First Time Camping

October 2, 2011

We returned today from a single night of camping with Thom and his son, Noah.

Over the past year, I've been anxious to take Katie camping, wondering if she would love it as much as I did as a kid. Thom asked us a few weeks ago if Katie would enjoy spending the night in his pop-up camper out a Jordan Lake.  I wasn't sure if she really would enjoy it, but I figured we had to try.

Thom and Noah picked us up yesterday afternoon, and we headed to Jordan Lake.  The nice thing about this trip is that we wouldn't be far from home.

Once we finally picked out a site, Katie and Noah entertained themselves riding their scooters on the nicely paved loop road while I assisted Thom setting up camp.  Katie had convinced herself that she only wanted to be a "tenter" and had protested the thought of sleeping in a pop-up when I initially told her how we'd be camping.  But when she saw the camper all set up, she became excited about staying in such a contraption that contained not just a bed but a kitchen area, a bathroom, and a "living room" area.

Once camp set up had concluded, we all took a stroll around the loop and walked down to the lake shore where Katie and Noah played with bricks they found in the sand.

Back in camp, we started a fire in the fire pit.  The fire thrilled Katie. Who can resist the lure of a crackling campfire! Katie couldn't!

While Thom and I enjoyed steak and pasta salad for dinner, Katie's first camping meal was a peanut butter sandwich and chocolate milk.  Then, it was back to the fire.  When she'd get too cold, she'd return to the warmth of the camper and played with her DS.  Thawed out, she'd return to the fire.

Sleeping went better than I anticipated.  Overnight lows were expected to dip into the 40s, which had me concerned.  But Thom's camper had a heater that proved more than adequate at keeping us cozy overnight.  Katie slept well.

At 6:30, Katie awoke me ready to start the day.  It was dark outside.  And cold (Thom had shut the heater off an hour or so earlier).  Katie changed into her clothes for the day, but returned to her sleeping bag to keep warm.  She stayed quiet until 7:00.  After that, I let her watch an episode of Thundercats on my iPod.

Later that morning, we all sat down for a breakfast of pancakes and bacon.  Of course, Katie designed her chocolate chip pancakes with a smiley face.  While Thom and I cleaned up the camper from breakfast, Katie and Noah played with the fire and rode their scooters.

Katie genuinely enjoyed herself, got along fantastically with Noah, and said she's looking forward to camping again.  Now that she's started her camping career with a pop-up camper, I'm not sure what she'll think of tenting it the next time we go out!  Another adventure awaits....