Confessions of a Closeted Mississippi Girl: Fall Picnic

This weekend I decided RJ and I were going to get out and explore around Vicksburg. I mean, please. We've lived here for over three months, it's about time. So on Saturday I informed him that we were going on a hike and having a fall picnic. (And carving pumpkins, but I decided to tell him that later. Baby steps.) You would have thought I told him I was taking him to get a root canal with the reaction I got. He listed five million reasons why he did not want to go for a hike (I DON'T CARE ABOUT A STUPID FOOTBALL GAME, WHY CAN'T YOU JUST RECORD IT LIKE I DO WITH MY SHOWS?) and why he hated picnics (who hates picnics? Did I marry Lucifer?) But I didn't really care, nor was I listening, and so... off we went. Actually first we had a mini ~~fight~~ discussion because I told him he had reached his limit of saying no to all my fun ideas (apple picking and a corn maze had already been ex-nayed), and I may have also ~~yelled~~ nicely demanded that he change into tennis shoes (he put his FLIP FLOPS on at first... what is that?) and take this hike seriously.

After our little "discussion" we kissed and made up, and hit the road. I found this place called The Delta National Forest which is about 45 minutes outside of Vicksburg. It has hiking and biking trails, picnicking areas, camping, and all that good stuff that non-outdoorsy people such as myself usually don't get excited about. But not this time. This time I was excited. So we set off on our little drive, and RJ was still a tad grumbly but it was ok because Taylor's new CD was playing, the sun was shining, and we were one step farther away from being the world's lamest couple. AND there was Brie and red wine in the picnic basket, what more could you want? I pointed all this out to my grouchy husband as we drove, with a "YOU'RE WELCOME", but he still wasn't quite ready to accept the fact that this was a great idea.

So the one problem with this little plan was that I wasn't exactly sure what we were looking for, or 100% positive where we were going. You know how hiking and "outdoor" areas are.... it's all a little vague. I was forcing RJ to navigate for me, (I drove so I could ensure Taylor listening. The rule in our marriage is that the driver gets to choose the tunes) but it was all a little unclear where we were and what we were looking for. 45 minutes later all we had managed to find was a campground that was open April-September.

Surprisingly, RJ was NOT being rude, mostly because he was turning out to be right. Ugh. I hate it when that happens. We stopped and looked at our phones, and grabbed a couple maps, and discovered that the hiking trails we wanted were actually 20 miles THE OTHER WAY. Ahhhh. Why do I always have to ruin everything with my terrible sense of direction? I didn't feel like driving 30 minutes the other way, and at this point I really could have cared less about the stupid hike. I was hungry and wanted to eat the Brie and drink the wine I had packed. And I really didn't want to risk getting lost again. "Ok, I'm going to fix this, I have a plan," I said quickly, as RJ shook his head and smirked. "Why do you always have to act so exasperated with me?" I whined. "Why do you always have to be exasperating?" he replied. "C'mon hon," I cajoled. This can be like that country song, where he's never been more in love with her, as they're lost but holding hands.... you know, those "little moments"?" "I don't listen to country," was his response. Do you see what I'm working with here?

So we drove back, and I took us to the Vicksburg Battlefield, whichistechnicallyonlyamilefromourhouse, BUT it has "hiking" trails and picnic areas, AND we drove a roundabout hour and a half to get there, so the day still counts as an adventure outside of Vicksburg! Ignoring the "Gee, imagine if we had just come here from the start," and "Flip flops would have worked just fine for this" comments, I parked the car, we paid the 20 dollar annual fee that now allows us to come to the park whenever we want (the battlefield has over 15 miles of hilly trails- it's a great place to run and ride the bikes we don't have yet), and set out. Despite our best efforts to ruin the day- Ryan with his rudeness, and me with my navigation struggles- we actually had a really great time. First we picnicked, and after I ate my weight in cheese, we walked/"hiked" with our wine (we are so hard-core) and had a lovely time talking. Why is it that even when I fully intend to exercise, I just end up walking with wine? So weird.

Haha, this is so great

But the best part of the entire day was when RJ hugged me, and said, AND I QUOTE... DIRECTLY- "Thanks for packing the picnic, and making me do this, I'm having a great time with you." AND THEN HE SAID- "Sorry I was so grumpy about it."

Ahhh, the sweet taste of ~~being right~~ having a successful date with your husband. So much better than a hike.

But I still plan to try again with the whole hike thing. Now that I know where to go. We'll call it "Fall Picnic 2.0".