They say you should expect the unexpected

This past week, we took the kids down to Moab. We wanted to watch a friend of ours in a motorcycle race (dirt bike) and I thought it would be fun to make a camping trip out of it.
We had booked two nights in a hotel, one night before and one night after the race. We left early to get in some camping in, then I figured we could be spoiled by showers and real beds.

Here’s my background story…

Mr. Smith and I actually met on a camping trip. I thought it was good for a number of reasons, but I knew that if someone could be somewhat attracted to me when I was dirty, stinky, and smelly… it could only get better from there, right?
I have always been a big fan of the outdoors… I’m kind of a “go with the flow” person (or I used to be) and I liked things simple and fun. Camping was always great, I could just grab a few things… toothbrush/paste, extra tee shirt, extra pair of socks, and a sleeping bag… I could sleep anywhere! As I got more experienced, and as I got some more money, I invested in things like a small tent, a foam bed roll, a pack, and a skillet.
When I met Mr. Smith, I thought I was a pro… or at least somewhat knowledgeable.

Mr. Smith and I went camping every couple of weeks during the summer we met. We would just pick up and go. We cooked food over the fire, or just opened cans of Spaghetti O’s and called it good. Even the first year we were married, we didn’t stop camping.

The second summer we had together, I was pregnant, but we still frequented Arches, Canyonlands, Goblin Valley, etc.

After Smarty was born, we attempted a camping trip which was nothing short of a complete disaster! It was too hot for a baby during the day, she hated the hiking backpack, she needed two or three naps, and I was so worried she was going to fry in the sun. It got too cold at night, the wind blew so hard and loud the baby didn’t sleep, and the zipper on the tent broke. Needless to say… we spent most of the trip in the car! I found myself speaking words I never thought I’d say, “I will NEVER go camping with a baby EVER AGAIN!”

…so there’s the background.

We have gone on a few trips with the Go-Getter’s (my sister’s family), but I have not enjoyed camping like I used to. I have always had a baby over the past 9 years, at least up until the past couple. Somewhere along the line, camping has gotten much more complicated, and we need a TON of crap now!

A stove, dishes, flashlights AND a lantern, backpacks, first aid kits, extra water, a HUGE tent, bug spray, sunscreen, mass amounts of hand sanitizer, and actually planning meals and things to do… all of which I never thought of before I was a Mom! Not to mention…6 sleeping bags, 6 pillows, 6 pads or mattresses, 6 backpacks… where are you supposed to put all of it? We need a semi-truck to take all of our things with us!

So, getting to the point…
We get there, late of course, so the camping place we had wanted to stay at was full. (Which was even worse when the ranger said it “wasn’t full less than an hour ago”) We found another, more expensive campground.
The kids hadn’t eaten, so I thought we would be smart, and set-up all the food stuff and make dinner first. We still had at least an hour or two of full daylight to worry about setting up everything else.
As we were eating, a big gust of wind blew some stuff off of the table… I turned around to see black clouds coming towards us. Not just coming… but coming at a remarkable speed.
I yell “We HAVE to set up the tent if it’s going to rain!” So Mr. Smith and I leave all the food, grab the tarp, lay it out, grab the tent, lay it out. As we are unfolding the tent… it starts to sprinkle. At this point, I think we will be fine, the tent is easy to set up, and it’s just sprinkling! Within 60 seconds it starts raining so hard it felt like God was pouring buckets of water from the sky! I was soaked through every layer of clothing I had on… down to the skin. There was water in a constant drip off my chin!
As the tent is going up, everything was going wrong. Wrong clips, wrong pegs, the dirt was too soft to pound in the stakes. Now it was getting too WET to get the stakes in.
As it finally goes up, I remember that the rain guard has to be on for the top to be closed, otherwise it is just open… there are no zippers or windows, it HAS to have the cover on. We try to put it on… we can’t pull it all the way over. We try to clip it in… we use the wrong clips. We finally clip it… it’s backwards. We have to start over.
Everything was so wet at this point, the tent material was not easy to work with! Sometime around this point I realize the kids are still at the table, wet, shivering, with no place to go. As Mr. Smith puts them in the truck, he notices the air mattresses (and many of the other things in the back of his truck) are completely soaked!
We get the tent up and jump inside. I look around and see seven pools of standing water, and the rest of the tent just wet… totally wet.
When the rain let up a bit, we ran to the truck. We sat in the truck watching all our things getting rained on. Whatever part of our dinner was left… ruined. The pots and pans… filled with water. Even the roll of paper towels, useless.

By the time the rain stopped, it was almost dark. After going back and forth… more forth… we decide to pack it up and head into Moab. We just packed it up and checked into the first hotel we saw.
We had microwave s’mores, hot chocolate, and told stories with our flashlights.

Sassy Pants story…
“ONCE… there was me!”
“THEN… there was a go-stess” (ghost)
“and it GOT ME!”
“and I die-ded” (died)
She just gets right to the point… why mess with all the details, right?

So the rest of the weekend was fine, I was ornery, but that’s nothing new these days. The next day we hiked, and all the kids did so well. We did a one mile primitive trail loop, then we took them up to Delicate Arch. It’s a harder hike, three miles round-trip. I was especially proud of our Fruitcake. She was brave, and endured it all to the point of blisters on her feet. She didn’t complain or ask to be carried once! When I saw her limping I asked what the matter was, she said her feet hurt, but she said it like it was no big deal. She was such a trooper!
I told her how proud I was, she now says that hiking is “her talent!”

I guess I was disappointed in my own failure. I felt as if I gave up, it was easier to just take the easy road and not deal with all the obstacles. We could have had a great experience… granted a wet, cold and possibly miserable experience… but something unforgettable. It’s not like it would have killed us! I think that being outside your ’comfort zone’ is when you learn the most about yourself… and others. We could have bonded, and I still think we did. It was an unexpected situation, and the kids were warm and happy!

I feel like we need to try it again… like it didn’t count or something. This time I am ready. I will expect the unexpected...whatever that's supposed to mean. Anyone who knows me, knows I will take a challenge, so BRING IT ON!!!