As part of our Idaho vacation this past summer, my parents planned a 2-night camping trip at Horsethief Reservoir, about 2 hours north of Boise. Now, my dad has always been an outdoorsman. He was an Eagle Scout, spent years as a Scout Master and has been backpacking and camping all over the country…HE LOVES IT. It is his happy place. Growing up, my dad preferred the hard-core version of camping - backpack in 10 miles, set up camp and eat what you catch sort of thing. Thankfully, this camping trip was more of the park-your-car-and-pitch-your-tent setup. Way better, given the fact that my parents are a little older…and I'm way less willing to work that hard just to spend time in nature.
All said – it was fine. For the kids...it will likely be a fond memory of when they went camping with grandma and grandpa. For me, it permeated a level of finality around ever sleeping in a tent again. I am done. Unless, of course, the apocalypse forces us to forego
our modern conveniences and live off the land (a possibility that seems all too real at this point). Otherwise, I'm firm on that one. Don't get me wrong, it wasn't all bad…we shared some good times, but let's be real…tent camping is hard. While I love the outdoors, I can love it just as much in a cozy cabin with indoor plumbing, a warm bed, and a kitchen.
So because I'm a list person, I decided to create a list of pros and cons that recaps our Idaho family camping adventure.
PROS | CONS |
Sitting around the campfire - so therapeutic. | Struggling for an hour to help my parents pitch their tent only to discover it was broken; I drove into town and bought them a new one. |
Kids fishing. | HUGE skunk lurking around our campsite the entire time we were there. |
Playing cards. | Walking in the cold dark of night to go pee while anticipating the very real possibility of "bumping" into said skunk. |
Looking at the dome of endless stars at night – magical. | Having to do “my business” in a poorly circulated permanent port-a-potty that smelled like death. |
Day trip to McCall where we enjoyed lunch at a Mexican restaurant overlooking a beautiful lake and a stop at the famous Ice Cream Alley afterwards. | Having to figure out how to cook all our food over the open fire because the camp stove we brought was also broken. |
Too hot during the day for hiking. | |
Freezing at night because the temp dipped down into the 40s and our sleeping bags weren’t made for it; drove into town again and bought new ones. |
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