxies far far | | | | tent and setting up camp. I needed some exercise |
| away, pondering life's deepest questions. For me, | | | | and a hike to the summit is just what the doctor |
| camping is a tranquil escape from the hustle-bustle of | | | | ordered. |
| everyday life. Living in a city has it advantages, but it | | | | The weather is perfect. The temperature is just right |
| also means dealing with traffic, inflated prices, long | | | | and the cool air fends off pesky bugs. I march up |
| lines and paying for parking, which is why I retreat to | | | | the trail at a nice quick pace, which Jasper has no |
| the mountains as much as possible. My gear's security | | | | problem following. From the openness of the trail, I |
| is the last thing on my mind when I'm scaling a | | | | can tell that it is a well-traveled path. Luckily, I was |
| gargantuan mountain, but last weekend I came back | | | | the only car in the parking lot and hadn't seen anyone |
| from a long hike only to find my tailgate hanging wide | | | | else in miles. I soon reach the summit and it is |
| open and my belongings missing. | | | | gorgeous. The green seems to go for miles in every |
| I haven't had anything stolen in the city, which has a | | | | direction. I plot down on a tree stump to take it all |
| ridiculously high crime rate, but when I go to an area | | | | in-the sounds of a babbling brook, birds chirping, the |
| where the deer population vastly outnumbers the | | | | setting sun. I'm on top of the world. I look toward |
| people, my truck is broken into. How ironic. Don't ya | | | | the base of the mountain. Oh nice, there is the |
| think? After this past week of work, I was dieing to | | | | parking lot. Wait a minute. Is someone taking |
| get away. So I laced up my hiking boots, packed my | | | | breaking into my truck? I shoot up and race down |
| gear, and took off. I was headed for a weekend | | | | the trail. Jasper breaks out in a gallop next to me. We |
| away from work, crowds, and most importantly, my | | | | finally make it down to the lot, sweaty and |
| wife-two nights alone, just me and my yellow lab, | | | | exhausted, to find my tailgate hanging open. I have a |
| Jasper. | | | | pick up truck with a truck bed cover over it, but the |
| The second we get out of the city I'm hit with | | | | actually tailgate door doesn't have a lock. I rip off my |
| feelings of relief. I lower the windows, turn of the ac, | | | | cover and all of my gear is gone. You have got to be |
| and let out a sigh as Jasper and I breathe in that cool | | | | kidding me. I look around in all directions and the only |
| mountain air. As the road begins to twist and turn, | | | | thing I find is a sign. It read, "Caution. Secure |
| bringing us up the mountainside, I can tell we are | | | | Valuables in Car." It wasn't the hundreds of dollars of |
| close. "This is more like it," I thought. Just a guy and | | | | camping equipment that hurt the most. It was that |
| his dog, getting away for the weekend; that's all we | | | | my place of solitude and tranquility had been |
| are-nice, slightly creepy, but nice. | | | | tainted-and that I had to go home for a weekend |
| I pull off the paved road and pull into a small secluded | | | | with my wife. |
| parking lot. Jasper can tell from the gravel crunching | | | | How will I be able to move on and continue with my |
| under my tires that we have arrived. I pop open the | | | | life you ask? I now have a Tailgate Lock, which can |
| door and he barges out; trying to take in all the | | | | secure all my goods. It doesn't lock if I have my |
| scents like a kid scoping out the presents under the | | | | Truck Bed extender attached, but at least now I |
| tree on Christmas morning. We have a few hours of | | | | know not to store anything in there. |