The Middle Child, aka Martha Stewart, Jr., and I went camping with the Girl Scouts this weekend along with 4 other girls and one mom from her troop... and a whole bunch of other troops from our area. We went to one of my favorite places, a Girl Scout camp located upstate a ways. I'm told it's "luxury camping" since we were in cabins and we had showers with hot water, power, and refrigerators. We didn't have heaters, though, and in those non-insulated cabins it was pretty chilly in the middle of the night! We were lucky, though; the temp only dropped into the 50's while we were there. It's supposed to get down into the 30's tonight! Yowsers! I think I would've been bundling us up and driving HOME if it had gotten that cold. I can handle 50's, though. My sleeping bag is pretty cozy, plus I had a fleece liner and doubled up sheet to round it out, then I had on my flannel jammies, socks, and my leg warmers. (Left over from the 80's, but very handy.) I was positively toasty.... until I had to get up and go pee at 4:00 a.m. That was brutal.
Daylight started out cold but warmed up. We spent Saturday morning, through lunch and into early afternoon, participating in structured activities with the whole group. (There were around 100 of us there.) They gave us the rest of the time to do as we pleased, which was perfect. We went back to our cabins, relaxed for a little while, then got started with cooking dinner. For previous Camporees our meals were catered, but they decided not to go that route this time. It was a lot more work in terms of advance planning, but only because I haven't camp-cooked with my girls before. Once we got down to actually cooking, it was fun. We kept it simple for most of the girls with hot dogs on a stick. I don't eat hot dogs so I took leftover chili from home, but I was able to make some boil-in-bag rice over the fire to go with it. I also had a popcorn popper and the girls had fun making several batches. (The last batch burned, probably because we didn't clean the popper out properly before hand. The other batches were perfect.)
The cooking and clean up becomes an activity in and of itself when you're making food over an open fire. The girls got to help every step of the way, from lighting the fire starters to cleaning up using the 3 bucket system and their dunk bags. I think they learned a lot while we were there, in addition to all the fun. They made friends with the older girls in the two other troops at our campsite, too. All in all, it was a great weekend. Give me a week or two of recovery time and I'll be ready to go again!
Showing posts with label camping. Show all posts
Showing posts with label camping. Show all posts
Sunday, December 12, 2010
Monday, April 12, 2010
Camping and the Importance of Taking Notes
I went along as a chaperone and driver for The Eldest's Older Girl Girl Scout Camporee this weekend and we had a great time. The weather cooperated, the activities were fun, and the girls all got along beautifully. I even managed to talk to the other adults without hogging the conversation so there was progress on a personal note. (I felt myself going there a couple of times but managed to stop and turn it around by asking some good questions.)
It's such a different experience to camp with the big girls. They are fairly low maintenance since most of them are experienced campers so it's just a matter of watching the clock and making sure they get where they need to be for their scheduled activities. During the main outdoor time the troop leader (I'm a co-leader) was helping with one of the activities while I was the escort so she had more to do than I did; I took a picnic mat and read while the girls were in their rotations. I was able to watch and learn a lot from the other leaders during the weekend; I learn new things every time I go camping with more experienced leaders. I helped with cleaning up the dining hall and learned the procedures particular to that, then I watched one of the leaders teach the girls how to clean the bathroom at our camp site prior to check out. (After the girls wiped the showers, sinks, and toilets with bleach, she took a hose in and taught them to spray everything down since there's a drain in the floor; that makes it much easier.) I paid attention when the troop leader scheduled the last morning’s check out activities so I won’t mess up on that again like I did when I took The Middle Child’s troop to their camporee. I also paid attention to the structure of the weekend.
This is the third camporee I’ve been to along with one other troop camping trip and they have all been structured roughly the same way. I’m starting to think I might run one for The Middle Child’s service unit, but I want one more year under my belt first. I also want to run a family camping trip for The Middle Child’s troop next fall and see how that goes. I can structure it similarly to the Camporees I’ve attended for practice. I’ve got great moms in The Middle Child’s troop but they aren’t campers yet. Three of my nine girls weren’t allowed to go because their moms just weren’t comfortable with the idea of camping; I have to get them over that! If we can take a family trip, where the dads and little brothers can go too, then I think I can get them more comfortable with it. They can see the camp, get a feel for what we do there, go through packing and pre-camp preparations for themselves so they will better know what to do to prepare their girls when they send them by themselves, and so forth. (And believe me, having a girl there without the proper equipment or with more gear than she can manage herself is a pain in the neck, for her and the leaders.)
Speaking of equipment, I did better this time with my personal gear. (I have over-packing issues.) Well, it wasn’t cold like the last time, so that cuts down on lots of stuff right there, but I was able to get everything out of the cabin and packed in my car in two trips! Since I have to take my own cot and bedding (I have sleep problems related to the fibromyalgia so the horrible cots they provide don’t work for me) that’s an accomplishment. I also had a cooler and food in the unit house and that was one additional trip. I didn’t have anything in the way of troop supplies so that helped, too. I took firewood up but they burned that so I didn’t have to pack it to take home. (I would’ve left it anyway; they have a place to put extra wood at each camp site.) I’m happy I’ve streamlined. I used almost everything I took and didn’t need anything else. I didn’t use some cold weather items like warm PJs, a long sleeved T-shirt, and a warm scarf (it was supposed to be chilly at night but it wasn’t; in fact the first night was hot) but that was it.
So there’s a chunk of my de-briefing, which is something I do after every trip I take. I’ve also made additional notes for myself about how I would run a Camporee, tweaks for my packing list, (even though it was almost perfect there are always things to tweak), and other ideas. The notes I’ve taken over the years are invaluable to me; that’s something I highly recommend to everyone.
Whether you travel a lot or not, if you plan on ever traveling again take notes. Make a packing list before you go then tweak it for the next time as soon as you get back while you still remember what worked and what didn’t. (For instance, I now have an over door hook in my toiletry bag which I wind up using on every trip. Who would think of that if they didn’t have the experience of having something to hang up on a trip, like a toiletry bag, with no where to hang it?)
If you participate in activities that require planning, like camporees or parties or field trips with kids or any type of planned event that you will do again, de-brief and take notes. I even have hurricane notes since there’s a good possibility we’ll go through one of those again some day.
There may be people out there who can handle life without notes, low maintenance types or the super organized or something, but I’m not one of them. (For the record, I am very high maintenance about certain things. I don’t wear make up, floof my hair for three hours every day or wear designer anything, but I like my creature comforts.) For the rest of us, notes can be a life saver!
It's such a different experience to camp with the big girls. They are fairly low maintenance since most of them are experienced campers so it's just a matter of watching the clock and making sure they get where they need to be for their scheduled activities. During the main outdoor time the troop leader (I'm a co-leader) was helping with one of the activities while I was the escort so she had more to do than I did; I took a picnic mat and read while the girls were in their rotations. I was able to watch and learn a lot from the other leaders during the weekend; I learn new things every time I go camping with more experienced leaders. I helped with cleaning up the dining hall and learned the procedures particular to that, then I watched one of the leaders teach the girls how to clean the bathroom at our camp site prior to check out. (After the girls wiped the showers, sinks, and toilets with bleach, she took a hose in and taught them to spray everything down since there's a drain in the floor; that makes it much easier.) I paid attention when the troop leader scheduled the last morning’s check out activities so I won’t mess up on that again like I did when I took The Middle Child’s troop to their camporee. I also paid attention to the structure of the weekend.
This is the third camporee I’ve been to along with one other troop camping trip and they have all been structured roughly the same way. I’m starting to think I might run one for The Middle Child’s service unit, but I want one more year under my belt first. I also want to run a family camping trip for The Middle Child’s troop next fall and see how that goes. I can structure it similarly to the Camporees I’ve attended for practice. I’ve got great moms in The Middle Child’s troop but they aren’t campers yet. Three of my nine girls weren’t allowed to go because their moms just weren’t comfortable with the idea of camping; I have to get them over that! If we can take a family trip, where the dads and little brothers can go too, then I think I can get them more comfortable with it. They can see the camp, get a feel for what we do there, go through packing and pre-camp preparations for themselves so they will better know what to do to prepare their girls when they send them by themselves, and so forth. (And believe me, having a girl there without the proper equipment or with more gear than she can manage herself is a pain in the neck, for her and the leaders.)
Speaking of equipment, I did better this time with my personal gear. (I have over-packing issues.) Well, it wasn’t cold like the last time, so that cuts down on lots of stuff right there, but I was able to get everything out of the cabin and packed in my car in two trips! Since I have to take my own cot and bedding (I have sleep problems related to the fibromyalgia so the horrible cots they provide don’t work for me) that’s an accomplishment. I also had a cooler and food in the unit house and that was one additional trip. I didn’t have anything in the way of troop supplies so that helped, too. I took firewood up but they burned that so I didn’t have to pack it to take home. (I would’ve left it anyway; they have a place to put extra wood at each camp site.) I’m happy I’ve streamlined. I used almost everything I took and didn’t need anything else. I didn’t use some cold weather items like warm PJs, a long sleeved T-shirt, and a warm scarf (it was supposed to be chilly at night but it wasn’t; in fact the first night was hot) but that was it.
So there’s a chunk of my de-briefing, which is something I do after every trip I take. I’ve also made additional notes for myself about how I would run a Camporee, tweaks for my packing list, (even though it was almost perfect there are always things to tweak), and other ideas. The notes I’ve taken over the years are invaluable to me; that’s something I highly recommend to everyone.
Whether you travel a lot or not, if you plan on ever traveling again take notes. Make a packing list before you go then tweak it for the next time as soon as you get back while you still remember what worked and what didn’t. (For instance, I now have an over door hook in my toiletry bag which I wind up using on every trip. Who would think of that if they didn’t have the experience of having something to hang up on a trip, like a toiletry bag, with no where to hang it?)
If you participate in activities that require planning, like camporees or parties or field trips with kids or any type of planned event that you will do again, de-brief and take notes. I even have hurricane notes since there’s a good possibility we’ll go through one of those again some day.
There may be people out there who can handle life without notes, low maintenance types or the super organized or something, but I’m not one of them. (For the record, I am very high maintenance about certain things. I don’t wear make up, floof my hair for three hours every day or wear designer anything, but I like my creature comforts.) For the rest of us, notes can be a life saver!
Tuesday, February 23, 2010
Camping Report
I SURVIVED the camping trip!!! It was a close call, but I made it, and I'm actually starting to recover; whew.
Seriously though, it was a great trip. I had 5 out of 9 of my Brownies with me; the other girl who was supposed to join us for the day on Saturday got sick. Her mom came up for a few hours though; she went to a camp planning meeting and volunteered to get Sunday breakfast (for 200) so she had to bring all of that food up. (And I can't tell you how "above and beyond" she went in doing that; she's an amazing person. I'm so lucky to have her daughter, who is a sweetheart, in my troop and I'm so happy we are friends.) She stuck around for a bit to watch our girls while I went to the local Wal Mart to pick up some of the extra food items and perishables she wasn't able to get at the warehouse store. That gave me a bit of a break, too; as much as I love the camp I like to get away for a few minutes while I'm there. It's an introvert thing.
The girls were wonderful and very well behaved. They got along really well; they had a few disagreements (mainly trying to get The Middle Child to STOP telling scary stories) but they worked things out without too much intervention on my part. There were a few bouts of homesickness and one girl got spooked when we were walking through the woods to get to our cabin Saturday night. One girl got a case of the whines; she didn't like all of the walking but she did it!
And there is a LOT of walking to be done. The whole camp is set on a loop that's a little over 2 miles around. We were at one of the camp sites closer in to the main hall but it was still a good 15 to 20 minute walk we had to take before and after each meal. (No cars are allowed except one at each site specifically for medical emergencies.) There was also a long walk out to the sports field where we had our activities on Saturday and a walk back from that. Yep, it's a lot of walking at that camp! I'm a good walker though; I walk daily so that wasn't a problem for me at all.
What is a problem for me there is the sleeping. Oh, my aching back! They have these awful metal cots with saggy, broken springs and thin, flimsy mattresses to go on top of them. I've finally resorted to taking my own bed and bedding. Seriously- I purchased a camp cot at Outdoor World and I took it with me, along with an egg crate foam pad, an air pad, and a thick, fluffy sleeping bag. (Air mattresses are too soft and way too noisy; they don't help.) The first night I made the mistake of not using my cot. I was lucky enough (ha) to get a cot with a board so I thought that would be better. Stop the sagging and provide the firmness I need. Not so much. I didn't sleep at all and my back hurt badly all day Saturday. (OK, I never sleep my first night away from home, but the back thing on top of the tired thing was murder.) The second night I went ahead and set up my cot. I actually slept! Not very soundly, but I slept, and it was enough that my back was somewhat better in the morning. Enough to get me through the day's activities, anyway. I will NEVER try to sleep on the camp's cots again. I'm so happy I found a solution!!
Another factor with sleeping at camp is the NOISE. There were acorns or pine cones or something from the trees falling on the cabin all night long both nights. There's not too much to the roofs (rooves?) at camp so those little plinks sound like THUDS when you're trying to sleep. Then there's the noise from the other leaders. Turning over on the creaky cots, snoring, rustling, and even midnight phone calls about errant teenagers left home alone. (Seriously; I felt so badly for the leader dealing with that. She was on the phone for a long time trying to handle the situation from the camp.) It's not anyone's fault or anything that can be helped, and I certainly make my share of noise too, but it does make sleeping difficult. I came up with a solution for that, too; yeah! I've loaded up my MP3 player with ambient music, you know, babbling brook, rainfall, forest noises, that kind of thing, (mine happens to be womb sounds left over from when the kids were babies) and I turn that on, plug in the ear phones, and all the other sounds fade away. I can sleep to that kind of noise; it works like a charm. The only problem is it blocks out noises from the girls, too. I only used it for part of the night since I was worried I wouldn't be able to hear them if they needed me. I'll use it all night when I go up with other chaperones, though.
Being the only one with the girls was OK. The only time it was difficult was when we were packing up, and that was also because of my lack of experience. On the last morning at camp the troop has to pack up and complete Kapers, then we have to wait for an inspection before we can leave. Welllll, my troop was behind the eight ball from the get go. I didn't realize how long everything would take and that the other troops at our site would be delayed if we weren't ready and done with our packing and our Kaper. I let the girls sleep too late and didn't have them pack anything up before breakfast. I wasn't packed up before breakfast, either. When we got back it was a roller coaster rush to get everything done. The other leaders were gracious enough to step in and help me out, for which I will always be so thankful. They hurried my girls along and hauled stuff out to my car for me. One of the other troops even worked on the Kaper my troop was supposed to complete. They all pitched in and took up the slack; I feel so guilty for not carrying our weight. They laughed it off and said "no problem" when I apologized. True Girl Scout spirit, let me tell you. :)
Seriously though, it was a great trip. I had 5 out of 9 of my Brownies with me; the other girl who was supposed to join us for the day on Saturday got sick. Her mom came up for a few hours though; she went to a camp planning meeting and volunteered to get Sunday breakfast (for 200) so she had to bring all of that food up. (And I can't tell you how "above and beyond" she went in doing that; she's an amazing person. I'm so lucky to have her daughter, who is a sweetheart, in my troop and I'm so happy we are friends.) She stuck around for a bit to watch our girls while I went to the local Wal Mart to pick up some of the extra food items and perishables she wasn't able to get at the warehouse store. That gave me a bit of a break, too; as much as I love the camp I like to get away for a few minutes while I'm there. It's an introvert thing.
The girls were wonderful and very well behaved. They got along really well; they had a few disagreements (mainly trying to get The Middle Child to STOP telling scary stories) but they worked things out without too much intervention on my part. There were a few bouts of homesickness and one girl got spooked when we were walking through the woods to get to our cabin Saturday night. One girl got a case of the whines; she didn't like all of the walking but she did it!
And there is a LOT of walking to be done. The whole camp is set on a loop that's a little over 2 miles around. We were at one of the camp sites closer in to the main hall but it was still a good 15 to 20 minute walk we had to take before and after each meal. (No cars are allowed except one at each site specifically for medical emergencies.) There was also a long walk out to the sports field where we had our activities on Saturday and a walk back from that. Yep, it's a lot of walking at that camp! I'm a good walker though; I walk daily so that wasn't a problem for me at all.
What is a problem for me there is the sleeping. Oh, my aching back! They have these awful metal cots with saggy, broken springs and thin, flimsy mattresses to go on top of them. I've finally resorted to taking my own bed and bedding. Seriously- I purchased a camp cot at Outdoor World and I took it with me, along with an egg crate foam pad, an air pad, and a thick, fluffy sleeping bag. (Air mattresses are too soft and way too noisy; they don't help.) The first night I made the mistake of not using my cot. I was lucky enough (ha) to get a cot with a board so I thought that would be better. Stop the sagging and provide the firmness I need. Not so much. I didn't sleep at all and my back hurt badly all day Saturday. (OK, I never sleep my first night away from home, but the back thing on top of the tired thing was murder.) The second night I went ahead and set up my cot. I actually slept! Not very soundly, but I slept, and it was enough that my back was somewhat better in the morning. Enough to get me through the day's activities, anyway. I will NEVER try to sleep on the camp's cots again. I'm so happy I found a solution!!
Another factor with sleeping at camp is the NOISE. There were acorns or pine cones or something from the trees falling on the cabin all night long both nights. There's not too much to the roofs (rooves?) at camp so those little plinks sound like THUDS when you're trying to sleep. Then there's the noise from the other leaders. Turning over on the creaky cots, snoring, rustling, and even midnight phone calls about errant teenagers left home alone. (Seriously; I felt so badly for the leader dealing with that. She was on the phone for a long time trying to handle the situation from the camp.) It's not anyone's fault or anything that can be helped, and I certainly make my share of noise too, but it does make sleeping difficult. I came up with a solution for that, too; yeah! I've loaded up my MP3 player with ambient music, you know, babbling brook, rainfall, forest noises, that kind of thing, (mine happens to be womb sounds left over from when the kids were babies) and I turn that on, plug in the ear phones, and all the other sounds fade away. I can sleep to that kind of noise; it works like a charm. The only problem is it blocks out noises from the girls, too. I only used it for part of the night since I was worried I wouldn't be able to hear them if they needed me. I'll use it all night when I go up with other chaperones, though.
Being the only one with the girls was OK. The only time it was difficult was when we were packing up, and that was also because of my lack of experience. On the last morning at camp the troop has to pack up and complete Kapers, then we have to wait for an inspection before we can leave. Welllll, my troop was behind the eight ball from the get go. I didn't realize how long everything would take and that the other troops at our site would be delayed if we weren't ready and done with our packing and our Kaper. I let the girls sleep too late and didn't have them pack anything up before breakfast. I wasn't packed up before breakfast, either. When we got back it was a roller coaster rush to get everything done. The other leaders were gracious enough to step in and help me out, for which I will always be so thankful. They hurried my girls along and hauled stuff out to my car for me. One of the other troops even worked on the Kaper my troop was supposed to complete. They all pitched in and took up the slack; I feel so guilty for not carrying our weight. They laughed it off and said "no problem" when I apologized. True Girl Scout spirit, let me tell you. :)
Thursday, February 18, 2010
Camping
I'm taking the Brownies camping this weekend. That's 5 nine year old girls. By myself. (Well, it's a Camporee so there will be other troops there, and one mom from the troop and her daughter will be coming up for the day on Saturday, but still. Trying to generate some sympathy here; sheese.) The weather is forecast to be absolutely gorgeous during the day but we will be freezing our buns off at night; brrrrr. The theme, appropriately enough considering the cold, is "Survivor". I've got my new rated-to-30-degrees sleeping bag, flannel jammies, mittens, a heavy hooded sweat shirt, and various other items to keep me warm so I'm hoping I won't be too miserable.
OK, here's where the sympathy really comes in. The girls chose "The Pink Llamas" as their "tribe" name (part of the Survivor theme) so we're going to learn the Llama Llama Duck song on the way up in the car. They'll be singing it over and over and over and over and over...
Pity me!!!
OK, here's where the sympathy really comes in. The girls chose "The Pink Llamas" as their "tribe" name (part of the Survivor theme) so we're going to learn the Llama Llama Duck song on the way up in the car. They'll be singing it over and over and over and over and over...
Pity me!!!
Monday, March 23, 2009
Camping
I survived the weekend!!! I went camping with The Eldest and three other girls from her Girl Scout troop, along with roughly 70 other girls from various other troops, at the camp our local Girl Scout council owns a few hours away from here. It was actually a lot of fun except for the not sleeping thing. The weather was mostly GORGEOUS although for the last night it got down to a chilly 59 degrees in the wee hours; brrrrr. As I’ve mentioned in previous posts, it was a Camporee for older girls so they were all middle and high schoolers; that made things a lot easier on the leaders! They are so independent compared to the Brownies and elementary age girls. I didn’t have much to do other than just be there for them, with some minimal supervision. Here’s how minimal I got- the other leaders were all official and talking to their troops after our arrival, giving them the rules and going over the schedule and so forth, so I felt like, as the leader representative, I should be doing those things too. I called my four girls over and said “I’m supposed to be telling you things now, so what should I be saying?” As the veteran campers they are, they proceeded to outline the rules for me and came up with a few I wasn’t aware of! ;) As for the schedule, I got it at check in when we first arrived at the camp gate and they had already reviewed it thoroughly by the time we got to our site. I helped out with a few other things the “Chick in Charge” (as she refers to herself, which I get a kick out of) assigned me to over the course of the weekend. She had things so well planned that everything unfolded seamlessly. They completed an Interest Project Patch (IPP) called Uncovering the Evidence. They went canoeing and hung out by the camp pool and then had a big chunk of free time to hang out and enjoy being together. We all went to Founder's Hall for dinner Saturday night and entertained ourselves the way mankind has for millenia before electricity with skits and silliness. The Eldest wrote up the skit her troop presented based on a story one of the other girls has been telling for years about how the camp is haunted! I think it was the best skit of the night and it got a big applause. They exchanged the SWAPS they made before heading back to our site. After dark Saturday night they played “Manhunt” where the “its” were zombies, vampires, and werewolves to fit the “Horror” theme of the Camporee. I know you were wondering if there were s’mores, a campfire, and camp songs and of course there were. The Chick in Charge led us through several camp songs but my favorite was Boom Chicka Boom that went on for about a dozen different variations, including an operatic version that was hilarious and a valley girl version that just about stumped the song leader. (She pointed to various girls to choose the “style” for each verse.) The food was catered too so we didn’t have to cook, which was wonderful. (Wonderful in that we didn’t have the work of cooking; not so wonderful on the quality of the food. I’d say slightly better than school cafeteria level.) :-P
Top Photo: The fire pit where we actually used a grill since there was a fire ban due to the dry conditions. (We weren't allowed to have a fire on the ground.)
Bottom Photo: The cabin I stayed in
Personal Challenges
I had my personal challenges to overcome. ;) I knew there was spotty cell phone service at the camp (although the AT&T people had full coverage every where they went, but of course I have Sprint) but I still forgot to pack a travel clock or watch. (I use my cell as my time piece.) I had it on my list and looked at my travel clock several times as I was packing but it just never made it into the luggage. :-P We were late to breakfast the first day, of course, but that afternoon I was able to leave camp during free time to go to Wal Mart and pick up a new travel clock. I am delighted with it, too! It is super slim so it won’t add any bulk to my luggage and it even tells the temperature, which is how I knew it was 59 degrees out when we woke up! (Lousy reviews on Amazon, though.) I also bought a cheap watch for good measure. Then there was the sleeping issue. OK, I’m a light sleeper. I wasn’t always a light sleeper, it’s an age thing, which stinks big time, but there you go. I also have fibromyalgia so I need sleep in order to function without resorting to Lyrica or other prescription medications. The sleeping conditions at camp are less than ideal, however. The cot springs are noisy and sag something fierce, all of the leaders in the cabin (the adults slept separately from the girls) and even the girls make noise all through the night (potty runs, “Leader So and So, one of the girls is sick can you come help”, rolling over on the noisy springs, snoring, etc.), the VERY LOUD birds get going at the crack of dawn, and you never know for sure what the temperature will be. Oh and bugs. There are all sorts of them in the cabins, although thankfully mosquitoes weren’t a big problem since it was cool this weekend. I’ve been to this camp once before so I knew what to expect and I went prepared with a couple of options. The first night I tried an air mattress with a foam egg crate pad, a sleeping bag air mat, and a sleeping bag piled on top of the cot and cot mattress. That didn’t work; it didn’t help the sagging issue and both the cot and the air mattress squeaked LOUDLY every time I moved so I couldn’t get comfortable since I didn’t want the noise to keep the other leaders up all night. (Which I did anyway; one of the other leaders commented about the noisy air mattress in the morning- sorry!) The second night I ditched the cot and put two of the camp mattresses directly on the floor topped with the (now deflated but I was too lazy to take it off) air mattress, the foam pad, the sleeping bag air mat, and the sleeping bag. Ah; the winning combination. I was able to get comfortable and actually slept a couple of hours before the girls started coming in. One of the girls in another troop got sick and there was a lot of fetching of the first aid person (who was sleeping in the bed next to mine) and slamming of creaky cabin doors and so forth. (That whole troop wound up leaving early to get the girl home, poor kid.) One additional thing helped me get the little sleep I managed to sneak in- my MP3 player. I loaded it up with my Transitions II CD which is womb sounds combined with soothing music designed to help babies sleep better. We played it for all of our kids when they were infants so I know I can sleep to it. I put in my ear buds, cranked the volume, and most of the snores and squeaks and rustles faded into the background. I was a little sad that the crickets and forest sounds also faded into the background, but you can’t have it all.
I guess one of the things I enjoy about camping is the challenge of finding a way to maximize my creature comforts in a rustic setting, so since I was able to do that, and the girls had such a great time, I consider this camping experience a huge success!
Additional Thoughts
One other aspect of the trip was the chance to spend time with The Eldest and her friends. She’s 15 going on 16 so I’m very aware of the short time we have left with her. She’s on the brink of adulthood and moving on to live her own life so I treasure every second I can spend with her now. I was waffling about going/not going this weekend when I asked her if she would like me to go; she very firmly told me “YES”, which made up my mind. In going with her I passed up a Girl Scout activity with The Middle Child and a soccer game with The Youngest, but for all too long I’ve passed up activities with her because the younger two were just too young for me to leave them. As a former La Leche League mom I’ve always believed in nursing my babies and staying with them to bond so I wouldn’t go on any over night trips with The Eldest while they were little. Now they are older so I’m taking these opportunities to go and do and spend time with her as much as possible. Yes, I felt a fleeting sense of guilt for missing the tea party and the soccer game, but as one of the other leaders pointed out they are so young they won’t remember; The Eldest will remember this camping trip, though. So will I, and I’ll remember the extraordinary young woman she is, and the wonderful young women her friends are. It was my privilege and honor to chaperone them this weekend.
Top Photo: The fire pit where we actually used a grill since there was a fire ban due to the dry conditions. (We weren't allowed to have a fire on the ground.)
Bottom Photo: The cabin I stayed in
Personal Challenges
I had my personal challenges to overcome. ;) I knew there was spotty cell phone service at the camp (although the AT&T people had full coverage every where they went, but of course I have Sprint) but I still forgot to pack a travel clock or watch. (I use my cell as my time piece.) I had it on my list and looked at my travel clock several times as I was packing but it just never made it into the luggage. :-P We were late to breakfast the first day, of course, but that afternoon I was able to leave camp during free time to go to Wal Mart and pick up a new travel clock. I am delighted with it, too! It is super slim so it won’t add any bulk to my luggage and it even tells the temperature, which is how I knew it was 59 degrees out when we woke up! (Lousy reviews on Amazon, though.) I also bought a cheap watch for good measure. Then there was the sleeping issue. OK, I’m a light sleeper. I wasn’t always a light sleeper, it’s an age thing, which stinks big time, but there you go. I also have fibromyalgia so I need sleep in order to function without resorting to Lyrica or other prescription medications. The sleeping conditions at camp are less than ideal, however. The cot springs are noisy and sag something fierce, all of the leaders in the cabin (the adults slept separately from the girls) and even the girls make noise all through the night (potty runs, “Leader So and So, one of the girls is sick can you come help”, rolling over on the noisy springs, snoring, etc.), the VERY LOUD birds get going at the crack of dawn, and you never know for sure what the temperature will be. Oh and bugs. There are all sorts of them in the cabins, although thankfully mosquitoes weren’t a big problem since it was cool this weekend. I’ve been to this camp once before so I knew what to expect and I went prepared with a couple of options. The first night I tried an air mattress with a foam egg crate pad, a sleeping bag air mat, and a sleeping bag piled on top of the cot and cot mattress. That didn’t work; it didn’t help the sagging issue and both the cot and the air mattress squeaked LOUDLY every time I moved so I couldn’t get comfortable since I didn’t want the noise to keep the other leaders up all night. (Which I did anyway; one of the other leaders commented about the noisy air mattress in the morning- sorry!) The second night I ditched the cot and put two of the camp mattresses directly on the floor topped with the (now deflated but I was too lazy to take it off) air mattress, the foam pad, the sleeping bag air mat, and the sleeping bag. Ah; the winning combination. I was able to get comfortable and actually slept a couple of hours before the girls started coming in. One of the girls in another troop got sick and there was a lot of fetching of the first aid person (who was sleeping in the bed next to mine) and slamming of creaky cabin doors and so forth. (That whole troop wound up leaving early to get the girl home, poor kid.) One additional thing helped me get the little sleep I managed to sneak in- my MP3 player. I loaded it up with my Transitions II CD which is womb sounds combined with soothing music designed to help babies sleep better. We played it for all of our kids when they were infants so I know I can sleep to it. I put in my ear buds, cranked the volume, and most of the snores and squeaks and rustles faded into the background. I was a little sad that the crickets and forest sounds also faded into the background, but you can’t have it all.
I guess one of the things I enjoy about camping is the challenge of finding a way to maximize my creature comforts in a rustic setting, so since I was able to do that, and the girls had such a great time, I consider this camping experience a huge success!
Additional Thoughts
One other aspect of the trip was the chance to spend time with The Eldest and her friends. She’s 15 going on 16 so I’m very aware of the short time we have left with her. She’s on the brink of adulthood and moving on to live her own life so I treasure every second I can spend with her now. I was waffling about going/not going this weekend when I asked her if she would like me to go; she very firmly told me “YES”, which made up my mind. In going with her I passed up a Girl Scout activity with The Middle Child and a soccer game with The Youngest, but for all too long I’ve passed up activities with her because the younger two were just too young for me to leave them. As a former La Leche League mom I’ve always believed in nursing my babies and staying with them to bond so I wouldn’t go on any over night trips with The Eldest while they were little. Now they are older so I’m taking these opportunities to go and do and spend time with her as much as possible. Yes, I felt a fleeting sense of guilt for missing the tea party and the soccer game, but as one of the other leaders pointed out they are so young they won’t remember; The Eldest will remember this camping trip, though. So will I, and I’ll remember the extraordinary young woman she is, and the wonderful young women her friends are. It was my privilege and honor to chaperone them this weekend.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)