On Thursday, we were invited to visit or join my daughter’s friend’s family on their camping trip by the river. We were going to pack for camping in case we decided to stay, and then I decided it would be silly to pack everything and not stay, so we made a decision to camp.
We packed up for one night in a matter of about an hour, then we said Goodbye to my husband and son and hit the road!
On our way to join them, I took a different route and drove up through Ryder Lake, past the Elk Mountain Trailhead, and down Bench Road FSR. We found them set up right on the river, not far from Chilliwack Lake Road.
It was a beautiful spot and the sound of the river drowned out the passing trucks and cars, except for the occasional loud logging truck.
We had our own little spot just down from our friends, so I set up our tent and a little kitchen for our overnight adventure.
We could see the river from our tent and the sounds and views were gorgeous!
In the morning, we listened to the sounds of the river and snuggled in bed for awhile, until my daughter actually fell back asleep – that never happens!
I got up and started preparing my morning camping coffee, fighting with the propane adapter on my very well-loved(AKA old) Stove for at least 10 minutes… I finally got it hooked up, trying to be quiet as I was the only one awake. When it finally started percolating I had to do a little happy dance! I love my coffee, okay….
I took my coffee down and sat at the river for awhile, until the kids started waking up.
Serenity, tranquillity and coffee… it doesn’t get much better than that.
Our friends brought their bows and arrows as well as their target, so my daughter and I got some lessons!
My daughter was very proud to hit the target 4/5 times her first try!! She also thought it was hilarious that I didn’t hit it once… I came close though!
Overall, this was a simple, fun, one night adventure. As my daughter and I cuddled on the air mattress falling asleep, I thanked her for adventuring and camping with me. She shrugged and said she “figured it would be good to get out of the house, plus girl time is always fun!” We agreed to keep ‘Girl Camping’ as the years go by, even when she’s a grown up.
Camping with kids is great, because outside of the house, there is a different dynamic. There are so many great conversations and memories made, it is always worth it in the end.
We had the kids do an all around clean up in the morning and I told them I had a special prize for whoever collected the most trash! After the kids ran away excitedly to collect garbage, the other adults asked what my prize was. I shrugged and said “I guess they can choose between a hug and a high five….” We had a good laugh and the kids weren’t even upset when they found out (for the most part). The kids played games, I brought glow sticks and they played in the tent and made up their own games after dark. Essentially, they had a lot of fun together!
One plus side of a two-person trip is a lot less packing, plus a lot less laundry when we got home!
This short trip was a great reminder to embrace these last minute opportunities. In a little over an hour, we were packed and on the road. When we got home, we were unpacked in a matter of minutes and a few loads of laundry later it was like we never left. It was not that much work, and we had a lot of fun, made some great memories and had some good conversations.
As always, thank you for reading! Always take the back roads when you can, fit in the adventures, and never stop making memories!