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Good Day Campers!
Well, well, well, LOML and I finally did get to have a camping experience this year. In spite of ten and half hours of torrential rain on our first night out, we had a great time. We weren’t here, in our house. We weren’t glued to the media offerings on COVID-19 cases. We weren’t depressed by the opioid crisis. We didn’t have to listen to the blather about the Federal Election. Unless we were prepared to cycle to it, there wasn’t any WiFi. And the big bonus was we didn’t have to endure any snarky, back-stabbing political advertisements. I’d say it was a good trip.
Camping isn’t a new thing to LOML and me. As a couple, we’ve been camping since 1967 when we gathered up my younger brother and the three of us headed off to EXPO67. While I can’t speak to LOML’s camping experience before he met me, my family liked a bit rustic camping and our first family experience was in 1957 at Sibbald Park with a 9 X 9 centre pole, canvas tent, no sleeping bags or airbeds, seven people and a whole lot of nothing much. Sometime during that trip, my father went into Sutton and bought a Coleman stove and a flashlight. It was such a resoundingly great experience (to the kids, at least) we went back to Sibbald several times. And then my mother “discovered” Algonquin Park. Now that was camping, in the ’60s, at its finest. By the time we hit Algonquin the equipment list had grown, the tents were bigger and we had sleeping bags. Now, back to LOML and me, the answer to the burning question y’all are stewing about is, “no”. LOML and I are not trailer or camper-van or RV campers. We own a tent, an airbed (sounds cushier than it actually is), sleeping bags, a Coleman stove—which was purchased in 1968 for $18.88—and all of the other out-of-doorsy stuff needed to be as uncomfortable, damp and smelling of campfire, as is humanly possible. Our big extravagance is our lightweight, waterproof tent and a dining shelter. When I say “extravagance”, I mean the two of us have camped without a dining shelter, and once found out the tent we had just purchased wasn’t exactly a “waterproof tent”. It was more water-resistant/repellant and because it was “old school” canvas, one didn’t touch the walls when it was raining. Over the years we have “invested” in better equipment, but we still keep it to a minimum. It was three years ago we last set out for a camping adventure. Broken brain stuff and the pandemic have kept us home until this year. While we were stuck at home we managed to get a lot older, a lot wider (not wiser) and, as we found out, a lot less agile. When friends and family wondered how we were going to manage sleeping on an “onthe- ground” airbed, we assured them we were experienced at this camping game and could handle it. Yep, just like that. We could handle it. And it’s the lifelong pursuit and development of a shared sense of humour that got us through those damp, chilly mornings along with much uncontrolled laughter, creaking of bones, and a whole lot of huffing and puffing while we dragged ourselves up from the ground/airbed. Yessir, it was a humbling and humorous experience, kids. But we did it. We camped oldish school. We were wise to bring special cream for the morning coffee. It was something to look forward to each morning, and it helped soothe the sleeping-near-the-ground aches.
The torrential rain was just another minor test to our resolve. On trips long past, we have awakened to snow, freezing temperatures, wildlife invasions, a flood, bear warnings, crying children, poopy children, hungry children, oceans of Canada goose poop in the site, cooking in a downpour under a dainty purse-sized umbrella, snakes, raccoons who like wine and chips, children who didn’t want to use an outhouse even though they really needed to and once even experienced a snowfall that was quickly followed by a tent collapse.
Yep, give us the good old out-of-doors. It’s what makes us hearty and grateful and keeps us laughing. We are grateful for the beauty of our Provincial Parks, especially grateful for comfort stations with flush toilets and hot showers and, most of all, grateful for our warm beds (at home) when we’ve had just about the right amount of being outdoorsy.
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