Raymond, New Hampshire

Growing up, I was lucky enough to go on father-son campouts with my dad. Those were some really fun weekends. Usually, my father was someone involved in organizing or leading these events. That meant that - at an early age - I learned to serve breakfast to lots of people, really early on Saturday mornings. With my oldest son, I didn't have the opportunity to do much camping. By the time he was old enough for these campouts, my visitation schedule didn't always match-up with the annual event. That's something I regret. I decided to try a bit better with my youngest son.

Last Friday, I had just returned home from a week in Austin, TX. I didn't write an entry, as I think people are tired of reading my blog entries about Austin. I decided that I wasn't going to turn-around and head out camping, particularly with a 3-year-old. However, a couple of hours before the event, I learned that a good friend was taking his 3-year-old. I didn't know if my little G-Man even knew what camping was. To my surprise, he was ecstatic. He asked if we were going camping in "the desert". We told him that we were going camping in "the forest" and he started running around the house yelling about "camping in the desert!"

We pulled the gear together quickly - fortunately, it was only for one night. However, if you've been camping, you know that the amount of gear for one night is the same as five nights...which means that you're bringing what looks like the very meaning of the word "overkill". We packed up the car and found that the only missing ingredient was a working tent. I know, I know - an essential piece of any camping experience. We had a tent, but it wasn't in good shape. I've been wanting a new one anyway...and this was all the excuse I needed.

We headed north to Raymond, New Hampshire - about 2 hours north of our home. With one quick stop at a camping supply store in Manchester, NH...we were set! Because of Friday evening traffic, we didn't arrive at the campsite until late. However, there was plenty of light to set-up camp. The only problem that I ran into, was a 3 year-old that wanted to know everything that I was doing...and wanted to show me everything that other people were doing ; ) I managed to get the tent set-up...but didn't realize how big it was going to be. It extended well past the wood platform that we used for a base.

G-Man and his BFF W.

G-Man absolutely loved the fact that he could stand-up inside the tent and that he had his very own Lightning McQueen sleeping bag. I'll tell you that this particular sleeping bag will NOT make it on the next outdoor camping trip...it just didn't keep him warm at night.

That evening, we went down to an amphitheater that sat right on beautiful Onway Lake.

Not a great photo...but it was a great sunset...

We held a campfire meeting that included some inspiring messages about our relationship with our Heavenly Father, and what he expects out of each of us.

That night was a little rough. I tried to put G-Man to bed a decent hour. However, the camp was filled with boys. My wife has developed a theory about the behavior of boys. The fundamental idea is that boys share a single brain. The more boys that you add to a group, the more that particular brain is shared...and stretched thin. That explains how young men act, when around other boys. At our camp, they were running and screaming until late at night. In addition, the father felt the need to socialize until past 11pm. Because the walls of a tent are pretty thin - you could hear all of this. That made it difficult for G-Man to sleep. Eventually, he feel asleep.

Morning came early, as it usually does when camping. We had a wonderful breakfast of pancakes and eggs. Since G-Man loves pancakes, and I can't eat them, we traded food and everyone was happy:

Buddies at Breakfast

We immediately broke camp, as all the campers were part of a service project to get the camp ready for summer sessions. Here's G-Man's reaction to my taking down the tent:

While the men (and older boys) removed outdated wood platforms, G-Man and his best friend were giving each other "presents" of leaves and tree branches:

Overall, we had a wonderful time. I was able to visit with some of the other men from our Church, which is always fun. It really motivated me to take my wife and son camping more often. I suppose I need to take advantage of the time when G-Man is still excited about camping. I know, soon enough, that a teen-age G-Man will say "I don't want to go camping, Dad...that's lame" I know it's coming ; )