Camping 101 v. Gregory Camping

For those of you who don't know, Josh had been wanting a fishing boat for a LONG time. About a month before Spring Break, his wish came true, and he found an old junker for a really good price (boat, trailer, and trolling motor included). He then proceeded to spend every waking moment sanding, scraping, and painting his "baby". We came up with this crazy idea to spend a couple of days of Spring Break camping and fishing at Meridian State Park. Since this would be our first family camping trip, Meridian seemed close enough to leave if it didn't go well.

That brings me to the Camping 101 part. Any good camper will tell you to always be prepared. Well, this part of the Gregory clan decided to just "wing it". We loaded up our tent, blankets, air mattress, chairs, make-up, hair dryer, portable DVD player, etc. and hit the road. Did you notice anything missing? FOOD! Luckily Clifton and Brookshire's was on the way, so . . . disaster averted.

We finally made it to the park only to realize that if you want a really good campsite (you know, one with water, electricity, and a screened in shelter) you actually have to reserve it ahead of time. DRAT we didn't do that, so all they had left was a campsite one step up from primitive. OK, we were troopers. We set up our tent and left for the lake and an afternoon of fishing.

Did I mention that our little boat only had a trolling motor that had a top speed of maybe 5 mph? The wind on the lake that day was a mild breeze of 30-40 mph!. We quickly discovered that we were being pushed to the opposite shore from the boat dock and we only had one "emergency" paddle. Obviously a nervous moment since Tilson was one of the passengers. As we were trying to get out of the brush at the edge of the lake, Josh found out that the motor was actually more powerful in reverse. So, there went the Gregory's scooting around the lake BACKWARDS! I guess it's good that Josh wouldn't let me paint the boat hot pink. Green is much less obvious. We did manage to find a nice secluded spot for the rest of the afternoon, and Tilson actually caught his first fish!

I wasn't going to fish. I had brought a book and had planned on a relaxing afternoon. After Tilson's first cast, I realized that was NOT going to happen.

The first fish!

He actually reeled this one all the way in by himself.

Tilson's favorite thing about camping was cooking hot dogs over the fire and eating them in the dark. (Of course we didn't bring a light)

That brings me to bedtime. I mentioned we brought an air mattress, but our campsite didn't have electricity, so Josh had to haul it up to the bath house and use and extension cord (why we had THAT I don't know) to use the blower. We had planned on Tilson sleeping in his sleeping bag, but we quickly realised that we were going to need his blanket and his body heat. Yes, being the prepared family that we are, we had decided to camp on the coldest night of the week. Josh checked the temperature in his truck the next morning. It read 34 DEGREES!!!

Those who know me, know that I really like the IDEA of camping much more than the actual camping. But there is something to be said for it. Camping makes you appreciate those who came before us who slept on the ground under the stars instead of on an air mattress under a nylon ceiling. It also makes you thankful for all the comforts we have that others don't. Even a 4 year old can learn that lesson. As we put an exhausted Tilson in his bed the next night, he said "Mommy I love you. Daddy I love you. Thank you for my bed. Thank you for my house."

So sweet. Almost makes me want to go camping again. ALMOST!