Camping Fun?

When is the last time you went camping? Are you a dedicated camper or do you hate it? If I had to give you a number between 1 to 10 where 1 is I love it, and 10 is I hate it, I’d be somewhere around a 6, or a 9 if it’s raining.  

Dave and I took the plunge and went car/tent camping last week.  For me it has been more than a decade. I used to enjoy some aspects of tent camping, but what finally killed it for me was the discomfort of sleeping on camp mattresses and the unpredictability of the weather. Also, I’m not much into swimming in lakes anymore, so…

Nevertheless, we decided to try it, despite all our reservations, and despite having Buster to manage as well.  Here’s how it went:

We left on Tuesday to drive up to Lake St. Peter, Ontario where we were joined by Dave’s brother, Steve,  plus Steve’s daughter, Nicole, and her family (her husband, Kheim, three young boys and a dog, Nemo) We stopped in Ottawa to hold our new grandson, Iggy,  for the first time.  In passing, he’s the most delightful and sweet baby the world has ever produced.  Just saying. 

It was hard to leave Iggy, but we eventually hit the road again and arrived at the Provincial Park at 6 pm.  We were happy to see everyone and had a nice evening by the fire watching the kids, (Ezra, Ovid and Donny) throw as many combustibles into it as they could find.  I particularly enjoyed roasting marshmallows, since I only eat them on camping trips, which means, it had been awhile.  I’d forgotten how nice it is to enjoy the last of the daylight outside as it filters through the trees and reflects off the water.  I think had we owned an RV, I would have been happy to stay for a week or two, but alas we had a tent with Therma-rest mattresses.

 I had a  pretty bad night, but at least Buster woke us up at 7 in the morning by jumping on our faces.  Can’t complain too much; I was afraid he’d be alerting us all night long to every rustling noise outside, but he slept like a log, thanks to an evening of hard play with Nemo, a Border Collie mix. 

The next day we walked around the park, investigated nooks and crannies, looked at the water, ate lots of camp food and generally whiled away the time until we could reasonably have our first beer.  Oh, wait, we had our first beer at noon…never mind.  

Things I hate about camping: I can’t remember where anything is; the dirt and sand gets into everything; cooking is a drag, even making coffee takes forever; sleeping on camp mattresses; using the outhouse; if it rains, it’s hard to dry anything and there’s nothing to do but play cards, and you’d better not have a hole in your tent; it’s kinda boring.

Things I like about camping:  being outdoors; the lake; the quiet; roasting marshmallows over the fire; getting away from screens for awhile; swimming (but only if it’s really hot); not worrying about personal hygiene too much, including wearing the same clothes for a few days, and not feeling bad about it (you know, like during a pandemic) ; listening to the loons at night, and it’s kinda slow (aka, boring, reframed).

One weird thing I noticed was the lack of wildlife at the campground.  My brother-in-law lives up the road and there are plenty of squirrels, chipmunks and birds around his property, but at the Provincial park it seemed that the sheer numbers of people had scared off the wildlife.  Even the morning birds, which wake me up at home in Montreal, were practically nonexistent.  Weird and a bit disturbing. 

A majority of people at this provincial park had their RV’s with them and were NOT tent camping.  I totally get that.  If I were a dedicated camper, I’m afraid that’s the way I’d have to go.  I need a guaranteed dry and comfortable place to sleep at night, I’m afraid.  I’m way too old and already sleep deprived to rough it.  Or maybe we need to buy a cottage, something we’ve thought about for years but can’t quite commit ourselves to.  Maybe now that we’re retired?  Although, an RV would be cheaper and we could take it with us…. hmm…  maybe next year!