This week we had our first stint of camping for the year. Camping is one of our favourite family activities each summer so it’s especially nice that it’s one of the activities both allowed and encouraged during our current global situation.
(To be completely honest, this was technically our second camping experience of 2020 as last week we camped out in our backyard. We like to do this in order to troubleshoot for the summer ahead. Our at-home camp-out was a disaster. The girls did not settle down, I lost my patience, and two raccoons got into a fight on our lawn.)
While camping has always been on the summer to-do list, we are still working out all the places we want to camp. We decided to start off closer to home and decided to head out the next day to Klein Lake, located in Egmont, which is about an hour’s drive from our home. This meant we were car camping so weight and space weren’t the issue they are when we kayak camp. We’ve camped once before at Klein Lake, in 2017. (Please keep in mind that I was approximately 8 months pregnant at that time.)
Having camped there before we had our eye on a particular campsite and were fortunate to snag the one we wanted. The forecast called for rain and we were camping mid-week but even so the camp caretaker told us it’s been consistently full.
Knowing that rain was coming, we came prepared. Tarps and rain gear and extra clothes were packed. Rain while camping is often a huge bummer but we found that expecting the rain (and being prepared for it) made it not so bad at all.
Our campsite was close to the shared dock (though we mostly had it to ourselves) and the girls loved spending time on it, dipping their feet and hands in, watching the minnows swim around. In the evening we even had a wonderful close encounter with a painted turtle that swam right up to the surface by the dock.
We brought our kayak with us and had two lovely paddles – one the first afternoon and one the next morning. In the end, the rain didn’t start until after dinner and even then it was light so we made a fire and enjoyed our evening. While camping, we let the girls stay up late and all go to bed together. When we finally crawled into our sleeping bags, I read a chapter aloud from The Silver Chair as we listened to the rain fall steadily.
The rain increased over night and was still falling in the morning. However, there was something lovely and soothing about walking about to the steady drip on the tent, the sound of a loon call not far off on the lake.
It rained most of the next morning but we did fine under our tarp with the girls in their rain gear. Peter and I went for a swim in the lake but the girls chose not to join in! We made it home in time for lunch and are looking forward to many more camping adventures this summer!
Karissa Reads Books 
Justin Beaver camping. My heart, be still! Last night, this crash of thunder so loud that it woke my husband and me both straight out of sleep, was not the kind of rain I would want while camping! But I agree with you that the steady drip of rain on a tent is lovely.
It’s pretty unusual for us to get thunderstorms in our region but we did experience one while camping last summer. I remember laying awake counting to see how far away it was from us and feeling nervous as it got closer.
The soothing nature of the rain was definitely made better by the fact that Peter was the one who got up and made coffee in the rain and then brought it to me in the tent!
Hahaha, good Peter 😀
It looks like you all had a good start to camping season, despite the issues with the backyard trial run (that’s a brilliant idea, btw)! It’s too bad the weather was so wet, but a peaceful rain does sound rather nice to listen to. I hope your camping excursions through the summer will just get better and better! 🙂
Thank you! We’ve been doing the trail run in the backyard for a couple of years now and it always pays off. Our lesson this year was that Rose needs to be beside me when she sleeps!
Aw, that sounds sweet! 🙂