This has become my motto ever since I said I would "never get married again" as losing my late husband was so painful I never wanted to go through that again....but life has to continue on and you realize you can't live without love and can't predict what you may or may not do in the future.....I am a bit off track from what I'm planning to write about tonight.
I have always said I would "never" go camping. I didn't think I would like not having access to a daily shower, cooking my meals outside, living next to someone I've never met (campground camping). Well, late this summer we went camping for the first time as a family. It was my first time camping ever. We went to a Provincial Park Campground. We loved it. To be in nature with no cares in the world, watching the squirrels chase each other (two even ran over my feet, their little toe nails scratching my feet), hiking through the woods looking for deer or other wildlife. It was so much fun. The campground was clean, quiet and private. Each campsite well surrounded by trees so privacy was not an issue.
Our first weekend camping was in a beautiful, roomy tent. I only packed one double air mattress so we were quite snuggled together. Our first night was quiet and uneventful. The second night the raccoons were fighting right outside our tent. The second night was also quite cold so I didn't sleep well. We enjoyed our weekend camping with the tent but then decided to upgrade to a tent trailer if we could find one within our price range. We have since purchased a tent trailer, we went camping with it as well just the other weekend. We were toasty warm with our propane furnace humming away. Our fridge kept our food cold and the cook top made preparing meals a breeze. We enjoyed our second camping trip with our tent trailer. It provided some luxuries to make life in the woods a bit more convenient. We have since decided if we can find a travel trailer within our price range we would upgrade with the intention to replace hotel stays when we travel within the province to staying in our camper and save some money. Staying at a campground will be so much more fun than at a hotel. Though a hotel is luxurious and restful it's nice to be out in the fresh air, cooking our own meals and doing activities together. Not just laying in a hotel room trying to decide which restaurant we'll have our next meal at and watching TV.
I had no idea people "dressed up" their campsites so much. Lights, name plaques, screen tents over picnic tables...... The first weekend was a learning experience for sure. I called our campsite the "dark hole". Everyone around us had lots of lighting whether solar lights or string lights. We had a lonely lantern setting on our picnic table. The second weekend we went camping I was prepared. I had solar lights, a wash line and lots of lanterns as well as the lighting on our tent trailer. I also had a table cloth which I didn't think about before......
We are looking forward to planning our camping season next year. I only wish I had known how much fun camping is long ago. But you can't turn back time. We have many camping years ahead of us.
'til next time!
