Camping Aficionado

Yep, that's me: camping aficionado. Maybe that's stretching the term aficionado a bit, but it is kind of true.

It hasn't always been true. The people who know me best would never describe me that way. My sister's husband, before he officially became part of the family, used to call us - and not without a little disdain - City Slickers. I took it as a compliment (although I'm pretty sure my sister didn't).

A few years ago, when I got asked to be the Young Women's camp director I panicked because I had only made it through one week of girl's camp as a youth, and never went back. I thought there must have been some mistake and that they clearly did not know who they were asking to head this up. How could I direct a camp of 19 young girls? Plan for the tents, the food, the activities to be done in the wilderness? It seemed like an overwhelming task. But it turned out to be really fun, especially with the advice of a great Young Women's President and a helpful assistant.



The following year Chris and I went with the youth on a four day high-adventure camp in Wyoming. It pushed me way beyond my level of comfort. It was like Survivor or Fear Factor, but without any cash prizes. We had to do a ropes course, a very steep and difficult mountain bike ride, river rafting and a super long (and beautiful) hike in the Tetons. Except for the hike I'd never harbored a remote desire to do any of the rest of that stuff. But again, I came home feeling happy that I'd been there and experienced it.

Yes, Chris had the pleasure of joining me at that camp

Later that year, again with the youth, we camped at Goblin Valley. It was November and it was freezing (at night)! I never would have thought camping in November was a wise thing to do, but it was great.

By the way, here are a few tips for camping in 30 degree weather:

• Sleep with a hat on


• Use two sleeping bags (one inside the other)


• Plan on not changing your clothes (you'll be way too cold)


• Make hot chocolate by placing a gallon of chocolate milk in a pot of boiling water until the milk is nice and warmed through.
  
  
  Last year, I got to go to Youth Conference, again in Wyoming (it was one of my very first blog posts). This time, the whole experience of sleeping in tents, hanging tarps and preparing food in pouring rain, along with all the activities we managed to pull off turned out to feel extremely rewarding.
  

So all of this recent camping activity has resulted in a change of heart. I'm quite happily anticipating our upcoming camping trip. We'll be on water, so that will be nice, but it still requires a lot of gear and thinking ahead. The difference is, now I feel like I can and will manage. I've come to terms with not showering for days on end. (It makes the first shower upon returning oh so sweet.) And camping food can be very good. And being completely out of your element for a few days usually results in new and refreshed perspectives. How is that so bad?