Camping is a memory I will have a hard time erasing. The wet. The damp. The bathrooms. The shower! My goodness how could I forget not showering. The floor of the shower was extremely cruddy. No way was I stepping on that floor!
My two daughters went to a couple of GS camps. I agreed to chaperone as both girls were too young to spend the night away from home alone. Both had gone on sleepovers, but camping is outdoors. Wild animals! Bears! Crazy people! (Photo taken at Great Wolf Lodge — Williamsburg. My kind of camping is staying in a Great Wolf Lodge room with a built in cabin!)
Once at the camp site, the reality set in of what I had agreed to do. On one trip I left the tent flap open letting bugs in. My tent mates were not pleased. Another year I packed only one pair of shoes each for my daughter and myself. You guessed it…we both got our shoes wet. Another year it was the Great Cicada Epidemic. I had to sweep the dead, crackly bodies of cicadas off the pad before we could pitch the tent. Creepy!
Wondering what to bring on a G.S. camping trip? Here’s what I remember packing:
- tent
- sleeping bag
- mattress pad
- shoes for walking to the bathroom at night
- flashlight
- clothes for warm weather x number of days
- clothes for colder weather x number of days
- sweat shirt
- raincoat
- some troops like girls to have a camping plate and cup
- some troops want parents to bring food, paper goods, plastic bags for sharing
- two pairs of shoes — sneakers and boots
Writing this list is reminding why I dislike camping. Indoorsy person. Hotel room here I come!
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