Our 1st Camping Trip-The Good, The Bad and The Ugly

What we had thought would be two nights of camping resulted in us pulling in our driveway in less than 24hours of leaving the day before!

I'll share the good, the bad and the ugly.

The Good:
-the boys' amazing attitudes with camping.  Seriously, I was stunned. 
-a gorgeous view from our tent at sunset.

-hearing the boys laugh and get excited about setting up camp.
-seeing them run around playing in the woods.
-helping Daddy gather small twigs to start a fire.
-watching it burn.

-eating hot dogs cooked over the fire.  "They are THE best!!!", the boys say.
-SMORES for dessert! 
-snuggling with Mommy by the campfire.

Sans the makeup for Momma

-watching visitors invade our space.  At one point there were four racoons all sniffing around in search of food.  Luckily we had already put things away because we knew they would be coming.  They were so close and Ryan sat with eager eyes and announced, "This is AWESOME!" 

-watching the boys get so excited and caught up in waiting for the coons to come back. 
-watching the boys take it all in and LOVE this whole experience!
-seeing headlamps in the darkness running through the woods.
-star/moon gazing.

-Hot cocoa early in the morning by the lake. Thank the Good Lord the morning came!!!!!!!

My little HAPPY campers!

-cooking breakfast out in the open as we started our day.  This was my very favorite part!!!  I felt like a pioneer woman....well kinda, I was cooking on a Coleman Stove.  I wondered if the amazing smell was waking campers up.

-Breakfast Burritos.  We frequently eat these at home and they proved to be a great camping meal!

 

-walking through nature. Seeing it up close and personal.  Can't wait to go back to see more!

 

 

From the smallest pine cone........

 

to the tallest tree.

The Good was making memories.  No matter what the bad and ugly may be, we made memories.  We did have fun and we learned from the experience.  There is nothing like being out in nature with your family roughing it.  It is appealing to me, but maybe I am a semi-roughing it kinda girl.

 

Despite the look on Ryan's face he was having fun.

The Bad:

-camping in general is a lot of work. 
-tent camping is a lot of work.  And not for me! 
-sleeping in a BAG is not for me!!! Whoever came up with this idea anyway?!  If you are a side sleeper, sleeping bags will rob you of SLEEPING!!!!!  And make you want to SCREAM!!
-camping in record low temperatures is not for me!  I froze all night!! Could not get warm.  What on earth were we thinking?
-waking with a splitting headache while camping is NOT fun, but coffee helps!
-Brant waking up with a migraine and getting sick!

The Ugly:
-car loads of rowdy campers arriving next to your camp long after dark to set up.  They used the headlights of about 4 cars which were on for about 3 hours.  Seriously!
-said campers having no respect for other campers all around them.
-dozens of small children running around like wild Indians!
-said campers staying up until at least 2am chatting, screaming, cussing their children out and OH, trying to get crying infant back to sleep.  A baby crying at 2am in a State Park that is trying sleeping is little frightening to say the least.  It echoed all around us. 
-foul mouth drunks that will not shut up!!!



So there it is.  The Good, The Bad and The Ugly.  Now, before you start saying we should have known this might happen in a State Park while camping let me say, why yes of course it crossed our minds.  I could have dealt with The Bad stuff. But there was no way I was going to subject my children to The Ugly!!!!  It would have been another whole day AND night of listening to a blabbering idiot!  So we packed up and came home to sleep in our warm, cozy beds.  The beauty of this camping trip was we were only about an hour and half away from home.  Sure, we could have visited the park host and turned these people in, but we did what we felt was right at that particular time.  We learned enough from this camping trip to know we will never tent camp again!  NEVER, God willing.  Same for the sleeping bag! 

 

Will we camp again?  Probably.  I am not opposed to it and actually had some fun cooking and enjoying the beauty of my boys' great attitudes.  But it may be a while.  It is a lot of work and I see why folks camp for a week or buy campers.  My idea of getting away is to relax.  I did not relax the whole time, but at least the boys had fun. 

 

For now we will enjoy day trips back to this State Park because this is some amazing hiking to be had.  All in all it was an alright trip.  The boys are ready to go again (which is GREAT!) and Brant and I are thinking about it.  A screen shelter with a blow up mattress, sheets and a blanket in much warmer weather sounds much better to me. 

 

You can't say I didn't give it a try!

 

Does your family go camping?

Have any pointers or helpful hints? 

Leave me a comment.....I would love to hear from you.