Our Very First Group Camping Trip

photo credit: Nadine Wegner

By guest blogger Peter Valentine

Our kids’ class has a tradition of reserving a block of sites at a Campground in the Catskills for a start of summer multi-family camping trip. While we love camping, we were reluctant to open our quirky unit to a 24/7 togetherness campaign. Our messy, disorganized family of five can barely get to school on time (OK, we’re never on time) and running with the pack is often a challenge. But this year, we decided to give it a try.

We started out early (for us) and still managed to be the last family there.  And as we tried to maneuver our food up to the now-waning community grill, and as our tent and gear still sat in a pile beside our car and as our kids’ requests for this and that grew more intense, all my fears were confirmed. This would be a prolonged display of the fact that our family was in a constant state of chaos management.

And then one Mom handed me a plastic cup of single malt whiskey. And another Mom and Dad fed our kids. And another Dad came over and helped pitch our tent.

Still, we were destined to be known as the weirdest family there. Apart from our ragtag pile of camping gear, we had all kinds of odd habits. For one thing, our teenager insisted on sleeping in the car. With my shame held at bay by the whiskey (it was good whiskey), I let slip to another couple that our older boy would not be sleeping in spacious comfort in our big army tent. Rather, he would be stuffed in the back of our aged station wagon that night, along with the coolers and the bag of oranges we would probably forget to eat.

The other couple immediately started cracking up laughing, but before I could think of a defense for this practice, the wife told us that her husband is terrified of the outdoors and has spent every night of every year of the class camping trip in their car. As night fell and we all laughed over our whiskeys he confessed, “I just hate tents. I don’t know what it is.”

So we all went to our tents that night soon after dark (as it goes with camping). And two campers went to their cars. And in the morning everyone was off running with the pack, getting sunburnt, eating other people’s food as we fed other peoples’ kids and we all gathered round at night for more whiskey.

I guess it does take a village after all, but the greater lesson I think that I learned is that every family has their quirks and you won’t ever know the joy of discovering them if you stay at home.

Peter Valentine writes a daily poem using words found in the New York Times crossword puzzle.   Visit him on Facebook here.  

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Family Camping Packing Checklist
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Download our popular e-cookbook: The Real Family Camping Cookbook