Falling in love with hammocks—It only took one trip on the Volunteer Trail near Mt Juliet Tennessee with our old hammock to fall in love with swinging between two trees. We enjoyed it so much that it didn’t matter that the hammock was heavy and filled my entire backpack. Relaxing together and staring up into the beautiful canopy of the forest above easily outweighed the difficulties.

Making a good thing better—We get into turning a thing over in our minds until we know how to make it better. We decided we wanted to find a hammock that is super light weight and compact. Then we would finish it off with a large, light weight fully sealed mosquito net that could be used when it’s warm and buggy.

Grand Trunk—I’ve had a Hennessy Jungle Hammock and I really like Eno but what won the day for us was Grand Trunk’s  54” vertical zipper opening in the mosquito net so you can get in standing up in 6’ plus of headroom. It works well with a double hammock and you can store gear in the bathtub style bottom under the hammock. Then you and your girl can swing in comfort in a double hammock and watch the sunset bug free.

Percy Priest Trial Run—I was enthusiastic to find a westward facing spot on the lake shore with trees just the right distance apart. I pushed through lots of under brush and cob webs and found just such a place.  My Honey hiked in behind me and helped me pack down an area of weeds and brush. We experimented with spacing and angles. When it was good enough for a first try we climbed in and zipped up the netting. We were ready to relax, eat a little picnic and watch the sun set.

Unwelcome guests—I was so focused and exhilarated by the fun task that I missed a thing or two. We climbed in our new nest and I watched with disappointment as a tick marched across my Honey’s shorts. In a flurry of activity we collected and killed everything that crawled that wasn’t human.

Ticked off—How did those get in here? I really was “ticked” off! Then It dawned on me what I had done. While stomping through the brush we walked under a grove of cedars and the ticks had hitched a ride by the dozen. We hastily ate our picnic, packed up and worked our way back out to the trail.

I’d like to check you for ticks—A famous country song that I think is funny came to life and wasn’t as cute as it sounds. We acted like two monkeys picking lice and removed several ticks from each other. I felt sad that she had not had a good time but my Hiker is so resilient.

Making improvements again—We wanted to repeat the first special moment so badly that we made a plan. Pick an open area that was naturally bare or prepared for camping. Stay away from low hanging cedars. Get in the hammock bug free to start with. She is helping me think because she is drawn to the beauty and the romance. She knows that it takes effort to make a special memory. Finding a perfect hammock place is like cooking a special meal. Plenty of thought and preparation to make it perfect.

Pondering Your Path—have you had an outdoor perfect idea go down with a flop? What can you do ahead of time to be better prepared? Could you scout it out ahead of time? Go set up and tear down to make sure ever thing works right? It might me a lot of work but how much is it worth to get to treat your Honey to an amazing romantic experience?