Yes, I’ve been camping

Not often.

Few enough times that I can remember every one.

Nothing makes memories like camping with three kids plus a four month old baby in the Utah mountains in early May. Cooking spaghetti in water that has frozen solid? Keeping all those little heads and fingers covered? Hard to forget

Or, group camping with people you only know from church. How these cranky non morning people pulled themselves together for church every week, was a miracle that I didn’t know I witnessed week after week. I learned a lot on that trip.

Then there was the four teenagers, their four additional friends, and a new fiancée camping trip. Welcome to the family G. I mostly remember all the cooking and dishes we had to do in a make shift laborious way. G called his mom and thanked her for all her work on his family camping excursions growing up.

I am usually up for adventure, but I like it better when there is a nice hotel involved. I like the idea of camping. It’s just that I’ve really only had one experience that might make me want to repeat it.

Mostly, it’s long extra dark sleepless nights, many long dirty days trouble shooting through usually easy tasks at home, like opening cans or washing your face with ‘camping’ equipment.

Do all men love camping epuipment? REI was my first husbands favorite date night, family outing, rainy day activity.

There are terrible tasting freeze dried foods, water purifiers, tiny can openers, stuff I don’t want to have to use in normal life, but life savers if you can find them while camping. Organizational skill is pretty important.

Fishing or hiking with toddlers? Don’t get me started on the guilt. Many families LOVE camping, I sincerely wanted to, but I wasn’t good at it. Liking it? I stayed hopeful for a lot of years.

I have a heathy respect for pioneers, but me? I like navigating survival with more comfort. A real bathroom. A bed…

I do love the marshmallow- toasting-campfire parts and the beauty and peace of being in nature.

When I was in high school I went on an epic cross country ski trip for a class. We stayed in hostels in the Canadian Rockies. It snowed without stopping for the full three days and two nights. Our teacher had everyone take turns ‘breaking trail’ which meant being out in front starting to make a path for everyone. It was both grueling and breathtakingly beautiful. We were up to our knees and thighs in fresh snow for 25-30 kilometers each day. When we got back to the school the city had declared blizzard conditions. Many of us stayed late into the night waiting to be picked up. Canadians are rarely detained by snow.

I loved that I did that trip. I barely remember the blisters and the fatigue and the soreness of muscles I may never have used before. Or the cold. Oh it must have been so cold! Powdered snow only remains powder if conditions are cold and dry enough.

I don’t regret my camping experiences, I just don’t know if it’s something I would look forward to doing now.

Staying with G’s mom is as close to camping as I want to be these days. And we are searching hard for ways to remedy the camp like parts.