After many years of camping experience, I will now offer my very own,
% accurate without an ounce of science, May Long-Weekend in the Lower Mainland weather report:Friday afternoon: cloudy skies, warm enough to be muggy, and a skiff of rain as you load your gear. Warm enough to make you regret not buying an extra bag of ice before you leave, so you’ll pay twice as much for it at the campground. By then, the weather has chilled off enough that you really don’t need it after all. Move on to...
Friday evening, “The Journey”: hurry up and pack. Hurry up and get the kids & the dog in the car. Let kids out one last time to use the bathroom before you leave, and run the dog down the block, too. Hurry up and get back in the car. Hurry onto the feeder routes to Hwy 1. Hurry up.... and sit in traffic. Enjoy the light rain, falling almost heavy enough for the wipers. Or not. Yes, then no. Will it ever be...
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| A lone RV on the highway, and other fun fiction. |
Friday night: arrive at campground. Set up tent in the dark. Set up camp stove in the dark, while children beg for food that isn’t ready yet. Send children to play on wet playground while you cook in the dark. Call children for dinner. Send them back to the playground to pick up their wet jackets that they left behind. No one wants their dinner; everyone begs for toasted marshmallows over a campfire. Wood is wet. Rain stops, mosquitoes come out. Kids gorge on marshmallows. Get ready for bed. Now kids want the dinner they didn’t eat. Tough; the camp kitchen is closed! Go to bed. Wake up on...
Saturday / Sunday / Monday morning: everybody has a different opinion on whether or not the weather is pleasant. Sunny but too hot.... cloudy and we’re cold... the wind is blowing the camp smoke into my eyes.... and the kids complain, too. It will then be clear and sunny and perfectly warm, until...
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| Everyone is happy... for at least 10 minutes. Yay!! |
Monday afternoon, “The Pack-Up”: cue the rain. Pack the wet tent, and all the wet gear. Track wet, muddy footprints into the car (kids’ and dog’s). Leave the campground in the rain. Get onto Hwy 1 and wonder why everyone drives 125 km/h in bumper-to-bumper traffic on the wet highway. Now, the final leg of your journey...
Monday evening: as you face West on the highway, approaching the city, the rain clears up at last! Now you can drive the rest of the way home with the sun in your eyes, too low for the visor to be of any help at all. Get home and unload all the wet gear in the dark.
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| Happy campers in the rain. Happy, happy, happy. |
Tuesday & Wednesday: not a cloud in the sky, a perfect 22 degrees Celsius, and you can see it all from your office. Oh joy.
Enjoy your camping this long-weekend, if that’s your thing.
~ 30 ~
