the campfire is permanently out

Last year Sam and I met my sister, her husband, and their 2 children for a camping trip at Lake Chelan. As children we spent many weekends camping and I loved it as long as I never went more than 1 day without a shower. In my teens my other request was also for electricity since I needed to use a curling iron for my 80's hair.

Mom & Dad had a camper but I enjoyed sleeping in the tent by myself. When they sent out my sister to sleep with me I convinced her bears were sniffing around so she would frantically go back to the camper and I could have the tent all to myself, though that only worked for a few years before she figured it out.

We hadn't gone tent camping for a few years but I was still excited and thought it would be a great adventure. I had somehow deleted our past camping experience from my brain out of self preservation.

A few years ago we went to Sun Lakes to go camping over Labor Day weekend. We had a great time on the boats during the day tubing and playing. Our first indication of any problems should have been the bees and the increasing winds at the campsite but we ignored the signs. Around midnight the wind started howling and the only thing keeping our tent on the ground was our body weight. Fine sand was coming into the tent and giving us an unrequested exfoliation. I was wondering how much Tanya would sell her camper for, even if I just used it for one night it would have been worth the cost. Little did I know that the camper was shaking wildly on the truck bed and Tanya was wishing she was on the ground in a tent.

Around 2 in the morning Sam realized he better check on the boats since they were tied up on the shore. Unfortunately he can't see much without his contacts so I am not sure how he even got down to the lake or what he thought he would do if the boats were suddenly loose. I wasn't in any mood to volunteer my services. Morning didn't come soon enough. Needless to stay we skipped out on our reservation for the next 2 nights and headed for the comforts of home.

Lake Chelan wasn't anywhere the disaster Sun Lakes was but it did put an end to my camping. Waking up the next morning I could barely get out of bed - wow did I feel stiff. Turns out sleeping on a 1" mattress isn't quite the same as my pillow top mattress at home. Showering in the restrooms became more of a circus act while I tried to clean up without touching anything. Then the rain started. 2 kids in a camper with mud and rain equal a huge mess so we opted to try and find a big enough tree to sit under so we could remain partially dry. Towards the end of day two I wondered why I was paying for this experience when we could have just brought up the boat for the day and then driven back to Wenatchee for a night in a house with clean restrooms, a comfy bed, and no bugs.

My days of camping were over. Time to admit I prefer my creature comforts and just venture out to the parks and forests for the day before I head home or find a hotel with room service.