Labor Day Camping

The boys and I celebrated Labor Day in style.  The weather had been so beautiful over the past few days, I decided to take them camping.  I didn’t want to go far, in case something happened with Tamara and the baby (oh, like the onset of an early labor).  So, I took them camping at mom and dad’s pond.

On Sunday afternoon, I ran over and set up the tent along with all my camping equipment.  And I’ve got to tell you, that five man tent wasn’t meant to be put up by one person.  Thankfully, it was a still day, and I didn’t get blown into the pond while attaching the rain-flap.

Sunday evening came, and I was really glad that I had put the tent up earlier.  By the time we got to our site and got a fire started, we could already see the first star of the evening.  Mammy and Pa came and roasted hot dogs with us, and then Uncle Russ and Aunt Charlotte dropped by to have a roasted marshmallow.  The boys were so excited that someone else had come by.

They got to stay up later than normal, and even when we went to bed, they weren’t really ready to go to sleep.  I told them stories about when I was a little boy, especially the stories about camping.  We slept alright for a couple of hours, and then the wildlife came out in full force.

I hate Screech Owls.  Hate them with a passion.  We had heard them earlier in the evening, but around midnight, one decided to land in a tree, RIGHT OUTSIDE OUR TENT, and screech all night.  And lest you think I’m exaggerating, I mean all night, from 12:00 to 5:00 am.  It was enough to keep waking me and Griffin up.

Every little noise that happened in the intervening periods woke me up as well.  As a father, you worry about the situation you’ve put your kids in.  I mean, we’re not technically in bear country, but what if one just happened to wander by.  I took the standard precaution of locking food in the vehicle so I wouldn’t attract predators, but seriously, aren’t we food to predators?  I couldn’t very well lock us inside the truck and still call it camping.  Of course we have a tent to protect us, but how much protection is a thin sheet of polymer going to provide?  When I see a food item wrapped in some sort of plastic, I don’t give up and go away.  I simply unwrap and eat it.  It’s what I call junk food.

It was nearly 3:00 am before I heard something crashing through the woods.  I’m sure it was a wee critter like a raccoon, armadillo, or opossum, but those things sure sound big in the middle of the night.

After a fitful night’s sleep, we all woke up about 6:30.  Instead of making our own breakfast, we trekked across the wet field to my parents house and had biscuits, eggs, and bacon, while the boys pants were drying.  Now that’s the way to camp!

I was genuinely surprised when they wanted to go back to the campsite instead of staying at Mammy’s house and playing.  They had a great time running around the pond and throwing sticks and rocks in it.  I was afraid that I’d have a hard time getting them to leave, but once the bees started buzzing around, Griffin was ready to head to the house (he had a bad experience with wasps a while back).

It was a lot of fun, and I’m glad I got to take them.  It seems like we seldom get the opportunity to camp.  I wasn’t quite ready to let the experience go, myself.  So, Monday night, I asked Tamara if she would mind shrieking at me about every forty seconds or so.  She didn’t think that was as funny as I did.