This long weekend just passed we went camping with our church family. My dh and I both grew up in camping families. We have many fun memories from our childhoods surrounding yearly camping trips. I have wanted to capture some of those memories for our own children. Since we got married in 2000, we have gone on only a couple of camping trips – the first year we were married J and I went for about a week and then a couple summers ago we went with my best friend and her family for one night.
Okay, on to what this trip has taught me.
The very first camping trip (after not going for years and years and years) is expensive. There are things you need to and want to purchase to make the trip enjoyable. Some of the things we purchased we could have done without this time (and every time, probably). Other things, like food, we really needed.
Packing for 7 can be a lot of work! My three oldest children packed their own clothing, with instructions on how much of each item to pack. So that cut my work load down a bit. I had to pack clothing for myself and the little two. When W started to pack his own bag, he filled it with Duplo Blocs; that kinda tells me he’s not quite ready to pack his on his own, even with instructions.
Who says you need a tent or a camper? hee hee. We slept in our vehicles. The children slept in the bus and J and I planned to sleep in the Charger. However, the air mattress we purchased was about a foot too long for the back of the truck. We had a tarp and planned to sleep under that, as we did not have a tent. However, another family had brought a couple of tents – one for them and one for their teen daughter. The daughter graciously gave up her tent for us. We will need to purchase a tent!
We went for three days to a group campsite, so the cost was minimal that way. The church accepted donations to help pay for the site.
I learned that I pack too much food and not enough clothing or blankets. We talked about staying an extra night. We would have been okay for food; in fact we will be eating the leftovers from our camping trip for the next few days. I did not take into account bedwetting, falling in the river more than once, very cool evenings.
One thing that I took that I was so very glad we packed were the walkie-talkies. With these in hand, the children were able to go to the park at the other end of the campground and still have contact with us. I like to give our children this freedom and responsibility. I think this teaches them a lot. I was so surprised with how responsible, and obedient they were when they were called back to camp. I was very pleased. Of course we had the rule that they had to go in pairs at least, never alone.
Camping with a group (or another family) will be very different than if we were camping alone. With a group, if there is something you’ve forgotten (a pot, a cutting board, a flipper for pancakes) someone will probably have that item. When you are on your own, you will have to make due.
Bring toilet paper! I am so glad that we remembered. Even though the campground did provide the outhouses with toilet paper, the supply was not consistent! There could have been times when we would have been without had we not carried our own in our vehicles.
I think we will plan to set up the camp a little differently next time. Our tent was set up close to the road. We had a drunk driver come through the group camping area (not one of our members) in the middle of the night; things were a little scary for a while. I was concerned that this driver could have driven over our tent or another close to us. I would rather have our vehicles closest to the road for protection.
Unpacking s.u.c.k.s! We have been home for 24 hours now and have only unpacked the basics – food and the needed clothing and bedding. Sigh. It’s a rainy day today, so I’m sure that is not helping. Really though, I can’t wait to get things re-organized so we can go again. I think better organization will be key to having more fun and more spontaneity.
Striving to learn and live God's purposes,
