We’re back from our fantastic camping trip!
Usually we go camping the first weekend after Memorial Day, when the season opens but no one is there yet so we have the campgrounds to ourselves. This year that weekend coincided with the Torah Home Education Conference, and the following two weeks I was busy with lots of doctor and dental visits – and then it was in the prime of camping season with lots of people out, so we missed our chance.
But as we were talking about going through the garage and selling all the stuff in it, I was feeling like I really wanted to go camping one more time before we moved. I asked dh about it, and he said he didn’t have any vacation days to use, so he couldn’t do it. Last year no one wanted to go camping because they felt it would be so much work with the littles, but this year, the littles are 2, 3.5, and 5, which (in my opinion) makes the dynamic a bit easier. Then again, we wouldn’t have the help of dh, ds18, or dd16 – in short, the most heavily involved organizers of past trips. But I felt it would be a good opportunity for the middles to step up and into the roles of responsibility. There’s also the bonding factor in camping that I wanted us to share before we move – we’ve noticed on past trips that there’s very little interpersonal friction when we’re camping; something about being in the outdoors all day and doing what you need to do consumes all of the available energy in a constructive way.
So I ran the idea of a trip on our own, with minimal preparation, by the kids. All of the kids liked the idea, except for dd14. She said we have so much to do to get ready to move that it would be too much pressure to pack for this trip, then have to unpack – just too much work. I told her we’d keep it really simple (she was skeptical about this – she said I always say that!), but if she would rather stay home, it was fine with me. She opted to come along.
The check-in time for the state park we chose was at 3 pm, so I figured we’d leave at 1 pm. We started preparing for the trip that morning, since dh had worked late on Sunday night and we didn’t have the car to pack into.
Camping gear – So Monday morning, we pulled out two tents, seven sleeping bags, and three camping pads from the garage. I told the kids if we didn’t have something, we’d have to manage without it – we were short a sleeping bag, so I said the three littles could share two sleeping bags between them (two sleeping bags can zip together to create a double size sleeping bag). They took out the camping stove and a few bottles of propane, which ds then checked – all empty. They told me we could exchange it at Walmart – but I said, nope, we’re keeping it simple and I’m not making an extra trip. Then they said the campground might be able to exchange them (the one we went to last time did), so we took the empties along. Turned out this campground didn’t sell propane, so we did all of our cooking directly over the campfire. Most of the flashlights and lanterns needed batteries, so we didn’t take them since….. right, keeping things simple. We took along a couple of hurricane lamps and torch fuel instead. I told the kids if we couldn’t work out the light situation, we’d go to sleep when it got dark, and manage with the light of the moon and whatever shone out from the public bathroom.
Food – Packing food for the trip was super simple – I went to my pantry and started pulling down jars and cans – home canned cherries, mandarin oranges, pineapple, home canned butter and jams, pickles, corn, green beans, pickle relish, ketchup, mustard, oats, sucanat. Then to the freezer – bagels, hot dog and hamburger buns, bagels, sliced bread, cottage cheese, sour cream, hot dogs, and ground beef. And then we took some cukes and tomatoes from the fridge – and that was it, except for a trip to the store for smores fixings – which I don’t keep around the house. (Breakfast – fruit, oatmeal, milk/cottage cheese; lunch – sandwiches with butter and jam, cukes and tomatoes; dinner – hot dogs or hamburgers with corn, green beans.)
Clothing – I told everyone to take one outfit in addition to what they were wearing, and a bathing suit. Since it’s July, I didn’t think sweatshirts would be necessary.
Misc supplies – matches, dish soap, large bucket (for hauling water), garbage bags, can openers, paper plates, plastic cups, and silverware.
Fun stuff – since we didn’t have three family members with us, we were able to take out the front bench in the van. This gave us more space than usual, so we were able to take along two adult bikes and helmets. We took three pairs of roller blades, two fishing rods and tackle, and a big floaty toy in case we went to the beach. We took along two books so we’d have something to choose from for a read aloud.
Adopting the attitude of managing with what we had kept the preparations simple and low stress. Usually I’d go out to buy everything we’d need, and have an impeccable detailed list of things to take, and that feels kind of stressful. We cut out all the pressure by adopting the attitude that we’d manage with what we had. This is an attitude that in general that makes life easier, but when on a family trip, is especially valuable since you could easily otherwise get irritated about not having what you want with you! And for us, this trip wouldn’t have happened without this attitude, because I would have felt too overwhelmed with all that I’m already doing to have taken on planning for a family trip as well. 🙂
Avivah
