The Great Outdoors
When I was young, we never did a lot of outdoorsy stuff. We went to the park, or to historical sites. We went to the beach a fair bit, too. But hiking? Never. Maybe, maybe a walk in a nature preserve.
And camping?
Oh, hell no.
I dimly recall a horribly awkward night spent with my Brownie Troop at their annual sleepover. We packed up in a bunch of cars and went to some drafty house where the we had spaghetti and meatballs for dinner, then played some games and went to bed. On the bare floor in our sleeping bags. (Mine looked like a Pepsi can) In the morning, we had pancakes and were driven back home.
When I was in college, I worked for a summer at a bible camp on the north shore of LI, but I lived in the staff building, and had a private room, with a cot.
So, when Dave told me, soon after we met, he loved camping, and hiking, I thought. "Well, let's see how that goes."
Don't get me wrong, I love hiking, but the thought of sleeping in a tent, on the ground in the middle of the woods some place where there were bugs, and the bathrooms were a walk away. Well, I just wasn't interested.
But he kept talking about it.
We almost went on a kayak camping trip. 10 years ago. Yep, 10 years ago, right after 9/11. So kayaking was sort of out of the question, since every little boat on the Hudson was under suspicion.
And still, he kept talking about it.
Ten years, and two kids. Dave finally took me camping. The kids too.
And we love it.
Sure, there was a lot of setup and planning to get us camping. We bought a new tent, and vestibule to store our gear. There are kid-sized sleeping bags, and extra deluxe sleeping pads for the two of us. A new camp stove, camp cookware, a lantern. The list goes on and on. (The stuff we've gotten for bug repelling purposes alone...)
About a month ago, we packed it all up. I was nervous and crabby for days before hand. We picked a park far enough away to be an adventure, but close enough to home that if it all went south in the middle of the night, we could get home easily.
Off we went.
It was amazing. I could go on and on. Needless to say, we went again this past weekend and are planning a two night stay over Columbus Day with my brother and his family.
Gonna be great.
As long as we figure out the bug repelling part...
And camping?
Oh, hell no.
I dimly recall a horribly awkward night spent with my Brownie Troop at their annual sleepover. We packed up in a bunch of cars and went to some drafty house where the we had spaghetti and meatballs for dinner, then played some games and went to bed. On the bare floor in our sleeping bags. (Mine looked like a Pepsi can) In the morning, we had pancakes and were driven back home.
When I was in college, I worked for a summer at a bible camp on the north shore of LI, but I lived in the staff building, and had a private room, with a cot.
So, when Dave told me, soon after we met, he loved camping, and hiking, I thought. "Well, let's see how that goes."
Don't get me wrong, I love hiking, but the thought of sleeping in a tent, on the ground in the middle of the woods some place where there were bugs, and the bathrooms were a walk away. Well, I just wasn't interested.
But he kept talking about it.
We almost went on a kayak camping trip. 10 years ago. Yep, 10 years ago, right after 9/11. So kayaking was sort of out of the question, since every little boat on the Hudson was under suspicion.
And still, he kept talking about it.
Ten years, and two kids. Dave finally took me camping. The kids too.
And we love it.
Sure, there was a lot of setup and planning to get us camping. We bought a new tent, and vestibule to store our gear. There are kid-sized sleeping bags, and extra deluxe sleeping pads for the two of us. A new camp stove, camp cookware, a lantern. The list goes on and on. (The stuff we've gotten for bug repelling purposes alone...)
About a month ago, we packed it all up. I was nervous and crabby for days before hand. We picked a park far enough away to be an adventure, but close enough to home that if it all went south in the middle of the night, we could get home easily.
Off we went.
It was amazing. I could go on and on. Needless to say, we went again this past weekend and are planning a two night stay over Columbus Day with my brother and his family.
Gonna be great.
As long as we figure out the bug repelling part...
Comments
I confess I am also not big on camping. But Paul definitely wants to do some with the kids. I agree that it is good for them.
I told him I want an air mattress though! I am too #$@*ing old to sleep on th3e ground. *laugh*