I retired at the age of thirty-eight after spending most of my adult life in the military. I took a contracting job for about ten years after I got out then decided to spend the rest of my life enjoying my hobby of travelling around the country and visiting parks and especially finding places that were off the beaten trail. If a normal car could get there, then I usually did not want to go. I had spent the last ten days on the road, travelling around the back country of Georgia, North Carolina and Tennessee. I had put about fifteen hundred backroad miles on my truck and spent many nights camped by myself next to any stream or river I could find. Most places were so remote, that there was no cell service for at least twenty miles around. This was the way I liked it. Away from most people and all the hustle and bustle of the growing world.
I stayed fit by running and hiking. If I could find a spot, I did some rock climbing. All the outdoor physical activity kept me fit and trim. I also tried to watch what I ate most of the time. At forty-eight years old, I still was in better shape than most twenty-five-year-olds. I worked hard at it, but I enjoyed the way my body felt when I was in good shape.
I found a camp spot by accident travelling down about twenty-five miles of an old forest service road. It was early in the morning, and I was just out exploring. I had not had cell service in at least forty-eight hours and was unable to look up any camp sites, so I just figured I would drive until I found somewhere that looked appealing and set up my camp. I crossed a couple little one lane only bridges on the route and then came to a small creek crossing. I stopped and checked it out and the water was only about six inches deep, so I crossed and continued down the road. In another two miles I came upon a small side road that led to a small creek, about thirty feet wide and a nice flat area next to it with a rock fire pit. There were about three other spots with similar fire pits near it, but plenty of privacy in the unlikely event that someone else showed up. I figured that this was the perfect spot to set up camp.
I unloaded my truck and set up my roof top tent. The tent is about seven feet off the ground and gave me a little security in case any animals decided to visit my camp at night. I could also hear if any two-legged animals decided to get into my tent while I was sleeping. Although it was just me, I had bought the extra-large size in case I ever found a woman friend who would like to join me. I had a few over the last few years, but most needed a shower, running water and air conditioning. They just were not for me.
I set up the rest of camp and since it was still early in the day, I decided to go explore and go fishing along the creek. I was gone most of the day and came back about two hours before sunset. I noticed the smell of a campfire and saw that a newer SUV with Massachusetts plates had pulled in a couple sites over. I did not think anything of it and sat down to drink a beer and think about what I was going to make for dinner. I always had a well-stocked cooler. I might like the backwoods, but I always like to eat well when I camp. I was about three beers in when I heard someone calling out to me from the far side of my campsite. I looked over and there was a young girl, maybe twenty to twenty-five years old. I said Hi and she approached. She said that they had forgot propane for their grill and had no way to cook the burgers that they had brought to cookout. I kind of laughed and she looked a little dejected. I quickly said, no problem, I have plenty of propane. I was just going to cook, and I have two burners on my stove and I asked her if she just wanted to cook their food on mine. She quickly said that would be great and walked back quickly toward her campsite. Obviously being a chauvinist, I just assumed she was going to get her boyfriend and they would get their food and come back.
When she showed back up at my campsite, she had a small cooler, that could not have held much food and certainly not very much beer. She said her name was Renae and that her friend would be over in a minute. As she bent over to put her cooler down, I took a really good look at her. She was maybe 5'2, 115 pounds and had mid-length dark hair. She really was attractive. I was thinking what a lucky boyfriend to get to hang out with her all the time. As soon as that thought went through my head, I heard another female voice say "Thanks for bringing the cooler over, can you grab me a beer?" I turned my head and there was another stunningly beautiful girl with wavy chestnut hair and blonde highlights. I could see her green eyes from about thirty feet away. This girl was about the same height and weight, but she had at least a full cup size on Renae. I said hi and introduced myself to both girls. The other girl introduced herself as Angela. Angela said "I can't think you enough for letting us use your grill. I cannot believe we left the house without the propane."
We made small talk as she got the burgers out of the cooler and both of them cracked a beer. I said "it is going to be a few before the grill heats up, did you bring chairs? You might as well get comfortable." Angela said "Yes, great idea" and went to grab their chairs. I started the grill and pulled out a ribeye steak, corn on the cob and a potato I was going to cut up and fry. I could see Renae's eyes watching my food then looking back at her burgers. "What are you going to have with the burgers?" I said. "Uhh just burgers I guess. We did not bring anything else." I laughed and jokingly said "well at least you have buns for them right?" I could see her go blank for a minute and run back to their campsite. She was gone for about ten minutes and then both girls walked back over. "Hey Rob? Is there any chance we could share a little of your potato? We forgot the buns and we don't have anything else to eat with us. I think we left it all in Angela's mom's vacation house". I laughed out loud, but when I saw her face, I knew that she was really worried about it and obviously felt bad asking.