Living in the Poconos, you’d think it would be pretty easy to try a one night backpack trip in the nearby woods, something I keep wanting to try.  So when my neighbor Eric invited me to camp in his backyard for a night (aka “glamping”), of course I said yes!

He got a couple of steaks, I roasted some veggies, and he cooked the steaks over a campfire. After a delicious dinner, he doused that fire, and we started a second one close to our tents, where we drank a little wine, meditated, drummed and relaxed.

So, before sleep, we each went to our houses for a bathroom break.  I returned to the backyard first, sitting next to the fire.  Eric came outside and saw a bear.  The bear was headed to the backyard where I was sitting! 😵‍💫

I was quite unaware, and he called my cell, so he could warn me – after hearing his warning, I looked up and said “OH, it’s a BEAR!” About 70’ away! So I said, “hey bear” and with that the bear decided humans are going to be annoying, he turned around and left. Hard to believe I still went to sleep shortly after. 🤷🏽‍♀️

Trying to fall asleep was a challenge, because Chuckie (a neighborhood cat) was SO happy we were outside with him. He kept trying to climb into each of our tents. (In the morning , he did end up jumping onto Eric’s head THROUGH the tent. Quite a feat!)

At one point, we heard something, looked out toward the woods across the road, and saw LOTS of eyes reflected in the light! It was thankfully, only a bunch of deer laying down. Later, we also heard a couple times, a very low growl.  I know it wasn’t Chuckie, he fell asleep laying on my tent, and purred loudly for most of the night. (slightly smelling of skunk due to him probably rolling in skunk-scented grass earlier).  Wonder what the growl was from?  That will remain a mystery.  At least it didn’t keep me awake for long. 😴 

And there you have it – one night of outdoor sleeping in the Poconos.  No need to go to the woods, nature is everywhere, even across the street!