The Backyard Campout
Just for fun, I put up the tent last week. My original idea was to occupy the girls so I could get a few things done around the yard. Within 2 minutes of entering the tent, they launched into making plans for tonight's awesome campout . It snowballed from there. All I could think of was being uncomfortable, cramped together with my girls in sweaty sleeping bags, getting no sleep. What's wrong with me? As a teenager, I voluntarily, HAPPILY went with my dad on wilderness camping trips in the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness of Minnesota/Canada. We would load all our stuff into canoes, then head out for a week straight of wilderness living. We paddled across entire lakes, and between lakes we could choose to heft packs that weighed 50 lbs. or more over rough terrain or carry canoes on our heads. We did this over and over again until we reached our campsite. Sometimes we base-camped for the week, but one year I begged my dad ...