We took the kids camping last weekend, our first with the kids. I have limited camping experience. I've slept in a tent in a campground a handful of times and although I did complete a 4-day canoe trip (for credit) in university, it was hardly a great experience. For starters, we didn't get to decide what food to bring so a lot of groups had a raw beef roast in their food barrel for four days. It didn't look good by the end. I also had severe road rash on my right hip having fallen down a large hill while rollerblading two days before we left on the trip. Not my best moment. All this to say, I was charmed by the idea of camping with our kids, but I wasn't sure how much they - or I, would enjoy it.
Turns out, I do like it. Even with black fly season upon us and sleeping in a 3-man tent with five of us. The kids LOVED it. Wow. And the weather - we couldn't have asked for better weather. I went swimming. Like, under the water without getting a headache. Growing up near Lake Superior means that swimming before July is not for the faint-of-heart. It is cold - and it stays cold. It's just that the outside temperature gets hot enough that you stop caring how cold the water is. But not here in Ottawa. The Rideau River was perfect, if not a little weedy.
Now we're just trying to figure out where and when we can go next. And we'll have to buy some equipment of our own. Our friends were kind enough to lend us what we needed for our trial run - but I need to return it to encourage them to get out camping too!
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