I never understood it, shoot, if I’m being honest, I thought they were all crazy. What kind of a person volunteers to leave their climate-controlled home with a private bathroom, a fully stocked fridge, freezer, wifi, and all the modern-day accommodations they work so hard to provide their family and go live in the great outdoors for a week? To me that sounded like pure nonsense, borderline insanity. Vacations should require less work, not more. Why pack towels, air mattresses, sheets, pots, pans, coolers, etc.? Why not save yourself time, energy, and bug bites and just stay home? After an impromptu extended stay on an island with 7 tweens/teens, one brutal storm, dirty underwear, greasy hair, and legs you could play connect-the-bug bites on I think I finally get it. I drank the Kool-Aid. What’s even more shocking, is I miss it, there, I said it. But I’m getting ahead of myself, let me start from the beginning.
My fiance has been taking his kids camping since they were in preschool. I don’t know many dads, or parents, who have the patience, energy, or fortitude to go camping with their two young children entirely on their own. He started camping when they were in preschool and has continued the tradition for the past eight years. To watch this man prep all the camping gear, food, fishing poles, bikes, etc. ahead of time and carefully pack everything, unpack, clean, and store for next year’s trip is nothing short of impressive. I get exhausted just thinking about all the work, but he has done it consistently each year and camping with his kids ranks very high on his priorities which I have always admired. I never fully understood it until my crew and I agreed to stay one night. I said, one night, as a self-proclaimed glamper staying more than a day is huge. I’m legit a lodge girl, I appreciate all the accommodations and amenities a lodge offers. That said, I now know staying in the lodge doesn’t hold a candle to a genuine camping experience.
The week of his camping trip arrived and he and his kiddos headed to the island on Sunday to set up the campsite and get situated. The plan was to have my crew, my three teens, two of their friends, and myself spend Tuesday, Tuesday night, and Wednesday on the island then take the ferry back late Wednesday. You know the saying, “God laughs when you make plans”, God was laughing at my plans. So, Tuesday morning arrived, and we stuffed our camping necessities into any and every available crevice in the Flex, 5 teenagers piled, we stopped off at Taco Bell (hindsight being 20/20 perhaps that wasn’t the best road trip food) and hit the road. Twenty tacos, mom belting out a tone-deaf horrible rendition of American Pie, and one pit stop later, we pulled up to the window to purchase our tickets for the ferry and the attendant relayed information that would slightly alter the trajectory of our plans. She informed us that the ferry would not be running tomorrow due to high winds. I could faintly hear God laughing in the distance as I glanced back at my passengers and informed them that we had two options, end the trip before it started or extend it and make the necessary arrangements with work. We agreed to continue on and drove onto the ferry. They made a good call not running the ferry the next day, it was pretty choppy when we went over to the island. We had the windows down in the Flex, and lake water splashed up the ferry and into the Flex. A few passengers were beginning to look a little green around the gills. We got off the ferry and arrived at the campsite just in time to put up the tent before the storms came through along with the never-ceasing wind and rain.
Our first-day camping was damp but awesome! When I drove off the ferry it was like I set the flux capacitor to 1980 something and our kids were joining us in our childhood with no wifi, phones, or screens since the island only has select spots with wifi. We played cards at the picnic table under the tarp, enjoyed genuine Facetime, belly laughed, Brent grilled the entire crew burgers, ate, and then walked down to the ice cream shop. Everyone enjoyed their scoops while we strolled around the campsite between the raindrops and walked by the beach. It dried just long enough to start a fire, we sang a few songs then turned in for the night.
The summer night symphony came alive with crickets, cicadas, and grasshoppers and lulled us to sleep while the soft morning chorus of red-winged blackbirds slowly brought us out of our slumber.
The morning sun felt delightful after the rain the day before, Brent made us coffee and we walked down to the lake hand in hand while our tweens and teens slept in. We sat on a bench near the beach and I was transformed to such a peace-filled state of mind as the breeze kissed our faces, and waves hit the rocks on the shore, I took a long sip of coffee and then leaned my head on his shoulder and thought, this must be what heaven is like. We sat a few moments more before we ventured back and started breakfast.
I couldn’t tell you the last time we had pancakes and sausage on a Wednesday morning. Breakfast started around 9 and extended into the late morning. I won’t lie, at first, I struggled with this, I felt like I should be doing something, work, schoolwork, etc. I felt guilty, lazy, uneasy. I was chomping at the bits to move, go, do something. Then I looked around as each tween and teen woke, ate, cleaned up, and shared their thoughts, feelings, ideas, etc. and then I realized this is it, this is the important thing that I need to be doing. I needed to be fully present, immersed in the here and now, and not worried about future work, schoolwork, etc. And I am glad I was because what transpired was a building block in the foundation of our future family. Blending families is a beautiful blessing that also holds its challenges, Brent and I are not naive to this fact. We have young adolescents, older adolescents, and even an emerging adult, hormones, emotions, thoughts, and feelings are every which way. As adults, we are aware of this fact and know that we need to be respectful, validate, and never compete with a child for attention. We also know that taking trips together, all of us, strengthens and builds bonds. I learned quickly on this trip that camping ranks as number one when it comes to connecting on interpersonal levels, building trust in relationships, and working together as a team to lay a solid foundation as a family unit.
After breakfast was cleaned up, emotions shared and validated, we ventured out on a hike around Horseshoe Lake. The kids loved navigating the traverse of the old quarry. The terrain was unlike anything I had seen before, it was like we were on a different planet. An odd combination of soft burnt orange moss and hard rock sprinkled the ground. The tweens/teens enjoyed exploring, admiring insects and carefully observing rock formations for fossils.
After our hike we headed into town for some light shopping, we might be camping, but even camping can include some shopping. It turned out to be extremely light shopping since most employees couldn’t get to the island because the ferry didn’t run that day.
Once back at the campsite, we had a quick lunch and then half the crew stayed back to read or nap while the other half went fishing. I opted for fishing and I am glad I did. Once again, this was an activity I didn’t fully appreciate until I participated, it had always seemed extremely boring and a waste of time. Once out on the lake, watching the kids patiently wait for a bite, I finally got it! This is another one of those activities that forces you to calm the thoughts running through your head, be present in the moment, and enjoy the company of those around you. I had cast my net out wide trying to comprehend the purpose of this past time and let me tell you when I pulled that virtual net in I had the biggest catch of the day, quality time, fully present, no phones, no distracting notifications, no screens, a gorgeous afternoon on one of the great lakes with family.
Next up a little education, specifically, science, and history! Glacial Grooves and Kelley’s Island Lime and Transport Company exploration! The glacial grooves are the largest and best accessible example of this geological phenomenon anywhere in the world!
After our hands-on educational adventure, we walked the beach for a bit then headed back to the campsite to make pizza irons for dinner. Everyone pitched in and helped, one person assembled, another placed the pizzas in the pie irons, one timed the pie irons and another plated them and distributed them. Many hands make for light work and coming together to make something happen, even dinner brings about a sense of cohesion and satisfaction like none other. This was a great reminder that it isn’t necessarily about the quantity that each contributed but the quality, the minute one person starts to compare themselves to the other it weakens the group morale because comparison is the thief of joy and leads one down the path of resentment. So it was importnant that we appreciated each person’s contribution to the meal.
After pie irons and hanging around the fire chatting, laughing, and sharing plans we all turned in. Once again Mother Nature’s nighttime symphony came alive and lulled us to sleep and peacefully brought us out of our slumber.
Nothing compares to the island’s morning air, it is so pure, fresh, and clean, and the lake had finally calmed, the temperature was perfection, and then I felt it, that overwhelming feeling creeping up within, impending sorrow. I knew we had to go back, we had to go back to the mainland, back to life, reality, back to everyone having phones, screens, alerts, and notifications, back to school, and work, it was as if I wasn’t just saying goodbye to the island but goodbye to all of us, to this awesome cohesive group we had become, the awesome foundation we had laid. Would all of that stay on the island? Would it only arrive on the mainland as a memory? It physically hurt my heart to leave that campsite that day. As I looked into my fiancee’s big brown eyes I could not have been more appreciative for the awesome gift he gave me in this camping experience. It turns out I was looking at it all wrong, from the wrong vantage point, perspective, I didn’t realize where the true value in camping lay.
Anything worth having in this life requires sacrifice and if anyone tells you otherwise they are lying. To reap the rewards you need to first, put forth the effort, put your needs aside, and selflessly serve which means you will be inconvenienced but when has parenting ever been convenient? This is why I promise you, that if you do it right, the rewards will far surpass any inconvenience of camping so long as you have the right mindset, remain fully present, don’t fall prey to comparisons, and seek joy!
What kind of a person volunteers to leave their climate-controlled home with a private bathroom, a fully stocked fridge, freezer, wifi, and all the modern-day accommodations they work so hard to provide for their family and go live in the great outdoors for a week? Me! Glamping has its advantages especially when one has been outdoors for 48 hours and hasn’t showered but when it comes to quality time together as a family nothing beats camping!
Mom on the go in Holy Toledo 