Camping 101

As a child with 4 siblings- living in a 3 bedroom apartment, we spent a lot of time outdoors. It wasn’t that our home was small; it was that our family was LARGE. We had an economy van named the 6 Pac (later renamed the 6pac plus 1) a red canoe and tons of camping equipment. At first it was an adventure of sorts, exploring my grandparent’s backyard and then… the tri-state area. By the time I was around 12 however it had become a trip or two across country visiting every national park, from the ever popular Grand Canyon… to the Petrified Forrest and Smokey Mountains. Our troop/crew/gang….whatever you wanted to call us, collected junior park ranger badges as we saw sites that we will never forget. As an adult I often think back to those days and how much fun they were. Since I thought of having a child, I have wanted to take them on a camping trip. So now the child exists…..It’s all about the timing; the timing has to be right with everyone. Since I am considered a “rusty” vet camper & my husband is considered a “beginning” beginner…timing would have to be just right. My father the “wise one” of all things camping has been in town visiting, as we strolled through the camping isle for laughs at Wal-Mart, I got the bright idea that we could have our first family camping trip with him! I took my daughter out of the cart, equipped her with a small tent and sent her into the isle my father was in to ask if he would…take us camping. It was cute, we all got excited, we checked the weather and in the interest of all things G rated camping …picked a camp ground close to home with running water and bathrooms.

This particular camp ground had tents on-site…perfect! Nothing to set up! As we pulled into our camp ground….. #16 I suddenly got nervous….wait….I have to sleep outside!!!! My daughter rocketed out of the car; gazing at the lake that surrounded the camp site she yelled Camping a good three times before running to the tent. My Dad got out the car and patrolled the campsite, much like he did when I was a kid.  For a moment I forgot that it was 88 degrees outside and as I stared at my new “home” a 10 by 10 tent,  I hastily set everything up before the sun went down.  We made dinner while applying loads of OFF while my daughter still ran around yelling camping. My husband had even gotten in the spirit, lighting the grill and only halfway almost catching himself on fire. We all seemed content….I slapped my arm….then my leg….then tried to sit down and enjoy the view and ignore the bugs. After about 20 minutes…..I couldn’t do it, I looked over at my still running around (now) three year old and exclaimed to the group that she was tired and that I was going to put her to bed. She fought me the whole way, yelling that she wanted to stay outside, I felt bad but kept on my journey to get to a bug free zone…..HAHA there are no bug free zones when camping.

We made it through night one and I woke up to a beautiful lake view! I looked over at my Dad, sleeping on his now deflated mattress and decided to get up and try to start the day by using my vet skills to cook breakfast. I lit the fire and as I got all things breakfast ready…I realized….I had no can opener….CLASSIC! Plan B, I went against all rules camping and drove off the camp ground, to the thriving world outside and got Panera Bread…Yes!!!! Small victory, Largest Coffee!

Much of  this particular trip was spent trying to figure out how to camp again….taking notes from the obvious….bring your can opener, to the less obvious (in my mind) …don’t go camping until December in South Florida. All in all, we were able to make my daughters first camping trip a memorable one. She ran around uncontrollably, ate smores, played in a make-shift water park, made animal puppets with flashlights, chased bubbles and bugs and bounced between our bed and her grandfather (affectionately known as SuperPa’s) bed. On Sunday morning, I woke up with hmmmmm about 18… EIGHT-TEEN bug bites but today on Tuesday, still trying to recover (and itching while typing) I wouldn’t change it for the world. My husband is now an official….Junior Park Ranger, My daughter….a camper, and my father still reigns on high as the camping Chief!

MESSAGE: Try to take your children camping parents, even if it is just once. It is fun, regardless of all the non air conditioning, bugs in my burger, community bathroom, and no cell phone reception…down sides. I promise J