I never got around to blogging about our camping adventure two weekends ago, so I figured I'd do so by breaking it down by things I liked about camping and things I didn't like about camping.
First up, the things I disliked. Now, I haven't been camping in quite some time. Probably since 2001 or so. I've always liked the idea of camping and on paper, it seems to be a great time. I just never got around to it in the past 8 years or so.
However, the more we talked about it, the more it seemed like the time had come to give it a try. The Boy was old enough and loves being outdoors, so we thought it was time to give it a shot. And with "these economic times" we thought camping would be a good, low cost way to enjoy a weekend.
Well, camping is freakin' expensive. Swear to God, thought I had everything packed and squared away before we left our house, but then we decided to stop and get some groceries for dinner closer to camp. Of course we needed some other last minute, food accessories (buns, corn, salt and pepper, etc) and before you know it, $70 at the grocery store.
Then we stopped by the wine and liquor store to get some wine, and the only store close by had a piss poor selection and piss poor prices. $30 on a couple of bottles of wine.
We then made it to the camp site and quickly made camp as the sun was setting. I needed to unload all the gear and run back out to get firewood before we lost daylight. Well, the only market close to town had firewood, and beer! Good beer too! So I got a 6 pack of Summer Shandy, a sixer of Yeungling and a wiffle ball and some firewood. Bill for the market? $40.
So for those of you keeping track, despite the fact that we bought everything we could possibly need for our trip prior to leaving our house, I still managed to drop $140 before nightfall on the first night. Wonderful. Of course, this could all be chocked up to our inexperience. Most of the things we bought went unused. So while this sucked, it was avoidable and a lesson learned.
The next thing that I disliked about camping was the amount of work that went into it. Now, admittedly I was rusty, but still, packing up the car, packing up the gear, packing up the coolers, only to unpack it all was a lot.
And I found out our six person tent was called a six person tent because that's how many structural engineers are required to be on hand in order to get our tent erected (that's what she said).
All of this was done on a Friday night, only to have to take it all down and pack it up Sunday morning. That's a fair amount of work for one day of relaxation.
The third thing I didn't like, was that I found that it wasn't exactly a "relaxing" weekend. The setting up and tearing down was a pain, but it wasn't terrible. Now, what was terrible was sleeping on an air mattress. Now, I don't know about you, but I effing hate air mattress. As the bigger person on an air mattress I find that throughout the night, the air mattress slowly deflates leaving me eventually lying on a piece of vinyl atop a jagged rock around 4 AM. Always. Never fails. So I woke up from camping every morning feeling as refreshed as Paris Hilton's hymen.
Now, that being said, there were plenty of things that I enjoyed about camping. One of the things that I queerly enjoyed fell under the things I disliked as well; the packing and unpacking. See, I dig the camping gear. I like all the tents, flashlights, tailgating BBQ, sleeping bags, hatchets, etc. That stuff is great and I love getting to break it out and actually use it once and while.
I also like the challenge of packing and unpacking. Now, don't get me wrong, I hate portions of it while actually doing it, but I like it when it's all done. When all the gear is packed away and I can justify my owning an SUV.
Another thing I liked about camping was my new headlamp. I don't know if you have a headlamp or have ever tried one on, but these things are the greatest thing since DVR's and HD TV. It's like having a super power at night. You can see everything! If you don't have one, run out and buy one right now. You won't be disappointed. At the very least it will come in handy when you BBQ at night.
I also enjoyed the scenery and being outside all weekend long. I think the one benefit of camping is that it is so much harder than just staying at home. So your days are filled with all kinds of activities like, making coffee outside. Figuring out what to eat for breakfast and lunch outside. Making sure you don't leave any food outside so that horses don't come and ravage your camp (see Ex. A).
Ex. A
Looking back on the weekend, even though it was only a couple of days long, it felt like twice that long with everything that went into it. So that was nice. And the times were you were forced to sit there and relax and take it in were really quite nice.
Mmmmm, Summer Shandy.
Another nice thing about camping is the people that camp. The people that we came across were all pretty cool. They were friendly and easy to get along with, which was a nice surprise and another plus for camping.
Good people.
And we had a great time playing outside and on the beach and at camp. Ethan seemed to enjoy it as well. Now, he did come down with a nasty case of Lyme Disease, and was starting to show signs (a fever and not sleeping well at night) but he still had a blast.
Lastly, we got to camp out in a horrific thunderstorm and survived. Our tent was waterproof and we didn't freeze to death. The storm hit at 3:45 AM and there was lightening and thunder and wind everywhere. But we survived and so did the tent. Packing up wet, sandy camping gear the next morning wasn't so great but we figured it out.
So, in conclusion, I have decided that overall camping is cool. And I will do it again soon. July, actually, we're going up to Strausburg, PA. I think that I was out of practice and the more I do it the better off I'll be.
After talking with people, I think the best thing to do is yogurt and Pop Tarts for breakfast, sandwiches for lunch and then go off and find a kick ass meal somewhere in town. That's the best/easiest way to handle the food costs.
And the more often I pop the tent and the stuff, the easier and faster it'll be. At least, that's my plan. I hope this was informative but if it wasn't I don't really care.
Now, quickly onto an important Death Pool announcement. I reviewed all of the pools and we all suck. Somehow not a single one of us came up with Ed McMannon. I was so excited when I saw that he died, not because he died, but because I thought for sure someone had him. None of us did. We suck. Collectively.
Alright, that's it for now, I'll be back later this week with SNL, SYTYCD and some Entertainment.
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