I told you that camping is like my most favorite thing ever. Im not sure where this comes from. I never camped as a kid. Well, I did do girl scout day camp one summer. And we did rent an RV one summer when I was younger (actually we’ve done that twice and the second time was in 2003 and it was one of our best family trips evah). The point being camping is not something I grew up doing. And yet I love it, and living in Colorado- that was like a campers paradise. And we had a dog, and that made you like a real camper to have your hound with you. Especially in Colorado.

I love all the preparation. I LOVE cooking over a fire (I tell ya- I would have made a great pioneer wife). I love that doing dishes in a bucket of warm soapy water, water you had to cook to get it warm, isn’t a chore- its part of the fun. I love all the little gadgets and the stove and camp cooksets we have. It all makes me happy. I love being outside, I love the smell of the air up in the mountains and especially the smell of a campfire. I love the sound of the wind in the trees and the crackling of the fire. I don’t mind the bugs and I don’t mind peeing in the woods. I love that all our gear is such a melting pot of PC and I. His sleeping bags that he’s had since his boy scout days (whatever, they are nice Marmot bags even if they are 20+yrs old), a compass and a fry pan and waterproof match container that he’s had from back in the day. A potholder I have had since college, a wash bucket for dishes that has Gamma Phi Beta written all over it in purple and silver glittery pens. A set of measuring cups my mom had bought to replace some that my roommate Sarah and I had melted in an apartment we sublet one summer (edited to note: they did not pass inspection after spending the last 5 years in storage. Too nasty, had to go.) My sierra cup from camp in 5th grade, my name engraved on the bottom in a 10yr old’s handwriting. There’s a lot of sentimental value in all that stuff.

I realize that, having never done this before, especially with a crawler it could be a bust. I know some people will think Im crazy but this article I came across so perfectly sums up my feelings on the camping with kids. If we don’t succeed this time, we’ll try try again. Mind you, we aren’t exactly going to be roughing it. We are camping on the beach, literally, (though there is some grass so the sand should be mitigated somewhat). We’re taking our cul-de-sac of neighbors/friends with us. We’ve rented a bouncy house. Some neighbors who aren’t sure they are campers have considered sleeping in said bouncy house. There are showers and toilets. And we’re only about 15 minutes from home if things really go downhill. We’ve bought wood to be delivered so there is no cutting down trees and chopping wood. Admittedly, I think collecting firewood is kind of fun. We’ve bought dozens of glow sticks for the kids, Im going to come up with some kind of scavenger hunt type game and I know there will be plenty of good food. I’ll miss the smell of the mountain air and the sound of the wind in the trees, but the tradeoff will be getting to listen to the ocean all night, and sand, there’ll be sand. Oh will there be sand. Don’t worry, I have a camp sized broom.

I’m still trying to figure out our sleeping arrangements. Im not sure if our best bet is a KING sized blow up bed or use our existing queen size bed with kids on the ground next to us. Whatever happens- it’s going to be an adventure (and chances are good we’ll all start out on the queen bed and PC and I will be on the hard ground by morning). We’ve had to upgrade (downgrade?) from our cute little two person North Face tent to the L.L. BEAN KING PINE DOME TENT. Does it not sound massive? Its even got a “screened in porch.” (sorta).

I had to look back at our pictures to see when the last time we went camping was, and my heart is heavy thinking about our camp hound that won’t be there. I hate that I miss that damn creature so much. We miss you Sandy, and for whatever its worth there’s still dog hair in all our camping stuff  so we’ll never really be camping without you.

This face could scare a bear away, right?

I made her do it.

lets all point out how young the 2nd LT looks. he he

That dog would swim until she was practically drowning. She loved the water.

Filed under: Colorado and Mountains Make Me Happy