Perpetual Ruminations

Camping 2023, First Outing

As I mentioned in my previous post, this was our first camping trip of the season, the first with Max, my Husky, and with Bellah, my wife's Australian Shepard. It was also our first time camping without any children since we started the adoption process back in 2018.

As I think I mentioned in the previous post, my wife and I have been camping together since 2002 first with my Golden Retriever, Klarissa, and in time we added her Golden Retriever, Hyko. After they passed, we had Hannah, a Labradinger. But now I'm wandering off into other tales and adventures.

We had planned on leaving early Friday, June 23, and returning home on Tuesday, June 27. But, with the mess with the kids, we had to postpone leaving early and do a Zoom court hearing on Friday at 11:00 a.m. before we could head out. We were meeting up with another couple we try and camp with at least once each year, but with the delay, they arrived much earlier. Even so, the results of the hearing were to our desired outcome and we still arrived at the campsite by late afternoon.

It didn't take very long to set the camper up (it's a pop-up with one slide-out) but it did take a bit longer to get everything situated since we didn't have time to fully organize before we left. Quite a lot of our stuff was packed into the back of the vehicle and needed to be hauled in after we arrived. This was largely the result of rainy weather and not wanting to open the camper in the wet weather, and some because we were reorganizing for our two dogs and no kids.

But, again, I digress. We arrived, set up enough to get through the first night, and joined our friends around the fire they already had going. They took to the dogs right away, and Max and Bellah also took to them after a few minutes. They had slept most of the drive, about four hours, so they were loaded with energy and rearing to run and burn it off. Luckily, we had rented two camping sites for our use, since originally our younger daughter would be along with a couple of her friends.

The plan was, she would bring a friend, which soon became two, and ended up with three. Since we still have our big cabin tent, we planned on bringing that, a portable cookstove, and all the gear these kids would need to camp out in the site next to ours. Instead, it was now a place for the dogs to run and frolic, as well as our site, and our friends. The park was pretty busy over the weekend, so it also provided us with more room and a bit more privacy.

We did get rain, but it arrived after we were in bed Friday night. It boomed, flashed, and rained, but nothing bad. Well, except for the fact that Max and Bellah had never heard thunder. Bellah was the first up on the bed, Max jumped up shortly after. But, the bunks are very roomy and we had plenty of room despite a couple of extras in them. Max, being a Husky, soon got too warm and made himself comfortable on the couch, while Bellah snuggled up next to me.

Normally I wouldn't be concerned with her on the bed, but we had removed the foam padding from the camper mattress and replaced it with two twin air mattresses, and anytime she moved, I braced for the devastating sound of air leaking out as the bed goes flat. As I said, we had camped with dogs ever since 2002 and had plenty of punctured air mattresses. But, the heavy material of the camper mattress cover was enough to keep even her sharp claws from doing damage. Also, I had the foresight of this catastrophe and had left the second foam mattress on the back bunk, just in case we needed it.

Saturday we did some hiking, but since it was hot, I didn't go far with Max. We drove over to the disc golf range while the other's walked, and played a round. We don't play for score but just for fun, and nobody else was over there, so we let the dogs run free. Although we anticipated them chasing and hauling off the discs, they didn't. Max chased the first few throws but didn't bother the discs at all, and soon tired of this and went on exploring the area.

Bellah, on the other hand, let her shepherding take over and chased down every disc but didn't really mess with them. She did pick them up once in a while if they landed in taller grass or brush, but she would only move them out onto the mowed area. Mostly, she just chased them down and sat by them until the next disc was thrown.

Saturday evening was again spent relaxing around a fire, eating food cooked outside, and enjoying the coolness of the evening.  The days were pretty hot, but the nights cooled significantly and by the time we retired it was actually chilly. Chilly enough we contemplated starting the furnace. We also had some rain move in during the night, but no thunder or lightning. Actually, it rained during the night each night we were there, but only once did we get any rain during the day, on Sunday for about an hour.

We didn't do any kayaking, since we have never had Max or Bellah out in them yet, and we didn't do a lot of hiking like we normally do. Instead, we spent most of the time relaxing and visiting, and just enjoying the peace and quiet. Most of the other campers left Sunday, and by afternoon there were only a few other campers in the park. We relaxed and enjoyed watching the two dogs play and explore since we seldom had them on their leashes (only while hiking). They minded well and we just didn't need them.

We also thought about various ways to organize the camper better, made a few notes, and then packed up early Tuesday afternoon and began our drive home. Since there wasn't any hurry, we took the scenic route home and didn't get back until almost 9:00 p.m., unpacked just what needed to be taken out, and relaxed for a bit while the dogs checked out the backyard.

Rhonda had to return to work Wednesday, so we didn't get started with any of the alterations and reorganization of the camper until Saturday. We spent the day getting things set up to be more user-friendly and enjoyed watching Max and Bellah follow us into the camper ready to go out for another adventure.  We now have everything set up, so all we need to do is pack up a few clothes, food, and hit the road.

Oh, I didn't even mention where we went; we camped at Oakwood Lakes State Park in South Dakota. It's one of our favorite parks and one we have camped at a few times many years back with all of our previous dogs. In fact, it's where Hannah went after a skunk, but that's another story for another time.