Family Camping

We are all about new adventures. This past weekend, we decided that camping, tent style, would be the adventure to undertake. Since this was our first camping trip as a family, it took a while to get prepared for the trip. After spending a month or so purchasing and gathering all the necessary tools for camping, I had to pack it all up. I tried to organize and categorize everything. I am sure there was way too much planning involved. My thought is you can never be prepared enough when it's going to be 40 degrees at night and there will be a 2 year old in the camp site.

So, Friday, the day before we set out on our adventure, I worked all day to pack the car just right so that everything fit in. I had everything placed just right and there wasn't any room left. All that needed to be packed last minute were the coolers and the fire wood on the back of our Expedition on the "trailer hitch".

Early on Saturday morning, we got up and got dressed. One last good shower before our stay in the wilderness. I didn't wake the girls until the last minute.

As usual, the last minute packing always turns aggravating. Inevitably, Dad gets irritated with the way I have packed things forgetting that he didn't have to do it himself. In his words, "There is no way this is going to work". It always works out. It is amazing how that happens.

We had a good trip up to the "top" of the state to our camp site. We ate breakfast on the way up because we wanted to go ahead and get on the road. The girls had fun looking at all the scenery as we entered and drove through the mountains. The leaves were just beginning to change into the wonderful fall colors. I imagined how beautiful the mountains would be when the fall colors were in full bloom.

As we entered the "first come, first served" campground, we prayed for a good camp site. We found a nice site - sort of - off to itself that was right next to the "bath house". This is very, very, very important when you have a toddler potty training. We made good use of it. The "bath house" was nothing more than a permanent porta-potty. It was a block house with a nonflushable toilet. I had the "bath house" stench in my nose for two days after we left the place. Don't get me wrong, it was nice to have something available although I was prepared to have our own "toilet room/shower".

We set up our tent and a few other items and decided to take a break for a few minutes and walk around. As we walked back up from the river, I heard a "Hey there!"call from a lady at the site next to the river. It turns out the family was another family from our church. Ms. Tori from the nursery was there with her family. We had no idea that we would see anyone we knew in such a remote area. Her family has been camping there for 14 years.

I was thrilled to have access to fresh water there. There was a manual hand pump where we gathered water for cleaning dishes, cooking, and other uses.

We enjoyed the sound of the water running down the rock-filled river on the campground. It minimized some of the other campground noises.

The days were nice with warm temperatures and the nights were cold but we rested well. We snuggled in our sleeping bags and this was a special treat for the girls. They fell asleep quickly because it had been a long day.

It was a nice trip but I seemed to be cooking all the time. Most of the meals we had needed some cooking preparation. We soon learned a few tricks and how to time getting food prepared so that it stayed warm.

We let the girls do a little fishing but the fish were not interested in us. We were watching the trout swimming around and laughing at us. There is nothing more frustrating than dragging a hook over a fish and it just ignores it. We had hoped to have fish for supper one evening. Oh, well, maybe next time.

After returning home, we have decided to look into a camper of some sort. My back really likes the idea because it was not to happy about all the bending and stooping I had to do.

The consensus is that we will do more camping and do a little more exploration and no matter the "home" we are in, be it tent, camper, or our permanent home, I am always happy to be in it with my family and I love it when Daddy walks through the door.