Adventures in Camping

It’s been awhile since I talked about camping. Hubby and I bought a pop-up camper about four years ago as an anniversary gift to ourselves. We’d gotten tired of tenting it, and after a grueling nearly 100-degree week up north, we decided that things needed to change.

We’ve camped every year since, and it’s been amazing.

We usually go at least once a month through summer and we usually go for one big one-week trip at some point. We got back from one such trip yesterday.

It was a new campground to me, Sleeper State Park in Caseville, Michigan, about 2-3 hours away from where we live. Hubby had been there previously. It’s a beautiful place. One funny thing is that there was the Cheeseburger Festival going on that weekend, and guess what? The entire campground had filled up fast. Everyone had flamingos on their sites, and pictures of cheeseburgers and drinks. I guess this was a thing. So we ended up snagging the very last open site, which was very far from the bathroom. Regretfully.

I know this sounds utterly ridiculous, but I have issues. So sometimes I need to get to the bathroom quickly. So hubby always tries to get us close. Doesn’t need to be steps away…but it’s helpful if it’s not a hike and a half. Last year, we had the same situation. The map on the website made it look like our site was next to the bathroom, but lo and behold, when we got there we discovered that it was way down the road. It was quite the hike.

Anyway, we decided, okay, we’ll just drive to the bathroom when we needed to answer nature’s call. No problem…except hubby likes to go fishing and takes the SUV. Now, the in-laws had given us a porta-potty type thing called the “Luggable Loo” and we thought it was cool and all, but were kinda…nervous about using it. I don’t even know why. So we hadn’t even used it yet…until this trip.

Saved my butt a few times, especially in the morning when I woke up and my bladder was ready to burst and hubby was fishing. Yep, it finally had its inaugural use. And it wasn’t bad. A bit awkward, but okay.

We did actually end up walking to the bathroom a few times, and it wasn’t as far as we’d thought. A lot of the sites were cleared out (the festival was over by then) so we could cut across instead of going all the way around the loop and then down the road. Still…my feet were killing me after that.

A funny story. Usually, hubby and I have pancakes for breakfast at least once a trip. We ended up leaving early due to rain (packing up in pouring rain is so not fun, we’ve learned), so hubby suggested breakfast sandwiches for our last breakfast. But dammit, I was craving pancakes. I even offered to get up early to make them. Anyway, here I was, pouring batter and flipping pancakes when something occurred to me.

I look at hubby. “Hey…did we even pack syrup?”

Hubby’s eyes widen. “Oh, <bleep>.”

I look down at my pancakes and imagine them without syrup. Not a pleasant thought. “Can you run to the store and get some?”

Hubby smiles. “Yeah, okay.”

So he goes, and is back before I’m even done making the pancakes. I’m not sure if it was because we almost didn’t have syrup, but damn, did they taste good!

Now, that was literally the only thing we forgot. So, not bad at all.

Fun fact: I’ve been using a modified to-do list (first handwritten, then on the Trello app)for years to make sure I didn’t forget anything. And I haven’t, except last year when I forgot one of my pills. Luckily, it wasn’t one that would cause any adverse effects if not taken for a few days. Still, it was scary and a bit concerning, as I am SO careful about bringing meds.

One year I think hubby forgot his shampoo. Another year it was bread. We’ve had our moments.

We’ve decided to go back to Sleeper next year, except not when the Cheeseburger Festival is going on. I don’t think I will be able to get the cheeseburger pictures and flamingos out of my head ever.