I survived - and actually had a blast! Camping was successful on all fronts. The drive was smooth without too much complaining from the peanut gallery in the back seat, the tent went up without a glitch, the camp fire was perfect for roasting hot dogs and marshmallows, my food planning was precise, the weather was stellar and most important of all - we had FUN!
But now that I am a 'seasoned' camper (shhh, I can hear your satirical laughter from here!) I think next time I want to step it up a notch, find a great car rental deal (or find some car rental discounts and rent an SUV) and get a trailer. There were tons of fancy-shmancy RV's, camper vans and trailers parked throughout the camp site. And man, were these guys living it up.
Let me back track a bit - my family was literally traveling with the bare essentials - 1 tent, no pots or pans, paper plates/ plastic utensils (forgive me - terrible for the environment, I know) and one measly flashlight. We traveled so sparsely that we even forgot a knife (which we had to buy en route to the site), can opener (which makes opening our canned tuna kind of difficult) and mugs. It's sort of hard to boil water in a plastic cup on the fire for coffee in the morning.
So, next time we are ready to rock! Not only will we remember all of the items listed above, but we will also go in style. I literally found myself drooling as I passed the families who were luxuriating under a large canopy extending out from their camper, sitting on super comfortable-looking camping chairs while sipping evening cocktails. And I am sure they had stellar night sleeps in their cushioned beds closed in from the noise of the camp site.
Sure - going old school and tenting it is fun, but having a full-scale camper = MORE FUN!
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