I had a wonderful time camping. I want to go camping again. Just as soon as my horrible bug bites have calmed down – those little suckers ate me alive.
As it turns out, it’s entirely possible to go camping with friends while following Whole30 guidelines. The only thing I really missed was being able to drink alcohol, but even that wasn’t too terrible. And it may have been helped by the fact that a bunch of people there had their own dietary quirks (most of the families were gluten-free. Technically I am, too, on this plan, but I don’t eat products like gluten-free bread or hamburger buns which half the campers loved and the other half teased about.) I brought way too many supplies and way too much food; next time I’ll bring MAYBE 30% of that. I brought with me:
- 8 packages of Aidell’s sausages (4 chicken and apple, 4 artichoke and garlic.) This was excessive; I’d anticipated feeding everyone. We ate a couple but I brought most of this home.
- 18 eggs (this was just stupid. EVERYONE brought eggs. I should have brought only enough for myself for 3 days, which would have been 6-9.)
- Coffee (not stupid at all)
- Macadamia nuts
- A package of really good (but too $$$) Medjool dates. These can be “roasted” over the fire like marshmallows, but really all that does is warm them up. It’s good and all, but kind of unnecessary. I’m fine just eating the dates out of the package, or stuffing them with nuts like I did on this trip. I *should* have wrapped them in bacon before roasting.
- Bacon
- A pineapple, in the hopes of grilling it (We didn’t, and it’s now in my fridge)
- 3 apples
- 3 bananas
- 3 pears (all the single-serving fruit was eaten; that is a GREAT thing to bring camping, especially for a grazer like me)
- 2 gallons of drinking water, frozen/thawed (Not enough. Next time bringing at least a gallon for each day, plus one for good luck)
- 2 bottles of Tejava
- 2 liters of coconut water, frozen/ thawed (excellent, although it took a long time to thaw out. And next time will only freeze half-full containers of water and coconut water – the expanding liquid really busted up the containers and caused leaks!)
- 6 sweet potatoes (we didn’t end up using)
- 2 bags baby red potatoes (used 1 – really good)
- 2 yellow onions (used 1)
- 2 green peppers (used 1)
- 6 avocados (too many!) plus limes and red onion to make guac (delicious but too labor-intensive – will make at home next time)
- Condiments and prep things (salt, pepper, tabasco, steak seasoning, etc)
All this plus my little camping kit (plates and flatware, 2-burner stove, etc) took up a lot of room and were mostly unnecessary since two of the guys on the trip basically created these amazing dishes for each meal. BUT, I proved to myself there are plenty of awesome foods to eat in the woods, and I retrained myself on things like setting up and breaking down my own tent, using my little propane stove (handed down from my mom – that thing is awesome!), all sorts of things.
I didn’t get sunburned but I did get really badly bug-bitten, and on my face, too. Lovely, eh? Haha.
But oh man…you guys should see this place. We were in the middle of the redwoods in Richardson Grove State Park, and the scenery was just to die for. The air smelled amazing. And even though it got a little too warm for my tastes during the day, at night it was nice and cool without being too chilly.
We swam in an actual swimming hole. Surrounded by these majestic redwood trees, deep enough to dive into, nice cool water with breezes to cool you off. That was one of my favorite things about the whole trip. And even though I was *disgusting* when I got home, and that first shower was glorious, it was a little melancholy to wash the river out of my hair!
We also wandered up to the Avenue of the Giants, which I hadn’t visited since childhood. I don’t even know how to describe it – for folks who haven’t visited redwood forests, just think of The Lord of the Rings. There’s something almost magical about these ancient trees.
On the actual 4th of July, our group packed up and drove to the Benbow Inn, where we set up a picnic area on their massive lawn and watched the fireworks. I’ve never, ever seen fireworks so close. It was outstanding.
While I didn’t know everyone in this camping group, I liked the dynamic and thought everyone there was cool and fun. I tend to be more social when I’m around people I know, so I stuck pretty close to my friends, but it was nice to meet new people and go on outdoor adventures. It meant a lot to me to be included in this trip.
Some things I will do differently on my next camping trip:
- BRING LESS STUFF. It is great to be prepared, but next time I will bring only the essentials (and not forget my damn headlamp!) and leave non-essentials, or foods I don’t think I’ll eat, at home.
- Find a way to effectively clean my tent. I inherited this 20-year-old Coleman dome tent from my mom, and I *love* it. It’s nice and big, easy to set up and tear down, and really durable, but it’s showing its age with lots of dirt. I sweep out the floors before breaking it down, but I wonder if the ripstop itself can be like…laundered or washed? I will research this.
- Take more time to just sit and relax and do nothing. I love hiking and swimming (hell, I wish we could have done *more* on this trip) but a friend of mine took it really easy this time and stayed mostly around the fire relaxing and recharging his batteries, and I thought that was really smart of him. That brings me to my next thing:
- Carve out a longer trip. I think we all agreed we could have done with at least one more day of camping. I was only there from Friday through Sunday (the others drove up on Thursday) and it was really fun, but also really busy and labor-intensive. Another day where we could have had nothing planned, just hung around and chatted or gone swimming or something, without having to worry about tearing down and packing up, would have been great.
- Bring my own car. On this trip, Panda drove me the long distance to the campsite and hung out for a bit, then he headed home in my car (he prefers not to camp). I have 2 terrific friends who were kind enough to give me a lift back to the Bay Area, but I felt bad for adding to their load (again, I brought way too much stuff) and adding responsibility and pressure to their drive home. I owe them a huge debt of gratitude - those guys are amazing. In addition to being where my stuff will go, having my own car will also give me more flexibility on arrival and departure. Which brings me to:
- Leave earlier in the day. Oh man – that traffic was ridiculous on the drive home! I’m really thankful I rode with friends, so I had someone fun to chat with me and keep me sane. Driving up crazy-early with Panda on the first day was the best thing we could have done. 4 hours, NO traffic.
- Smear bug repellent all over myself on top of my super-strong SPF. Either that, or find a way to make my blood somehow poisonous to the pests in the woods, so if they bite me they die a horrible painful fiery bug death as punishment.
It had been way too long since I’d been camping. I don’t want to wait so long before the next time. Alas, I’ll be performing during Shrewsbury Faire again so I can’t work the Faire/ camp in King’s Valley this year, and Labor Day coincides with another performance weekend, so it may be a couple of months. But I’ll figure something out.
Anyone who’d like to camp with me (and enjoy some healthy treats!), let me know.
Tomorrow’s the last day of Whole50, and I’m crossing my fingers so hard my knuckles might crack.
Weigh-in, and a flight to San Diego (with free drink coupons!) is Wednesday morning.
Remember to breathe. I have to remember to breathe.
I only wish the air in my office were as nice as the air in the woods.
No comments:
Post a Comment