Charles and I made it back from our camp outing. We left late Friday (much later than I wanted but other things, like a visit from Josie and getting Corwin ready) took up more time than I had anticipated. Nevertheless, we made it there in time to get set up before it nightfall. We went to a little introduction performance around 8:30 and then headed back to the tents for some sleep. Charles was very excited (“it’s so exciting to be sleeping in a tent!”) but he did manage to get to sleep eventually. I read for a bit then crashed out, but woke up at 3AM with the “not full enough to be worth leaving the tent but too full to get back to sleep easily” bladder level. I then realized that Charles hadn’t gone to the bathroom since before we left home, so fearfully checked his sleeping bag for damp. After uselessly fretting for a bit, I decided to just endure what must be. But Charles slept through the night and in to the morning without any containment failure.
On Saturday we had breakfast then did some of the provided activities. It was unstructured and Charles checked with me multiple times to be sure there wasn’t any specific activity we had to do at a specific time. Charles enjoyed some archery, BB guns, building a bird house, and a nature hike. We had lunch but none of the afternoon activities were of interest to Charles (not even the pedal carts and the Slip & Slide). It rained a bit so Charles and I hung out in a shelter with some gold-fish snacks Mom had packed for us. The late afternoon and early evening was given over to ravining. On the way back from the shelter I took Charles on a long cut of a trail which went down the ravine next to the campsite, after which we assaulted the slope and made it back to camp. When Charles told the other kids of this, they all had to try it out. They soon discovered a second navigable slope from the ravine on another side of the campsite. This entertained them for literally hours. Charles looked interesting afterward because he was running around enough to sweat and then crawling over dusty ground, acquiring these lovely lacelike patterns of dirt all over his limbs.
The other main excitement was the fire. The kids insisted on one pretty much all day, finding it endless fascinating. I am glad none of them managed to set anything outside the fire ring on fire.
There was an evening swim (8-9) which Charles didn’t want to go to but the other kids persuaded him to give it a try. I had sympathy for Charles’ antipathy because it was a cool evening and the water was even colder. But Charles plunged in anyway. He tried the swim test, which is four pool lengths (about 100 meters total) but could only complete one length. It may have been because of all the earlier ravining but I think he needs more swim practice. At least it got some of the dirt off him. When he first declined to swim, I got out some wet wipes and wiped him down, turning the wipes nearly solid brown. Charles thought that was great. The combination of that and the pool left him not filthy that evening.
The only downside to last night’s tent was that Charles found a bug in the tent with us. A bug. That’s how low key the insect population was during the outing. The weather was great, except for the spot of rain. The nights were deliciously cool. So Charles had a very good time. Next time, I expect he’ll discover some of the not so pleasant possibilities of camping. But that will be then.
You haven’t Raven-ed till you’ve gone up Razor Back. You should try it. At night. Blindfolded. During the Rain. In the winter. So the rain is really ice.
