Week 35: The Anatomy of a CamelBak

It's Week 35 of my 60 until 60 project and I've already completed more than 35 goals, so this week I'm blogging about a "bonus goal".  In the movie, The Bucket List, one of the items Edward Cole's list was "Laugh Until I Cry."  Even though that wasn't on my list, I accomplished it today!

This morning, I was doing one of my favorite Boulder summertime activities: hiking at beautiful Chautauqua Park. I went with my friend, Mary, who had bought a new CamelBak and needed help figuring out how to use it properly.

The rangers were extremely helpful and practically gave us a whole course on how to use all the bells, whistles, buckles, and pockets associated with the CamelBak and how to properly place the water-filled bladder in position so the water would freely flow whenever Mary needed to quench her thirst.

CamelBak Lesson

As a final hint, one of the rangers suggested that Mary put her wallet in a more secure spot.

"I'll just put it down here in your pack next to your penis," the ranger offered thoughtfully.

Huh...  So I guess the hose next to the 'bladder' is called a 'penis'?  I'd never heard that before, but I guess it kind of made sense.  I would have thought 'urethra' might be a little more acceptable (but just barely). Not wanting to appear a naive hiker who wasn't familiar with CamelBak parts, I didn't ask if the hose was really called a penis, but I made a mental note to look that up as soon as I got home!

Mary's mind went elsewhere. She thought, 'Does she realize I don't have a penis? And if I did, it wouldn't be back there!"

We both looked at each other confused and then, luckily, Mary asked for clarification: "Next to my penis?"

"Peanuts! Next to your peanuts!" explained the embarrassed ranger.

I thought this was hilarious! 

I felt a little like my grandchildren when they're being silly and laughing over the word, 'poop' since I was laughing hysterically while the rangers maintained their professional composure. 

I managed to control my hysterics until our CamelBak lesson was over but once we got to the trail, Mary and I had another laughing fit. 

Mary wearing her CamelBak with wallet safely next to her 'peanuts'

Nothing better than a laugh-until-you-cry misunderstanding! I don't think I'll ever look at a CamelBak hose the same way again!