It was a decent hike from the campsite along a trail that, judging by the overgrowth, probably hadn't been used much since her and I walked it. I got up early one morning and decided to go check on a tree that Lana and I had carved our names on about 8 years ago. Without her, I was kind of lost and bored. There wasn't any sibling rivalry between us, and if we weren't siblings we'd have been best friends. We would roam, explore, and swim in the river all day, then hang out around the campfire at night. This year, however, there were only two, since Lana was spending the summer with her boyfriend up north. As time went by, we got newer tents, and eventually our campsite had three - one for the folks, one for my sister, and one for me. The thing weighed a ton and was a bitch to set up, but it fit my folks, my older sister Lana, and me. When we first started camping, Dad had bought an old army surplus tent. There were hiking trails, and a river snaked it's way through the park, deep enough to swim in. Even though we slept in tents each camp site had an electricity outlet and running water on a pole at the front of the campsite, and a bathroom/shower building was just down the trail for us. We always went to the same place, a state park about 80 miles from home. My family always camped for our summer vacation, as far back as I could remember. The days were warm, and it turned out that the nights got even hotter. I'd just graduated high school and was going to attend college in the fall.