This last weekend was our first trip camping since my son was born 13 years ago. That last trip was to the Salamonie Reservoir in northern Indiana, and it was a nightmare! Never, ever, if you wish to die of old age, ever, take your pregnant wife camping in a primitive location in the middle of Indiana's monsoon season. Everything was wet, the air was extremely humid, and we were utterly miserable. By the second night I couldn't take it anymore and we ended up packing up shop and staying at my husband's uncle's house, who happily lived close by. Until recently, I had had no desire to repeat the experience.
I'm not sure what changed my mind. My brother and his wife frequently go camping while on vacation and it always sounded like fun to me. Tony, my boyfriend/ex-husband (and that's all I'll say about that), was agreeable to the notion of trying the camping thing again, so we set a time and a place at Holiday World, to keep my son happy. There were nature trails around the campgrounds, so we hoped to do a little trail hiking as well. We bought a tent for Tony and I, and a selection of gear to get us through a couple of days in the woods. As it turned out, we were rather unprepared.
Here are some significant lessons learned: 1) Always buy a tent that has twice the footprint of whatever size airbed you are using. We had a queen-size bed in a 9x7x4 tent. It fit, but it was a close one. My boyfriend and I are typical somewhat overweight Americans, so a smaller bed would have been impossible for either of us to sleep on (especially with his snoring!). 2) Water protect your tent. I took great pains to do so, and happily it paid off. We had a significant amount of rain Sunday and Monday morning, with only a minimal of water leakage. Unfortunately, one of the areas that leaked was the zipper to the door. I haven't figured out a fix for that yet. My son had the same problem in his tent. 3) Keep track of all of your things. Don't leave anything in the showers. They will get thrown away. I spaced it on the first night and forgot to grab my shampoo, conditioner, and soap out of the shower stall before heading to bed and they were gone when the cleaning crew came through the next morning. Oh well.....
4) Unless you're a purest, having access to electricity and a laptop can be of great help, particularly during the two rainiest days of a drought-filled month (it's a little like washing your car...go camping, it will rain!). We were able to watch the weather and judge the best opportunities to go to the amusement park. And finally, 5) Make sure you unpack and wash everything when you get home, just in case you have any tag alongs and to reduce the potential for mold to set in.
We did get to do some hiking between our area and where the camp store was located. Lake Rudolph is rather hilly, so it was definitely a bit of a workout heading up to the store and then trying to keep from falling coming back down (the paths were covered with gravel). I would have liked to have done more, but there wasn't enough time and the weather was generally not working in our favor. Oh well, maybe next year!
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