Trying to like camping more.

I have talked about about how much Simon loathes...like detests camping for years. And to be fair, we have had some awful camping experiences. Like when it pours rain in Summerland in August and our tent is not water proof. Like when we have 'that baby' at the campsite that won't stop crying so you just have to nurse or do whatever you can so you don't wake up the entire campsite. I feel like we have tried to like camping but camping has not liked us back.

But with all the Covid restrictions, we decided maybe just maybe we could be happy campers. So first thing with any goal is commitment right? Simon and I both know that until we have a race on the calendar we don't train as hard so I quickly got three camping trips on the calendar for the summer. The first one was a weekend at Alouette Lake in Golden Ears Provincial Park in mid-July.  

*Side note - yes I was one of the crazy or maybe lucky people that logged on the ParksBC website in the morning and frantically clicked and yelled at my computer screen and after 50 stress-inducing minutes was shocked that I actually was able to book something and pleased that it was somewhere we could actually go. So that was my first sign that yes, maybe we were meant to go camping.

So here are 8 things we did to try and like camping more:

1. Book at a site close to home. Not that we were going to call it quits, but it's nice camping close by so if it does suck and no one is having fun, its reassuring to know you can be in your own bed in an hour or so.

2. Go big or go home with your tent. One of the reasons we have probably disliked camping is because the tent we used all these years is a bachelor tent Simon bought when he was 19 years old and wanted to go camping with me at the church retreat. That tent has served us well for almost 2 decades of camping adventures. But now with 2 kids and the multitude of stuffed animals that are apparently essential we needed the biggest tent Costco had...it's a 10' x 14' beast and called a 'cabin tent'. It also has "Darkroom Technology™" which is just fancy for their patented blackout fabric so you and your kids can sleep in past 9:00 am even on the brightest summer day. 

3. Bring all the toys. Good thing Simon has a big truck so we could haul the three SUPs and a kayak along with all our gear. The beach was so busy that it was great to escape on the SUP and paddle away from the gong show of people at the beach.

4. Let the kids roam free. This really is the best part of camping in a provincial park site. There is this understanding that it is OK to let your kids play unsupervised in the forest. Our campsite also just backed into the forest next to the lake so it was remote unexplored territory for them. The kids were so happy climbing trees that they didn't ask to go the playground at the campsite. Bonus was that we brought walkie talkies so they had a great time exploring the forest at the campsite on their own and radioing in with their code names "Chickadee" and "Dragon"

5. Take a hike. The trailhead was a couple kms away from our campsite but because the parking lot for the trail was already full we had to start the hike from our campsite which made a short 6km hike into a 10km hike. We have hiked enough times now that the kids were able to hike the whole 10km with relatively minimal complaining. The best part was the waterfall and eating lunch on the rocks in the river.

6. Skip-the-dishes delivers to campsite #54. My parents have never been camping before but wanted to see what it was all about. They graciously got take-out from our favorite Chinese restaurant and brought it to our campsite. Amazing to have a meal that no one has to boil water and cook over the BBQ. They even brought bubble tea and and bakery for breakfast the next day. Parents for the win. They get 5 stars on their Uber delivery score. My parents have also never ever roasted a marshmallow so of course we had to show them how it's done.

7. Prep ahead for easy meals. So Skip-the-dish via my parents was the best dinner ever but we also had great breakfasts with a little prep. Just put 5 eggs, bacon, salt and pepper in a water bottle and bam - there's breakfast ready to go on the skillet. We also tried to save on propane and put the water kettle on the rack by the fire. It worked but we were pretty certain the plastic handle on the kettle was melting as the water boiled. I wouldn't recommend that one - over the camp stove is much better. 

8. Enjoy the quintessential campy things. Chop wood. Build a huge fire. Make gourmet s'mores. Take fun pictures in the dark. Play card games. Stay up late, sleep in, play and repeat.

                 

So all those things plus no rain made for a really pleasant weekend camping trip. The 2 nights at Alouette Lake was a great success. So trial-run verdict is in and I think camping might be alright after all...which is good because our next camping trip is for 4 days and a ferry ride away so we can't just go home if we hate it. 

So let's do this, let's go camping for real...and as this happy camper's shirt says, you can tell us

"May The Forest Be With You"...