Memorial Day Weekend: What Helps You Escape?

I don't know about everyone else, but I am sooo looking forward to a long weekend! After a few long, hard weeks at work, I can really use the time off and a break from the city.

I'm continuing a tradition my friends and I started about five years ago, of going camping (or should I say "glamping," i.e. glam-camping) in the Catskills region of New York. We fill up the car with meat, veggies, beer, sleeping bags, and a couple of pet dogs, and head about three hours north to a farm that rents us out a large cabin every year for two nights. We don't need tents (we sleep on mattressed bunks in the cabin) and we have running water and hot showers, but it's still quite a back-to-nature experience!

One of the best things about being so far outside of the city, for me, is watching the sky. The first time we went, I remarked to a friend about how the sky was so clear -- except for that weird long skinny cloud stretching across the sky. Um, that's the milky way, she pointed out. Oops! A few times we have even seen shooting stars.

(I recently downloaded the "Google Sky Map" app for my Android phone, and I'm so curious to try it out and see if it really works, and whether I can identify constellations with it. I haven't been able to really tell here in NYC!)

We also make sure to take a hiking excursion every year, usually on a trail that leads up to the longest (or tallest?) two-tiered waterfall in New York State. (Or some such designation ... I can never remember exactly what the plaque says.) We wear our bathing suits, strip off our clothes, and run like maniacs into -- and quickly out of -- the freezing cold water. It's quite an exhilirating experience, and I can't remember the last time I felt so far away from the pressures of work and city life.

What's everyone else doing this weekend? I'd love to hear your plans for family, friends, food, and fun! What makes you feel far away from the stresses of everyday life?