From what I am able to recall from my childhood, the closest experience I ever had to camping was a trip to Sequoia National Park at the age of 8. We slept in the family van, fully equipped with air-conditioning, a refrigerator, a bed, and even a TV. The campgrounds had showers, an olympic-size pool, and an arcade. By most definitions, this excursion was more luxurious than it was real camping. In fact, the only discomfort that I may have experienced was missing Saturday morning cartoons because my dad and uncles were watching sports in the van.
Fast forward twenty-something years, and I finally slept in a tent for the first time. Outside. No running water or electricity, except for the restrooms. Believe it.
A group of my friends decided to spruce up our usual lake trip by adding camping to the schedule. Clearly this is not an option I would have suggested, and I must admit I was a bit apprehensive at the thought of having to sleep outdoors during the height of summer. I did listen to the optimist in me that always says, "You'll never know whether you like it or don't like it until you actually try it." It's sound advice, so how can I ever ignore it?
There were a few downsides to this new camping experience that did not escape me:
Fast forward twenty-something years, and I finally slept in a tent for the first time. Outside. No running water or electricity, except for the restrooms. Believe it.
A group of my friends decided to spruce up our usual lake trip by adding camping to the schedule. Clearly this is not an option I would have suggested, and I must admit I was a bit apprehensive at the thought of having to sleep outdoors during the height of summer. I did listen to the optimist in me that always says, "You'll never know whether you like it or don't like it until you actually try it." It's sound advice, so how can I ever ignore it?
There were a few downsides to this new camping experience that did not escape me:
- For a person who showers twice a day, not being able to shower for more than 36 hours was certainly bothersome. I attempted to substitute for it by bringing 2 gallons of water to simulate a bath of sorts. It sucked.
- No make-up. There is no catwalk at the lake, nor is there a need to get dolled up. My fashion philosophy says otherwise.
- Summer in the desert means high temperatures all season. Trying to sleep in 80 plus degrees is not comfortable.
- Bugs. I hate them, and they are everywhere near the lake. Fortunately, none of them bit me.
- Being drunk in the heat intensifies inebriation. Being highly inebriated impairs judgment. Case in point: After using the restroom, I found myself in a bit of a quandary. The lock on the restroom stall was stuck and my efforts to pull the door open failed. Refusing to have to climb up and over the jammed door, I decided instead to crawl out from the opening under the door. I scraped my knees and scratched my camera. Later I found out that the door was not stuck - I pulled and pulled when in fact I should have pushed the door open. D'oh!
Needless to say, those were all very minor things that did not deter me from having a great time. Many people close to me - including my own mother - had zero faith that I could tolerate one night in nature. Well, I certainly proved my skeptics wrong. In fact, I am looking forward to the next time when we camp an entire weekend. Next time, however, I'm bringing lip gloss.
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