Camping recap

[loira]

For cactuscookie and anyone else who was interested in hearing about our first camping trip with a toddler.

TL:DR It was good overall but I'm pooped.

We didn't get off to the greatest start. We missed the ferry by about 4 cars, so had to drive the long way around the bay. I was hoping A would sleep the whole time in the car, but no such luck. She woke up about an hour into the 2.5 hour drive, but did okay the rest of the way. I made H sit in the back and entertain her while I got the front (and some sweet tunes) all to myself.

We got to the campsite and managed to set up the tent without too much trouble - we popped her in her Deuter kid carrier with the kickstand for when we needed both of us to hoist the poles. Once everything was all set up, we let her play in the tent for a bit, but it was already really hot, so we left and went to dinner at a pub nearby. When we got back, we attempted to put her to sleep. LOfuckingL. She was wired.

We naively thought we could just plunk her down in her bed like we do at home. Nope, she started screaming. We were going to let her CIO, but 30 minutes later she was still really upset, so we gave in and got her up. We took her for a sunset walk in the carrier. She stayed awake. We tried lying down with her on our sleeping bags. She wanted to play. Finally, at 11pm I had the bright idea to put her in the car and drive around - she was out in 10 seconds and H successfully transferred her to the PNP.

We had an amazing time at the beach and even went on a hike the next day. Went for dinner at my aunt's house (she lives near the provincial park where we camped), and used the car trick to our advantage the 2nd night. Slept much better, and got an early start home the next morning.

Camping prep, and even the trip itself was a lot of work, but A had a ton of fun and can't stop talking about it. I had really low expectations for activities, and even minimized work for myself with going out to eat a couple of times (we specifically chose a park that was closer to "civilization" for this purpose). But I wish I had lowered my expectations for bedtimes/naptimes. She's such a good sleeper at home, and when we've travelled to/from Texas, that I just didn't think it would be a problem. Oh well, I know for next time. We will definitely go again, but not anytime soon because I'm exhausted.

[thoseareradishes]

Glad you had a good time! Get some rest now

[cactuscookie]

I'm so glad you posted, because I was going to ask for details. It looks like she had a great time, based on the pictures on instagram.

Oh geez, baby awake at 11pm. And if it were me and DH, we'd have had plans during the expected baby-free time - plans to sit around and drink beer and read our books, but still, plans. At least the car thing worked out both nights. Going out to dinner is a great idea to make things easier.

You're totally making me want to try it, even though it was so much work!

[loira]

cactuscookie, exactly! H and I had planned to have grownup time, reading our books, maybe chatting a bit. But no, there is no grownup time when camping with a toddler. At least not with our toddler. It might have been different if we'd had something like a trailer or a camper, with actual walls and tiny room for her, but we had a tent. And the tent was SO EXCITING!

But it was super fun, and we made lots of lovely memories - especially important for H when he has to return down south in a couple of weeks. I will say, maybe don't go when it's so hot. It was 31C both days and the tent turned into an oven, and our campsite had minimal shade (my fault for not booking earlier and getting one of the better ones). So we also had to find things to do to keep cool and out of the sun, which is how we ended up on a hike through an old-growth forest.

[cactuscookie]

I am all too familiar with the tent-as-oven situation! That's exactly why we haven't gone camping much since moving to the desert. You're totally making me want to go, but the fall is the best time here, and this fall is going to be crazy busy. I'm sure H will love it next year too, but I would have loved to see what she thought now.

[loira]

Aug 10, 2017 12:09:42 GMT -5 cactuscookie said:

I am all too familiar with the tent-as-oven situation! That's exactly why we haven't gone camping much since moving to the desert. You're totally making me want to go, but the fall is the best time here, and this fall is going to be crazy busy. I'm sure H will love it next year too, but I would have loved to see what she thought now.

June is a nice month here... come up for June next year!

[CrazyLucky]

Tent as oven is what finally made us buy a pop-up. DH and I tent camped for 15 years. When DD was 2, it was hot, the tent was hotter, and so she wouldn't nap. Then she was up til 2am screaming. We were popular at the campground that weekend, for sure! That was the last time we tent camped.
Being NC, having the pop-up is great, because we can really camp all year long (I realize that this doesn't count as camping for some people, and that's ok.)
I'm glad you guys have fun. My kids are 5 and 7 now and love camping. The 7 year old is actually helpful in setting up and the 5 year old is at least not a hindrance anymore. And they can hike a bit. DD went four miles without being carried last time! It gets better!

[awick14]

We camp in a trailer, so much easier then tenting it. And it's even easier right now with DD.

I love that it's not so hot in there, not that the coolness helped DD nap this weekend but it was still nice lol.

[loira]

Aug 10, 2017 15:14:33 GMT -5 CrazyLucky said:

Tent as oven is what finally made us buy a pop-up. DH and I tent camped for 15 years. When DD was 2, it was hot, the tent was hotter, and so she wouldn't nap. Then she was up til 2am screaming. We were popular at the campground that weekend, for sure! That was the last time we tent camped.
Being NC, having the pop-up is great, because we can really camp all year long (I realize that this doesn't count as camping for some people, and that's ok.)
I'm glad you guys have fun. My kids are 5 and 7 now and love camping. The 7 year old is actually helpful in setting up and the 5 year old is at least not a hindrance anymore. And they can hike a bit. DD went four miles without being carried last time! It gets better!

Is a pop-up like a tent trailer? I'm no outdoorsy snob, so as far as I'm concerned, if you spend lots of time outdoors and have to share a bathroom, it's camping.

[CrazyLucky]

Aug 10, 2017 22:56:35 GMT -5 loira said:

Aug 10, 2017 15:14:33 GMT -5 CrazyLucky said:

Tent as oven is what finally made us buy a pop-up. DH and I tent camped for 15 years. When DD was 2, it was hot, the tent was hotter, and so she wouldn't nap. Then she was up til 2am screaming. We were popular at the campground that weekend, for sure! That was the last time we tent camped.
Being NC, having the pop-up is great, because we can really camp all year long (I realize that this doesn't count as camping for some people, and that's ok.)
I'm glad you guys have fun. My kids are 5 and 7 now and love camping. The 7 year old is actually helpful in setting up and the 5 year old is at least not a hindrance anymore. And they can hike a bit. DD went four miles without being carried last time! It gets better!

Is a pop-up like a tent trailer? I'm no outdoorsy snob, so as far as I'm concerned, if you spend lots of time outdoors and have to share a bathroom, it's camping.

Yes.  It's a tent trailer.  When it's closed up, it's about 5 feet tall and maybe 14 feet long?  And then when it opens it's probably closer to 10 feet tall and 22 feet long.
Some people think it's only real camping if you carry everything you need on your back and dig a little pit to poop in.  I have my limits!  They involve running water and flush toilets.

[mpc]

I'm in Florida so I will only camp Nov through early April. Usually every year my friends plan a trip for the last weekend of October and I whine that they are making me break my rules but I go anyway. I'm ok if it's somewhat hot during the day, but I can't sleep in a hot tent at night. That's the worst. A lot of the state parks around here are at beaches or by springs, so even if it's hot during the day we are cooling off in the water. Oh, and even though we are in a tent with no AC, we do plus in a fan so that helps cool it off a little too.

[awick14]

CrazyLucky- I agree with loira, being outdoors and using an outhouse/shared bathroom is camping.

[dellabear]

Sounds like fun! I hear you on the exhaustion. We just got back from 4 nights in a prov park near Nelson BC. It was a really great trip but yes, lots of work. We also have a pop up camper but for opposite reasons as others - around here it's just way too cold at night to be in a tent, even in the middle of the summer. Wah. But in Nelson it was just great, very smoky from the fires though. We mostly hung out at the beach and did a couple of nature walks, the park had a spawning channel for salmon in it and they were just starting to show up to spawn, it was so cool. Wish we could have stayed longer!

[loira]

dellabear, I love Nelson! Glad you had fun! Not quite the same area, but I remember camping in K-country as a kid, and yes, the tents were quite chilly at night. God help you if you attempted May long weekend - more often than not there was snow.

[awick14]

dellabear- your not from BC are you?

[dellabear]

Aug 14, 2017 0:34:07 GMT -5 awick14 said:

dellabear - your not from BC are you?

Nope, central Alberta. The camping around here is pretty pathetic though, unless you want to freeze at night and don't care about swimming (glacial lakes are nice to look at, at least.)

[awick14]

Aug 14, 2017 0:42:31 GMT -5 dellabear said:

Aug 14, 2017 0:34:07 GMT -5 awick14 said:

dellabear - your not from BC are you?

Nope, central Alberta. The camping around here is pretty pathetic though, unless you want to freeze at night and don't care about swimming (glacial lakes are nice to look at, at least.)

I feel like I knew that. Lol

[loira]

dellabear, if you're looking for camping a little closer to home than Nelson, you should check out Redstreak or Dry Gulch, both in the Columbia Valley near Radium/Invermere. I've been to both campgrounds and liked them both. Neither are on the water, but if you're car camping, you can just drive a quick 5-10 minutes to the lake.

[dellabear]

loira we have camped at the national park there and it was alright. Friends of ours love Nelson so we gave it a try and would go back - but it is pretty far so not a weekend trip. We used to go to Shuswap every year for a longer trip and it's nice too but the water is pretty cold.