Do It Differently Personal Training

When you’re going on a road trip which includes many nights of tent camping, and you have Type A tendencies, you do a practice run. It started in our living room when the 6-person tent arrived in the mail. It fit in the living room and the kids wanted to sleep in it that night! Until they didn’t. They were uncomfortable and freaked out by the noises (not a good sign!) and ended up back in their beds. Uh oh.

Three things triggered the idea for this adventure. Our regular summer trip to Canada involved driving or flying home for two to three week in late July into early August. We would spend some time in Toronto and Whitby, and then spend a week on Cordova Lake for rest and relaxation and re-connection with the motherland. We’ve been so fortunate to rent a waterfront cottage (that used to belong to my aunt and uncle) from a wonderful woman named June, who has owned the cottage for years. She rarely rents it out anymore, but was always willing to hold a week for us in July. It’s been a great trip and one where we’ve built a lot of fun memories. This summer June is planning major renovations and the cottage isn’t available.
The second thing that helped us consider a different summer plan is a family wedding in Seattle. Ben’s younger cousin in getting married! We remember how special it was to have guests join us, particularly those who had a long trip, and we thought it would be great to be there for the big day. This seemed like the perfect time to juggle our summer plans and turn them into an epic adventure!
The third trigger is the current age and stage of the cubs. They can pack their own bags, help with setting up camp, are pre-hormonal, and generally like spending time with us. (only one passenger on this trip is high risk for crazy hormonal mood-swings 😉

We’ll drive to South Dakota to see Mt. Rushmore, camp in Yellowstone National Park, and eventually make it to Issaquah, WA. After the wedding, we are continuing North, taking the CoHo Ferry to cross into Victoria, and we’ll travel and camp through British Columbia, Alberta, Saskatchewan, and Manitoba. I’ve never been to any of the western provinces and am so excited for this experience! Once we hit Winnipeg, we’ll start heading back South through Minnesota, and Nebraska, and back to PV. We were considering a continued trip through Ontario and around the Great Lakes, but even I know that might be exceeding everyone’s limit in the car and in the tent.

The last time we camped as a fam, Hudson was a baby, and it was not hard-core camping. We pitched a tent on our cousin’s cottage “backyard” and had all of the needed amenities and electricity nearby…so not real camping. This time, we are car camping (still no interior camping…baby steps!) and booking sites without electricity. We found a weekend in May to practice our mad-camping skills, made a few adjustments to our original plans, and started a list of missing bits. We got this!
Perhaps our biggest observation was how “public” camping can be. You are really sharing space with strangers, in a different way than a hotel stay (no continental breakfast). We heard the people across from us, starting their F450 pick-up truck several times in the night, to drive to the bathroom! Yes, that’s right…drive…to the bathroom.
The kids didn’t notice the adult oddities, or the public atmosphere, and had a great time. They loved it! We can put up our blinders and get ready to meet new nightly neighbours for the incredible cost of accommodation. At approx. $30 a night for camp sites, we can see a lot more of this continent and take in the great outdoors. We’ll see what the KOA has to offer. I suspect there will be some teachable moments thrown into this trip.

Now, to see how we fair during thunderstorms and inevitable rain. That should be another interesting experience!!