Last weekend I took Sam on his first camping trip. Technically, I guess, we took him camping at 2 weeks old when we slept out in a tent at the pig party. BUT, it was in the lawn of John and Kim’s house and we retreated inside to a cool air conditioned house during the heat of the day, so, I dunno if that really counts. But last weekend definitely does. Sadly, Ben did not join us as he had a limo, buddies, and naked women to attend to. Some people’s priories, sheesh! 😉
Anyway, I knew he wasn’t coming and that this would be my first time camping with a baby, and that it would be rustic and that it would be in the desert. I knew all these things but decided I could do it anyway! And I did, mostly. I didn’t realize how hard it is to do EVERYTHING while holding a baby. Luckally Sam is pretty content in the Ergo so he spent a lot of time strapped to my back. But it’s still hard to set up a tent (alone) and pump up an air mattress with a 23 pound baby on your back.
It was also hard because it was my first time camping with this group of friends. I love them dearly and ended up having a great time, but it took me a while to get into the flow of how they do things. See, when I go camping I like to leave early enough to get there before dark, check out the site, set up tents, etc. We got there at 10pm, after some dinner and wine tasting at Friendly market, a stop to pick up more people, and a couple baby breakdown stops along the way (one was Sam.)
Probably the biggest blunder of the trip was setting up my tent away from main camp. I wouldn’t have done it except it was suggested that the next night main camp would move to down by the river. I didn’t want to have to set up camp twice so I opted to hike down with all my gear and set my tent up down below.
The place was beautiful. It was near Sisters, surrounded by sage and yarrow in bloom, with a beautiful red rock formation just overhead and a freezing clear stream below. The fire was blazing and after setting up the tent we sat around, drank margaritas, ate some delicious chicken that someone cooked, and had some good conversation. Sam was happy as a clam, despite it being waaay past his bedtime. He liked the fire, the drumming and just being outside. With just the two of us on the cushy air mattress and a down comforter to keep us warm we slept as snug as two bugs in a rug.
The next day brought some sprinkles and thunder storms. By mid-day I was getting tired. I’m not used to spending that much time in constant contact with the Sam. At home he crawls around on his own a lot, and I usually get at least an hour off when the papa comes home. Most of the group got to take a trip into an alternate reality, and it was hard because I wanted to join but knew I couldn’t. It took everything I had to keep things flowing as it was. But on the up side I got to have some great conversation with the other non-trippers and spent quite a while playing games and talking with a very mature and imaginative nine year old girl. Still, I felt isolated down away from main camp and by the end of the day it was clear they weren’t really going to come down and join me. I decided to go home.
So, I packed up all my gear that I had just worked hard to put out. During this process one beautiful lady who I went with offered to take Sam for a bit while I packed. Ahhh… a little break. Still, working hard, but, sooo much easier without a fussy little one in tow. I packed up, took several trips back to the car and even tied down the bubble on the roof. Ready to go. So tired. At that moment I stopped to take a breath. The girls were still passing around the Sam and he was content as can be to be held by whoever. Just having that hour or so off from him gave me a new breath of life and suddenly I wanted to stay. But I oh soo so didn’t want to set up my tent again.
Then, the tribe kicked in. “I’ll go get you the extra tent already set up.” “I’ll watch Sam for a while longer.” “What else can we do?” “We want you to stay!” And so I did. I got out my air mattress and blankets and left everything else in the car. I set up the little extra tent right close to the fire where I could cook, chat, play guitar and still be in earshot of the little guy if he was sleeping. By sunset he was ready for bed and after a little milk he went out like a dead thing. I ate a wonderful dinner of buffalo burgers, salad and fire baked potatoes, none of which I had to prepare. We sat around the fire drinking, talking, playing guitar, singing and drumming. I was happy as a clam.
Later that night I got the most amazing massage. It almost cured my headache that had been bugging me all day. I probably wasn’t drinking enough water. Then we decided to build a man and burn him. Searching for body parts in the dark was great fun. He was beautiful, with arms stretched overhead and even some pine cones for balls. Before the burn I started to get sleepy and so I brushed by teeth, changed into jammies and went pee. Then the man burned and we drummed and danced and the flames leaped high into the air. Welcome Summertime!! Sam woke up as the man burned lower and it was the perfect moment for me to jump into bed with him. We snugged up close and he went right back to sleep. Those final moments before I drifted off myself were so perfectly wonderful. I felt loved and understood by my friends, had my sweet baby right by my side, the smell of sage and earth around me, and the sounds of drumming and chanting from the fire. Sam slept the rest of the night without a peep.
I was glad I stayed. I am glad I went. It is hard to camp with a little one without a parter. Had Ben come with me, I think I would have had a perfectly wonderful time. Still, as hard as it was it was still great. I can smell the sage I collected drying behind me and it brings back fond memories. I can’t wait for the next camping trip!!
I’m so jealous. I wish I had gone camping for the solstice, but it’s been hard to get away. My dissertation prospectus is due this week, and I have research work to get done, and I don’t want to do anything except stomp through the woods.
We’re coming to Oregon though! We’ll be out the last two weeks of July, and can’t wait to see you guys!
-J