Moving along, it's time we get to 'Roughin' It'! How will I do this episode? You'll see! Anyway, enjoy!
"Did you get everything, honey?"
I sighed as I picked up a few bits of my camping gear, my mother and father watching over me to make sure I had everything. "Yes, Dad."
"Bug spray? Good sleeping bag? Plenty of food?" Mom said as she checked my things.
I groaned, "Yes, Mom, I do have those things. Honestly, I don't see why you have to be so protective. My friends and I go camping every summer at least a weekend."
"Oh, honey, we know." Mom said, patting me on the shoulder. "But we just really want you to be as safe as can be."
"I know, Mom." I sighed as I hugged her. I hugged my dad as well, just for assurance.
"You know we just want our little girl to have fun, right?" My dad said.
"I know, dad." I said.
"Well, sweetie, with your schedule for the summer, plus our little get-togethers for fun, I know you'll have a good summer." Mom smiled.
"Yeah, I do." I said, knowing my mom and dad and how they like to set up parties occasionally for the rich people. At a time, I enjoyed those parties, but as I kept growing up, I just felt a little out of place at them. Maybe because I've been hanging with Nadine and Phoebe a lot, I actually prefer what the middle class kids did, but I didn't mind being a rich kid. It has its' perks, but at least I'm not snooty... well, if I was, I tried to tone it down.
I heard a honk on the horn as I sighed. "Well, there's my ride. I'll see you guys sometime on Tuesday!"
"Take care, sweetie!" Mom and Dad said as I ran out the door with my things.
I waved good-bye to my parents as I jumped in the car in the backseat, joining Nadine and Phoebe as they already were sitting down. On the front seat was Arnold, Gerald and Arnold's grandfather as Arnold looked over.
"I think you'll like where we'll be camping, girls. It's sort of a 'get away from nature', as what Grandpa tells me." Arnold said.
"I'm sure we will." Nadine said as we got comfortable.
As we were getting far away from the city and more into a wood-like area, we listened to Arnold's grandfather talking about how camping is going to be different than how it's usually done in the city. I mean, yeah, I heard it from Nadine's parents a few times, I'm sure Nadine and Phoebe heard it a few times... though this was Arnold and Gerald's first camping trip together, so this was going to be exciting.
"It's beautiful, Grandpa." Arnold said, looking out the window.
"Well, sure it's beautiful!" Arnold's grandfather rolled his eyes. "Everything in nature is beautiful, unless it's ugly."
The car then stopped as we unbuckled the seatbelts, Arnold opened the door as we heard Gerald say, "Come on, let's go check out that lake!"
"No, let's go hike up that mountain!" Arnold said in excitement as we went out.
I shook my head as I turned to my girls. "Boys. Go fig."
"Take it easy, fellas." Phoebe smiled as she and I held back Arnold and Gerald before they can go running off. "We'll have plenty of time to do all this stuff, but we need to unpack everything."
"Your little friend's right. First thing we need to do is make camp." Arnold's grandfather explained.
"Make camp?" Arnold said in surprise.
"Why do you think there's a few unpacked tents and sleeping bags in the car?" Nadine asked. "It would be pretty obvious we have to make camp."
"After all, we need to make some tent space, chop firewood, haul water, there's a lot of work to do before you start having fun!" Arnold's grandfather explained as he opened up the car as we started pulling a few things out. I noticed that Arnold and Gerald were a little uncomfortable.
"Don't worry, it's a little difficult at first, but with the right amount patience, we'll have a nice campsite." I said.
"Just imagine you're a construction worker, setting up. That's how I usually do it." Nadine explained as we started to work.
Gerald and Arnold looked at each other and started to shrug as they decided to help out around the area.
It took about at least a half an hour, but we managed to set up a good camping spot as I turned to Arnold and Gerald, saying, "See? That basically took no time at all."
"So now that that's done, does that mean we can swim, hike or catch some fish now?" Gerald asked as Arnold's grandfather closed the back door.
"No! What do you think this is, a camping trip?" Arnold's grandfather glared.
"Uh... it IS a camping trip." I pointed out.
"Anyway, you can't go skylarkin' off without learning some basic survival skills!" Arnold's grandfather stated. "Come on, follow me."
"Just listen to him. When Nadine's parents take us on the camping trips, we sort of do this all the time." Phoebe said as we started following Arnold's grandfather.
"It may sound useless at first, but trust me, in the wild, it definitely has use." Nadine explained as we followed Arnold's grandfather.
On our little hike, me, Nadine and Phoebe learned pretty much the same survival skills that Nadine's parents showed us back when me and the girls learned camping, but for Arnold and Gerald, it was pretty much a brand new experience. There were some pretty funny moments, like when Arnold learned about 'scat' when hunting game...
"What's scat?" Arnold asked.
"Oh, that's lingo for animal droppings." I said.
"Yeah, like the ones you're standing in..." Arnold's grandfather pointed out to Arnold.
Arnold yelped as I laughed a little bit. "I freaked out too when I learned this. Don't worry, I'm over it, but it's pretty unavoidable."
"You still scream every time your shoes step in it." Phoebe rolled her eyes.
I rolled my eyes. "Please, I do not scream every time I step in..."
One of my shoes then felt one of the droppings on the floor, as I quickly screeched. "EW, EW, EW!"
Nadine and Phoebe then laughed as I glared, Gerald chuckling. "Oh, ha ha. I just hate getting my shoes dirty, that's all."
...okay, so it's not as funny when I do it. But still, there were some funny moments, like when Arnold, Gerald, Nadine, Phoebe, and I were having some berries, under Arnold's grandfather's supervision, of course...
"Remember, red and sweet are good to eat, but I swear by this sonnet, green will make you vomit." Arnold's grandfather explained as we were at the berry patches, having a few berries.
"Wait... I thought it was green and sweet are good to eat." Arnold said as he dropped some green berries he held in confusion.
"No, it was definitely red and sweet." I said, munching on a red berry.
"Yep, red and sweet." Nadine said. "We even repeated that poem on the way over."
Arnold's eyes widened as he said, "Excuse me for a second."
Arnold ran off to a nearby tree, and the next sounds we heard were of Arnold retching.
"You're vomiting, aren't you, Arnold?" Arnold's grandfather asked as Gerald stared disgusted. Me, Nadine and Phoebe just chuckled at this moment.
...And of course, there was the infamous moss lesson...
"Now, tell me, if moss grows on the north side of the tree, which way is camp?" Arnold's grandfather asked.
Before me, Nadine or Phoebe could give our answer, Gerald blurted out, "This way!"
Gerald then started to run towards the opposite direction, but yelped as he noticed a skunk nearby. He yelped as he got sprayed a little bit.
Phoebe shook her head as she said, "Fortunately, we have plenty of tomato juice back at camp, which is back north."
"Very good, smart one." Arnold's grandfather smirked.
"Thank you. I actually learned that the moss growing on a different side of the tree was actually an old pioneer trick." Phoebe explained. "Moss always points to civilization."
She then gave a small smile as Gerald frowned a little bit.
...yeah, those were really great.
It was a little close to dark, but after getting rid of Gerald's skunk smell AND getting some dinner, we decided to turn in for the night and begin our fun activities tomorrow.
As I was laying down on my sleeping bag, I looked over. "Hey, girls?"
"Hm?" Phoebe asked.
"You think the boys were disappointed by the camping trip?" I asked, curiously.
"What brings that up?" Nadine asked.
"I don't know. I guess they think that because of all the survival skills they need to learn, they're not having fun here." I explained.
"They just don't get it." Phoebe said. "They haven't experienced camp life like we have."
"Yeah, they don't have the experience we do." I sighed. "In the morning, why don't we take them on a personal hike?"
"Ah, I see." Nadine smirked a bit. "You're using this as an excuse to get close to Arnold."
"What?" I said in shock... then blushed. "Okay, okay, maybe a little, but we really should show them that camping is more fun than they think."
"I guess..." Phoebe yawned. "Good night, girls."
"Night, Phoebe." Me and Nadine both said as we shut off our small night lights. Even though the mosquitos were easily biting, we decided not to bother them, as Nadine is a bit of a bug lover. Plus, I can always treat those bites later.
I dimmed my eyes a little as I laid myself down to sleep.
There I was, in another room of complete darkness as I seemed to be sitting in a chair, thinking. What was I thinking about? Hmmm... if I wasn't having my usual dreams about either being a spy for an organization or having one of my Arnold love dreams... it would mean I'm in one of my thinking dreams.
Logical enough, but what would I be thinking about? I carefully sat down to think about this. I paused. Was it finally finding Tucker and saving his life? No, no, that wouldn't be it. Was it Olga's family life? Hmmm... maybe that was it.
I sat down, pondered about Olga's life... wondering what would have happened if Olga had been born to different people. If what Olga said was true of her parents and that they were as horrible as she described them...
I shuddered, not thinking about that. Another voice was making itself heard... similar to a voice that I had in my other two dreams... my first wondering dream and the dream where Arnold and I were ants. I still couldn't make out the words, but I knew that voice was making itself known. I looked around and noticed I wasn't in COMPLETE darkness... some of the darkness cleared a bit as I saw a little chair I was sitting on... and nearby... a few doors. Maybe the voice I heard is coming from one of the doors. I got up. Should I check it out, I wonder?
I paused as I went closer to the door. I still couldn't make out the voice. I carefully reached my hand towards the knob... when I saw a streak of light...
Sunlight peeked out from the inside of the tent. I slowly cracked open my eyes as I yawned. Phoebe and Nadine were already up as I asked, "What time is it?"
"Seven-thirty one and twenty-six seconds." Phoebe said, counting the exact time. "Arnold's grandfather is already up and making breakfast."
"And it seems Arnold and Gerald are in a foul mood." Nadine said as she peeked outside. "Looks like they want to go home."
"Looks like we don't have time to waste then." I said as I quickly grabbed my clothes and started changing.
After a quick change of clothes, me, Nadine and Phoebe walked outside to see Arnold's grandfather attempting to explain what camping is all about. "You got to get cold and dirty and hungry, it's the only way to camp!"
"What's going on?" I asked as we came out.
"We want to go home." Arnold frowned.
"We hate nature!" Gerald complained.
"How can you say that?" Nadine asked. "Nature is what binds us together. What if we were stuck in it and we couldn't find our way out? How would you survive?"
Arnold raised an eyebrow as he looked over at us. "How are you three used to camping?"
"We usually are." I explained. "Sure, it's unusual to camp outside our natural habitats, but for me, I can adjust. Surely, Arnold, surely you remember... the little biosquare experiment we did? No electricity, only science experiments."
Arnold paused. "Hmmm... are you telling me this camping experience is similar to the greenhouse experiment?"
"Yes. It's like we learned and said in our little lab speech... it takes a little time to adjust to that bit of life at first, but we did it. If we can work 24 hours living in a greenhouse, a weekend of camping shouldn't be too hard." I explained.
Arnold paused as if to think, Gerald was thinking too.
"Look, why don't we show you what nature can really be?" I said. "On our own, we're going to take a small hike... not too far, just to a small lake nearby. And in case we get lost, you're the only people who knows about the camp!"
I gave a wink to Arnold's grandfather as Nadine whispered in his ear our little plan. Arnold's grandfather gave a little smile as he said, "Go ahead, Arnold, take the offer. Let them show you what nature can be about."
"Shouldn't you come with us?" Arnold asked.
"Don't worry. We're not going to go far away." Nadine said.
"Trust us, what could go wrong?" Phoebe smiled.
Gerald gave a small smile in return as he held Phoebe's hand. "All right. We'll do it."
"Great." I smiled as we turned to Arnold's grandfather. "When would you like us to be back?"
"Be back around one o'clock! I'll set us up some lunch!" Arnold's grandfather smiled.
We nodded as me, Nadine and Phoebe started to go up the mountain, leading Arnold and Gerald as I said, "Come on, we'll show you how we see nature."
We hiked up the mountain for a bit as Arnold and Gerald paused, Arnold saying, "We're sure going a long way from the camp. How much longer until we get here?"
"Not too much farther." I said as we kept going. Truth is, me, Phoebe and Nadine planned a little of this just to get ourselves lost... in a good way, just so Arnold and Gerald could learn that using the sage directions isn't as bad. Hypothetically, we could lead the way back, but we wanted to let Arnold and Gerald lead the way. It wasn't until we spotted a lake nearby that we smiled. "We're here."
Arnold and Gerald looked at the wondrous sight before us as we went in. "This little lake is perfect to relax. Take a look around, boys. You'll probably never experience something like this again."
"Wow..." Arnold and Gerald uttered.
And so, we spent some time near that small lakeside, talking for a while. Nadine went to focus on her bugs, Phoebe was noting the wildflowers that grew along the lakeside, overall, it felt pretty good.
Pretty soon, Arnold and I were alone nearby as I said, "What do you think, Arnold? Nice to just hang back in nature?"
"It is..." Arnold said.
"Similar to our biosquare thing?" I asked.
"Yeah..." Arnold said. "I can't believe I forgot about the biosquare lesson. Sorry I had my doubts on the whole camping experience."
"That's okay, buddy." I said. "Believe it or not, I had a similar experience on my first camping trip with Nadine and Phoebe."
"You had?" Arnold asked, interested.
"Yeah." I said. "At first, I wasn't liking everything. The mosquitos bite you, Nadine's parents living on their own vices, even Nadine was a bit annoying with her obsession on bugs. But after being taken to a small lakeside by Nadine's parents, I thought, all of it is worth the trouble to see this wonderful sight. The bug bites don't hurt me, nor did the annoyance of wild animals everywhere. There is a downside to nature, yes, but you pick yourself up and you see a good side to nature. And even if you were lost, you can always take the sage advice of your fellow peers. I guess that's why I like camping. Not only does this mean you hang out with your friends, you get to experience something you'll likely never see again."
"I guess I never thought of it that way." Arnold smiled. "Thanks, Rhonda. You really put my faith in nature again."
I smiled a little. "You're welcome."
We paused.
"Hey, Arnold?"
"Yes, Rhonda?"
"I wanted to say something and I feel now would be a good time to say it." I said, about ready.
"Sure. I'm all ears." Arnold said.
I took a deep breath. "Arnold, I..."
"Hey, Arnold!" Gerald's voice called. "It's almost noon! Shouldn't we be getting back to the campsite?"
"Oh, right!" Arnold said as he turned to me. "What were you going to say to me?"
I paused, yelping. My confession of love was ruined, and now it was replaced with a jumbled thought. I had to quickly say something. "I wanted to know if you can lead us back. As a test to see how you can use the skills your grandfather taught you!"
"Oh. Sure, I can do that." Arnold said.
"Great!" I smiled as we got up to join the others, who were getting ready to head back.
As Arnold and Gerald started leading the way, Phoebe and Nadine turned to me as Phoebe said, "Did you do it, did you do it?"
I sighed, and shook my head. "No, I didn't. I was going to, but my thoughts got jumbled."
They both groaned a bit as Nadine said, "Don't feel too bad. You'll get it again next time."
I nodded. "You're probably right. How'd your research go?"
"As usual, the spiders and crickets have never been healthier." Nadine smiled.
"And I believe I saw a brand new wildflower growing nearby." Phoebe said as she showed me some notes on a wildflower she drew up. "I wonder if this type of wildflower is shown any place else in the world. Gerald gave his opinion saying he thinks it's a pretty flower..." I noted that she was blushing. "...as pretty as I am."
"Aww, how precious. Your little crush is returning his feelings to you." I smiled as Phoebe glared.
"I wish you wouldn't do that." Phoebe sighed.
Pretty soon, thanks to Arnold and Gerald's ways of paying attention, we managed to make it back to the camping site as Arnold's grandfather had some good hot dogs cooked up... a little burnt, but we can't expect perfection.
"So, did y'all have a good hike?" Arnold's grandfather asked.
"We did." Arnold said as he turned to his grandfather. "We even went back because of your ways, grandpa."
"Is that so?" Arnold's grandfather gave a small smile.
"I was wondering... can we stay here one more night?" Arnold asked.
Arnold grandfather could only smile.
We were later sitting around the campfire as Arnold's grandfather started singing old campfire songs. We smiled as we sang along to them. It was good to hang out with friends and camp together... even if some things are bad, like Arnold always said, there's always a positive thing to look forward to somewhere. Arnold would have forgotten that lesson himself had I not reminded him of it. And so, we stayed at camp for another day or so until we headed back to the city Tuesday morning.
And I'd have to say, the camping experience was worth the time and effort.
There's the thirty-eighth episode! How do you like it? I realize I did get rid of a certain plot element the original episode had, but I figured, with a few strings pulled, I could probably work around this. This was the final result this came out, so hopefully this came out okay! Anyway, read, review, criticize and suggest, folks! And don't forget to add to the TVTropes page, edits are welcome!