Who Needs Camping?

Camping has always been important to Colin and I. Before being parents, we'd decide on a Friday evening that we want to go away for the weekend, so we'd stick some instant oatmeal, bread, peanut butter and jam in the truck and off we'd go.

I hope camping isn't a pasttime. Sometimes it seems like it is. It's just so much easier to stay in a motel with a kid. The running warm water makes everything so much easier. Baths, meals, cleanup after meals...I just don't know if I could vacation without it anymore. And carpet is nicer than dirt. Electricity better than dangerous campfires and lanterns.

I think Nathan's only spent 1.5 nights in a tent so far, but now that he's getting bigger, we really want to get out there more.

A long weekend just passed which would have been a great opportunity to do so. But for whatever reason (um....laziness??), we didn't plan anything. Since I feel bad for missing a great sunshiny weekend away, I thought I'd reflect on the worst camping trips we've had so I don't feel as bad about missing it.

If you were with us on any of these trips, IT'S NOT YOU that made the trip bad. Just the situation ;-)

As I'm thinking about them, I realize that most of them have to do with the quality of sleep I got! Funny. Here we go. Our top 4 worst camping trips/sleeps in reverse order:

5. On one of our last-minute-on-a-Friday-night vacations, we had no place to stay and nowhere to pitch a tent, so we pulled over and parked at some cabin and slept in the box of the truck. We spent the first hour swatting mosiquitos (I think we lost count at 30). Then Colin, being so tall, stretched out diagonally in the box leaving me a tiny corner in which to sleep in the fetal position.

4. Went camping with another couple, their 2 year old and dog. She was pregnant at the time (the mom not the dog...). We went in 2 cars. Along we're going on the hope-princeton and our truck was hit by a deer! Yes you read that right, the deer hit US. It rammed right into the side of the driver door, destroying the mirror and denting the door so bad it couldn't be opened. And the stupid deer just go up and ran off! I was so mad. In some States you're allowed to keep roadkill. If I could keep the deer meat, at least I'd get something out of the $300 ICBC deductible!!! Was SO glad it didn't hit the other couple's car though.

So we went driving on a logging road up a mountain (NOT my favourite thing to do). At the top, we got out and watched helicopters flying overhead with buckets of water to fight a forest fire on a nearby hill. That part was cool. But then we cooked hot dogs and who comes along, but a bear! We have a dog provoking the bear, a pregnant woman, and a 2 year old, and we're cooking lunch with a bear nearby!?! Apparently I was the only person concerned by this. Nothing happened though but I have a few grey hairs from that day.

We pitched our tents near a wasp nest and were swatting wasps all evening. Our tents were on dry deep slanted sandy hill and every time we moved in or around the tent, it would shift. Pretty annoying.

3. We were sleeping in an RV and there was a lot of snoring going on. A LOT. So after a few hours of trying to sleep, we gave up. I went and slept in the hatch of my Honda Civic and Colin crashed underneath the RV.

2. Nathan's first tenting experience was last June. A normally warm month, unless you're at Tunkwa Lake up....actually I don't know where it is. But is was C-O-L-D. Below freezing for sure overnight. We showed up at 10pm and put up out tent. We put Nathan in his warm jammies, some other clothes, a tuke, and cuddled him in his playpen with all the blankets. I checked on him shortly after going to bed and his cheeks were FREEZING, so I got him out of the playpen and snuggled with him in my sleeping bag. Babies take up more room than adults though, and he soon kicked me out of the sleeping bag, leaving me shivering all night with no blankets. Not a wink of sleep that night.

And the worst?

1. For our 1st anniversary we went white water rafting on the Thompson and stayed overnight in the Jade Springs (?) campsite. It was recommended by the rafting company, as buses met there in the morning to take us on our adventure.

Little did we know our adventure had begun LONG before we hit the water.

So we set up camp and are enjoying sitting around the table playing cards when the noise started. People came by asking us, "aren't you coming to the party?". Party? Uh no, we're not. I heard quite a few derrogatory comments about us. We are so lame, you know. The evening got louder and louder and sober people were quickly becoming outnumbered at a ratio of 2:200.

By the time bed time hit, I went to go use the washroom. The toilets were full to the brim and overflowing ALL over the floor with regular toilet stuff, toilet paper and vomit. I guess I had to use the bush but don't remember that part.

We lay in our tent trying desperately to sleep amidst the loud music and drunk people. I guess we eventually did fall asleep, but were awoken in the dead of night by some voices very near to our tent saying, "I wonder if they mind if we're laying on their car" or something to that extent. Colin, a normally well-tempered guy TOTALLY lost it and lets just say got these goofballs to get off the car.

I don't think we slept another wink after that.

There they are! Maybe if we went away this weekend the experience would have landed a spot on this list. Guess it was good we stayed home.