Camping

It's in tents

I was recently involved in a four-family planning meeting for our upcoming camping trip. We are headed to the north coast of California for three nights of tent camping tomorrow, so if you need me next week, I’ll be at the hospital in traction from three nights of sleeping on the ground.

Planning meetings for camping trips as adults with families are a tad different than the “planning” meetings we had for our guys camping trips when I was in my late teens/twenties.

“Is the back of the pickup truck completely filled with beer and beef jerky?”

“Yes, except for the jerky.”

“Whatever. We can get some gas station sandwiches on the way.”

“Did anyone bring a tent?”

“No.”

“Whatever, we probably won’t need one.”

I’m proud(?) to announce that not much changed between the male generations. The boys don’t pack as much beer as we used to, but I have watched my young-adult sons go off to camp in places like the Sierra Nevadas and the Grand Tetons with nothing more than a sleeping bag and a jar of peanut butter.

What has certainly changed for the better – at a very minimum, gastrointestinally – for me and my adult male counterparts is that we are all married now. Our wives just don’t seem to think that living for three days on Coors Light and Slim Jims is acceptable, and it’s honestly a hard position to defend. They just have too many good points.

Now that we’re married, if the guys had been in charge of our recent planning meeting, it would have probably gone something like this:

“OK, so everyone should just bring tents and food and stuff for their own families. Cool?”

“Sweet. Turn the game on.”

The ladies had a slightly more communal approach to the meals, which involved a whole lot more talking and writing things down. To their credit, we will certainly eat better, and we’ll avoid the meal jealousy and finger pointing that would inevitably arise when my sons were eating their third dinner in a row of canned chili while they watched their friends eat chorizo burritos, tri-tip, and lasagna.

The ladies paired up the families for tag-teaming what will certainly be delicious breakfasts and dinners, which is going to be great, but I’m pretty sure it’s also why I just spent $450 on groceries for a three-day trip. If we’d stuck with my canned chili plan, we’d be $425 richer.

Still, no complaints. Civilized family tent camping is better all around with the exception of the sleeping on the ground part, which didn’t used to bother me at all but now involves a full-size Costco bottle of Advil. Oh, well.

Since the ladies had all the food and cooking logistics handled, us guys were left to plan what we have always planned best. Not much has really changed except the price of the drinks.

“OK, you and I are on beer, you’re on bourbon, and you’re on cigars. Who has a camping coffee pot?”

“I do.”

“OK, great. We all bring firewood. Cool?”

“Sweet. Turn the game on.”

Happy camping, everyone.

See you soon,

-Smidge

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