Camping

We're going camping.  I love to camp.  I hate to camp.

When everything is going right, camping is one of the purest forms of enjoyment that there is.  Two years ago we went camping over Memorial Day weekend.  Just about everything went perfect.  The weather was great.  Cook Forest State Park was beautiful.  We all caught some trout and cooked it up.  We met some camping neighbors who were a lot of fun and who have kids the same ages as ours.  It was the absolute best camping experience that we have had as a family.

The previous camping trip was almost the complete opposite.  We arrived at the camp grounds in Tionesta on Friday night.  We unpacked the truck and set up the tent.  Then it started to rain.  It rained non-stop until Sunday morning... just in time to take down the tent and pack up to head home.  The showers and restrooms were absolutely disgusting.  The only saving grace for that trip was that we spent most of the day Saturday at Tammie's aunt and uncle's house in town.  Their whole family was home for the holiday so we had some great company.

The time before that, we went to Coopers Rock State Park with some friends.  The first day there was pretty nice... until the niece of our friends (who was on the trip) was discovered to have lice.  The second day there was a decent day until it started to rain that night.  It rained so hard that night that our tent sprang a leak and we (and our stuff) were getting wet.  One of our kids was very young at this point and she cried all night long.  We woke up early on Sunday and packed up in the rain and headed home soaked and wet.  This was the absolute worst experience that we've had as a family (camping or not).

So what will this trip be like?  It almost depends on the hour that you check the weather.  One report says sunny and hot (near 90) all weekend.  One says 20 - 30% chance of rain all weekend, but sunny otherwise.  One predicts scattered thunderstorms over the weekend.  And one even predicts 40 - 60% chance of rain every day of the weekend.  So what will we get?

One thing, those friends that we met 2 years ago will be there this weekend and we'll be camping next to them again.  We have cots this year' my back will be very happy.  I have a shade canopy that is large enough to cover our tent, so if it rains we should be able to stay dry.  I have packed my huge tarp, which I now always bring to hang between trees over the tent in case it rains hard.  So we should be comfortable if it rains.  I'm just hoping that it doesn't.

I love to camp.  I'm just not sure that camping loves me.