I Survived Camping 2011!

On By LynnIn TurtleHead

So! Last weekend we went camping.

And it was…kind of nice.

NEVER thought I’d be saying that.

Now I will be the first to admit that we had the most ideal conditions ever. First of all, the weather was gorgeous – sunny 100% of the time and warm, perfect for sitting in the shade at the campsite, lying in the sun on the beach, or taking a refreshing dip in the chilly lake. Second of all, everyone was healthy and happy and came to the event with a good attitude (well, the kids did, anyway). Thirdly, there were real-life bathrooms and they were kept really, really clean, surprisingly clean, and I was not squeamish at all about using them.

Fourthly, there were very, very few bugs. I KNOW.

That was my number one fear – especially after reading Andrea’s bug-related camping post from a couple of weeks ago. I brought six bottles of bug spray with us – SIX. I was dead serious about kicking some bug ass. But we saw no more than a handful of mosquitoes and flies the whole time – I think among all five of us there are at most 10 mosquito bites. I think we saw maybe two spiders, no bees or wasps. The beach was completely bug free, and my worst heebie-jeebie fear of all – bugs in the shower area – was a total non-issue. Super clean bug-free showers. LOVE.

By far the best thing about camping was this: approximately every 30 seconds, one of our children would declare, “This is the BEST DAY EVER,” or alternately, “You are the best Mom and Dad EVER.” Then Jeff Probst would stride into camp with his blue shirt and baseball hat and present me with the People’s Choice Award for Most Ultimately Amazing And Cool Mother Ever.

It was pretty awesome.

So I guess all this means that we will go camping again, someday. I doubt I’ll ever be an enthusiastic camper, but I’d go again, maybe once a summer. If only to catch up with Jeff and tell him that his tooth/shell necklace is getting a little dated.

On the other hand…

There’s a secret part of me that believes that there’s a camping goddess, and she’s evil (of course), and when she found out that I, of all people, was going camping, she used her black magic to orchestrate a perfect weekend in which everything would go perfectly right. Then she’d cackle to herself softly about how another family has been sucked in, and how we will worship her by faithfully booking a site every single year for the next 20 years, vainly trying to recreate that first perfect weekend, while she rains on us and hails on us and sends plagues of blackflies.

It can never be this good again, can it? Maybe we really should quit while we’re ahead.

19 thoughts on “I Survived Camping 2011!”

  1. where did you guys go? i’m looking to book another weekend in september.

    we have had two glorious camping weekends this year. and last week’s was relatively bug free as well. which i thought was a little eerie, but gobbled it up like day old pie.

    the goddess got me hooked when i was a kid, so there is no helping me anymore. good luck to you though! 😉

  2. You go girl! I can’t sleep on the ground at this point in my life, but I loved camping when I was younger. Especially when there were junior rangers…

    1. Me too, re: ground sleeping. We borrowed these huge blow up mattresses from a friend and they were really lovely. Next time I may go all the way to a cot, though. I’m a princess!

  3. When I read the first sentence, I first thought that maybe you were drunk the whole time because I couldn’t imagine how someone would actually enjoy camping. But it actually does sound good! The clean bathrooms are definitely the highlight. I once went camping with my husband and I still want to cry when I think of the toilet situation.

    1. I HEAR YOU. I think I have been camping just twice before this one, and both times the bathrooms gave me shivers (and don’t even THINK about mentioning the showers, HEEBIE JEEBIES). But these ones were actually nice! Probably a fluke. Or curse of the Evil Camping Goddess.

  5. Congratulations! Cannot relate on any level, but I’m happy the camping gods were kind and merciful to your family. I think Jeff Probst put in a good word with Oprah. Rumour has it they will offer you a show on OWN “The BEST mother ever teaches us how to camp with kids”. (act surprised – k?)

  6. MrsCarlSagan

    Yay! Yay! Yay! So glad it was good – it really, really helps that the weather was perfect. And I was totally right about the bathrooms wasn’t I?! 🙂

    1. You ROCK, and also, TOTALLY called it on the site. Can’t wait to see you so I can hear all about the new site you tried this last time!

      1. MrsCarlSagan

        Actually we were at Fitzroy Prov. Park this past weekend – very nice beach, big, shady site and no bugs. The bathrooms however, gave me the heebie jeebies.

  8. I put camping on our Summer of Awesome list…I fear I may have to just get out there and do it. Cooking and cleaning up everyday after my family at home is enough. Why is taking these chores outdoors supposed to be fun?

  9. Oh my gosh I love the idea of camping so much, but in reality, renting a cottage is soooooo much better. Mucho admiration to you though!!

  10. As we were dropping the kids off with my Mom for 5 days of camping, Mike thought camping would be a great idea. Then we got to the site and it was utter chaos with a punctured water line and setting up a tent in the dark… killed that idea right quick!

  11. I must say I’m amazed. July is usually the worst mosquitoes month having them all over you. I hope this time they didn’t wait for August… Anyone else had such luck in August too?

    You are welcome to visit my mosquitoes site for great tips how to get rid of mosquito bites.

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